Our Lady of the Gate of Dawn Vilnius – Aušros Vartai, Prayer

The European Marian Network

The people of today are nomadic, not just in their ideas but also physically. They travel a lot. But the nomad also requires reference points. In the desert we need to know where to find water holes.

This is as true for the Christian as for everyone else. This is why, today, pilgrimages and Sanctuaries are so important; they are resting places and an oasis in a busy world which can, so often, be a spiritual desert. Each Sanctuary has its own particular atmosphere. Pilgrims find a source of enrichment in one Sanctuary or another. This booklet is intended to give you a taste to go, see and verify this.

The European Marian Network links twenty Sanctuaries the same as the number of decades in the Rosary. Many of them are situated behind the former «Iron Curtain». Almost every European country is represented in the European Marian Network. The best known Sanctuary of each country was chosen.

Under different titles, the Blessed Virgin Mary is venerated in every country in different ways and by different Christian confessions. May Mary help nations to grow in union with each other and bring unity between all Christians. The European Marian Network was formed in 2003 with the encouragement of Rome. The Sanctuary Animators from the members of the Network meet each year to get to know each other better and, above all, to understand better the needs of the millions of pilgrims and visitors who frequent these Sanctuaries.

The gathering in 2003 took place in Lourdes, in 2004 it took place in Fatima and in 2005 it took place in Mariapocs, Hungary. It was there that it was decided to produce a booklet that would be available in each of the Sanctuaries. The 2006 gathering will take place in the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Knock in Ireland and the theme will be «The role of Sanctuaries in the new evangelisation.»

The European Marian Network: 

1. ALTÖTTING (Germany)
2. BANNEAUX (Belgium)
3. BREZJE (Slovenia)
4. ŞUMULEU CIUC/CSIKSOMLYÓ (Roumania)
5. CZĘSTOCHOWA (Poland)
6. EINSIEDELN (Switzerland)
7. FÁTIMA (Portugal)
8. GIBRALTAR (Gibraltar)
9. KNOCK (Ireland)
10. LEVOČA (Slovakia)
11. LORETO (Italy)
12. LOURDES (France)
13. MÁRIAPÓCS (Hungary)
14. MARIAZELL (Austria)
15. MARIJA BISTRICA (Croatia)
16. MELLEHA (Malta)
17. VILNIUS (Lithuania)
18. WALSINGHAM (United Kingdom)
19. ZARAGOZA (Spain)
20. ЗАРВАНИЦЯ (Ukraine)

Being the largest city in the Baltics, Vilnius lies at the crossroads of East and West.

By plane

Vilnius is easily accessible by air from all major European cities. It takes approximately three hours to fly from many European cities and “hubs” including Barcelona, Paris, Copenhagen, London, Frankfurt. The Vilnius International Airport is located just outside the centre of Vilnius. It is only 7 km/15 min driving distance from the centre of the city. Access to the city is quick and inexpensive. For up-to-date information on flights, schedules, new routes and airlines see www.vno.lt

By train

Lithuania has a well-developed rail network. Vilnius is the focal point for rail connections in the region. Vilnius Railway Station is situated close to the Old Town, just accross the street from the bus station. Routes and schedules are available atwww.litrail.lt

By bus

There is a choice of international bus lines connecting Vilnius with other European cities. Buses are the cheapest but least comfortable method of reaching Vilnius. There are direct buses to the capital city from many European countries. Routes and schedules are available at www.eurolines.lt and www.ecolines.lt.

Lithuanian language

• Sundays 9:30 (Chapel) 11:00 18:30
• Weekdays 9:00 (Chapel), 18:30
• 16th in the Month 12:00
• For first Friday and Saturday 9:00 (church)

Polish

• On Sundays, 9:00 to 13:00, 17:30
• Weekdays 10:00 (Chapel), 17:30
• For first  Friday and Saturday 10:00 (church)

Latin

• Weekdays 7:30

Confessions before Mass and Mass on Sunday.

NOVENA the Mother of God of Mercy (Chapel) in Lithuanian

• Monthly 8 and 15th:  8.30 h
• Sunday: 10:30 and 16.00

Adoration – Lithuanian language

• 16th in the Month 11:00 to 12:00
• The first Friday of the month 8:30 to 9:00
• The first Sunday of the month 10:30 to 11:00
• On the second Friday of the month 19:30 to 21:00 (young people, the crypt under the church)

Adoration – Polish

• Month 16. 9:00 to 10:00
• The first Friday of the month after 10 hours. St. Mass
• The first Sunday of the month 8:30 to 9:00

Painting and its origins

There are various opinions as to the origins of the Aušros Vartai Madonna. According to some of them, the icon is very old, and is a Byzantine orthodox icon which was brought to Lithuania by Grand Duke Algirdas in 1363. In the nineteenth century, this legend gave grounds for the Russian authorities to take the painting away from Catholics. Finally, fearing for the reaction, the Russians gave up the idea to take away the painting. According to the latest research, the painting was created around 1620-1630, on the basis of a picture by the Dutch artist Martin de Vos, dating to the second half of the 16th century, which had been based on an engraving of Thomas de Leu (1580).

