{"id":7970,"date":"2025-06-10T16:29:01","date_gmt":"2025-06-10T13:29:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cityofmercy.lt\/?page_id=7970"},"modified":"2025-11-04T18:55:10","modified_gmt":"2025-11-04T15:55:10","slug":"the-route-of-the-bishops","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/cityofmercy.lt\/en_GB\/marsrutai\/the-route-of-the-bishops\/","title":{"rendered":"The Route of Bishops"},"content":{"rendered":"[vc_row type=&#8221;in_container&#8221; full_screen_row_position=&#8221;middle&#8221; scene_position=&#8221;center&#8221; text_color=&#8221;dark&#8221; text_align=&#8221;left&#8221; overlay_strength=&#8221;0.3&#8243; shape_divider_position=&#8221;bottom&#8221;][vc_column centered_text=&#8221;true&#8221; column_padding=&#8221;no-extra-padding&#8221; column_padding_position=&#8221;all&#8221; background_color_opacity=&#8221;1&#8243; background_hover_color_opacity=&#8221;1&#8243; column_shadow=&#8221;none&#8221; column_border_radius=&#8221;none&#8221; width=&#8221;1\/1&#8243; tablet_text_alignment=&#8221;default&#8221; phone_text_alignment=&#8221;default&#8221; column_border_width=&#8221;none&#8221; column_border_style=&#8221;solid&#8221;][vc_column_text]\n<h4><strong>The Way of Bishops<\/strong><\/h4>\n[\/vc_column_text]<div class=\"divider-wrap\"><div style=\"margin-top: 25px; height: 1px; margin-bottom: 25px;\" data-width=\"100%\" data-animate=\"\" data-animation-delay=\"\" data-color=\"default\" class=\"divider-border\"><\/div><\/div>[\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row type=&#8221;in_container&#8221; full_screen_row_position=&#8221;middle&#8221; scene_position=&#8221;center&#8221; text_color=&#8221;dark&#8221; text_align=&#8221;left&#8221; overlay_strength=&#8221;0.3&#8243; shape_divider_position=&#8221;bottom&#8221;][vc_column centered_text=&#8221;true&#8221; column_padding=&#8221;no-extra-padding&#8221; column_padding_position=&#8221;all&#8221; background_color_opacity=&#8221;1&#8243; background_hover_color_opacity=&#8221;1&#8243; column_shadow=&#8221;none&#8221; column_border_radius=&#8221;none&#8221; width=&#8221;2\/3&#8243; tablet_text_alignment=&#8221;default&#8221; phone_text_alignment=&#8221;default&#8221; column_border_width=&#8221;none&#8221; column_border_style=&#8221;solid&#8221;][vc_row_inner column_margin=&#8221;default&#8221; text_align=&#8221;left&#8221;][vc_column_inner column_padding=&#8221;no-extra-padding&#8221; column_padding_position=&#8221;all&#8221; background_color_opacity=&#8221;1&#8243; background_hover_color_opacity=&#8221;1&#8243; column_shadow=&#8221;none&#8221; column_border_radius=&#8221;none&#8221; width=&#8221;1\/3&#8243; column_border_width=&#8221;none&#8221; column_border_style=&#8221;solid&#8221;]<div class=\"iwithtext\"><div class=\"iwt-icon\"> <i class=\"icon-default-style icon-map-marker accent-color\"><\/i> <\/div><div class=\"iwt-text\"> \n<h3>5 Sites<\/h3>\n <\/div><div class=\"clear\"><\/div><\/div>[\/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner column_padding=&#8221;no-extra-padding&#8221; column_padding_position=&#8221;all&#8221; background_color_opacity=&#8221;1&#8243; background_hover_color_opacity=&#8221;1&#8243; column_shadow=&#8221;none&#8221; column_border_radius=&#8221;none&#8221; width=&#8221;1\/3&#8243; column_border_width=&#8221;none&#8221; column_border_style=&#8221;solid&#8221;]<div class=\"iwithtext\"><div class=\"iwt-icon\"> <i class=\"icon-default-style icon-road accent-color\"><\/i> <\/div><div class=\"iwt-text\"> \n<h3>6 Kilometers<\/h3>\n <\/div><div class=\"clear\"><\/div><\/div>[\/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner column_padding=&#8221;no-extra-padding&#8221; column_padding_position=&#8221;all&#8221; background_color_opacity=&#8221;1&#8243; background_hover_color_opacity=&#8221;1&#8243; column_shadow=&#8221;none&#8221; column_border_radius=&#8221;none&#8221; width=&#8221;1\/3&#8243; column_border_width=&#8221;none&#8221; column_border_style=&#8221;solid&#8221;]<div class=\"iwithtext\"><div class=\"iwt-icon\"> <i class=\"icon-default-style icon-time accent-color\"><\/i> <\/div><div class=\"iwt-text\"> \n<h3>1:30 Hour<\/h3>\n <\/div><div class=\"clear\"><\/div><\/div>[\/vc_column_inner][\/vc_row_inner][vc_row_inner column_margin=&#8221;default&#8221; text_align=&#8221;left&#8221;][vc_column_inner column_padding=&#8221;no-extra-padding&#8221; column_padding_position=&#8221;all&#8221; background_color_opacity=&#8221;1&#8243; background_hover_color_opacity=&#8221;1&#8243; column_shadow=&#8221;none&#8221; column_border_radius=&#8221;none&#8221; width=&#8221;1\/1&#8243; column_border_width=&#8221;none&#8221; column_border_style=&#8221;solid&#8221;][vc_raw_html]JTNDaWZyYW1lJTIwc3JjJTNEaHR0cHMlM0ElMkYlMkZ3d3cuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbSUyRm1hcHMlMkZkJTJGdSUyRjAlMkZlbWJlZCUzRm1pZCUzRDFBNXZCN2h0OHBOVk5jMkhIR2YtQTRMRnZoWVhfV01ZJTI2ZWhiYyUzRDJFMzEyRiUyMHdpZHRoJTNEJTIyNjQwJTIyJTIwaGVpZ2h0JTNEJTIyNDgwJTIyJTNFJTNDJTJGaWZyYW1lJTNF[\/vc_raw_html][nectar_btn size=&#8221;small&#8221; open_new_tab=&#8221;true&#8221; button_style=&#8221;regular&#8221; button_color_2=&#8221;Accent-Color&#8221; icon_family=&#8221;fontawesome&#8221; url=&#8221;https:\/\/www.google.com\/maps\/d\/edit?mid=1A5vB7ht8pNVNc2HHGf-A4LFvhYX_WMY&#038;ll=54.68975193272249%2C25.284931450000023&#038;z=14&#8243; text=&#8221;open map&#8221; icon_fontawesome=&#8221;fa fa-location-arrow&#8221; margin_top=&#8221;5&#8243; margin_right=&#8221;5&#8243; margin_bottom=&#8221;5&#8243; margin_left=&#8221;5&#8243;][nectar_btn size=&#8221;small&#8221; open_new_tab=&#8221;true&#8221; button_style=&#8221;regular&#8221; button_color_2=&#8221;Accent-Color&#8221; icon_family=&#8221;fontawesome&#