The icon (200x162x2 cm) is painted on eight oak boards. The paint was applied on a very thin layer of chalk priming, as is typical of northern European painting traditions. The way the picture is painted gives grounds for thinking it was created in Vilnius.

Iconography

The Aušros Vartai image is rich in its meaning. We can see the young maid listening to the angel’s message; there is the Mother of Mercy, holding the sinful people in her heart’s embrace; the sun, stars and the crescent moon are the attributes of the Immaculate Conception and represent the flow of Divine graces. The picture, rich in symbolic meanings, remind us of the Tota pulchra image-type of Our Lady (which comes from the reference to the Song of Songs, 4, 7: ‘Thou art all beauteous, my beloved, and in thee there is no spot’). The Blessed Virgin Mary is presented here as the beginning of the new creation justified by Divine Grace alone and as the highest ideal along with her Son for all Christians.

The depictions of Our Lady’s parents – St Joachim and St Anne – are also related to the Immaculate Conception. Their sculptures stand at both sides of the painting between the altar columns. According to a belief, Virgin Mary’s parents were wealthy pious people, who for a longb12.jpg time were childless and felt much shame because of this. Once St Joachim was even driven out of a sacrifice rite in a synagogue and thus, he was so disappointed that he did not want to go home. However, an angel came and told him to go to this wife, and soon after that they had a daughter whose life was accompanied by various miracles from the very childhood. The wonderful story of Mary’s birth is considered as evidence to her exceptional status: from the very moment of her conception, God embraced her with the special divine care and grace and preserved her from the stain of original sin. Through the Immaculate Conception, Mary was justified with regard to the future Incarnation and Redemption of the Son of God, and thus, her birth prophesise the coming salvation – just as the morning star foretells the rising sun.

The Church of St Theresa

Built by the Discalced Carmelites in 1633-1654, today the Church of St Theresa of Avila is closely linked with the chapel of the Gates of Dawn. The church has been incorporated into the large and spacious monastery and its few inner yards.

The Discalced Carmelites is the Order reformed by St Theresa of Avila and St John of the Cross in Spain, the members of which obey the strict monastic ‘rule’ of St Albert and their proper Constitution. These monks were the most known in the field of mystic theology and the writings of St Theresa and St John of the Cross have been considered informative masterpieces on mysticism up to these days. In 1626, the Discalced Carmelites came to Vilnius and in 1737 they established the Lithuanian province of St Casimir. After the uprisings of 1831 and 1864, the tsarist authorities closed all the monasteries that belonged to the Discalced Carmelite Order. Later, in pre-war Lithuania, the monasteries were restored again.

Sponsored by Lithuanian noblemen, the Discalced Carmelites built a monastery complex in Vilnius, bordering the fortification walls of the city, which stretched over the territory of three districts. In 1654, the church of St Theresa was consecrated by bishop of Vilnius Jurgis Tiškevičius in the place where it stands today in front of the monastery buildings surrounded by the brick wall, with its presbytery bordering the monastery.

Under-chancellor of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania Stephan Pac sponsored the construction of the church. Its exterior was designed by royal Italian architects Constante Tencalla and Giovanni Battista Gisleni. The present day interior was created in the second half of the eighteenth century. In 1760-1764, the artist from Vilnius Motiejus Sluščianskis decorated the church’s interior with the frescoes representing the life and activities of St Theresa. In 1783, Motiejus Pac built a chapel (in-between the rococo and classicism style) on the side of Aušros vartų street.

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The church of St Theresa has never been closed down. In 1844, with the closure of the monastery of the Discalced Carmelites, the church together with the chapel of the Gates of Dawn became a parish church.

The church architecture was designed according to the Il Gesu church example (the baroque shrine without towers), widely used in the first half of the seventeenth century in Rome, and it is similar to Lublin (Poland), Lvov, Krakow and other early churches that belonged to monasteries. The church was probably designed according to one of the two example patterns.

The church of St Theresa significantly differs from the Il Gesu church in Rome. It does not have a plan of the Latin cross, but is rectangular in its shape with a low closed cupola. These special characteristics were typical of the Carmelite churches in Rome: S. Maria della Scala and S. Maria della Vittoria. The interior space is divided into three naves (side naves have a number of sequent chapels). The main nave is surrounded by eight stone vaults which are higher in their size than the side ones.

The church’s façade is characterised by monumental features, strict linear plastic, slightly prolonged proportions. Three-stage façade stands on a very high pedestal. The portal and a window above it have been integrated into the arch-shaped niche. The portal is crowned with a coat of arms of the Vasa dynasty carved on the white marble, representing grain sheaves. In the pediment one can see the coat of arms of the supporter of the construction of the church, under-chancellor of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania Stephan Pac, on which a double armorial lily is featured. The sloped volute plastic is highlighted by two contrasting obelisks.

Luxurious and elegantly combined material was used for the façade décor: grey Swedish sandstone combined with black and white marble. Such a luxury was very rare in the buildings of the Discalced Carmelites. That’s why the church of St Theresa in Vilnius is distinguished by its splendour and beauty. In its architecture, the Carmelite model is intermingled with an exceptional touch of the Roman architect and ‘the style with the black marble’ which shows the taste of the famous sponsor who was from the royal environment.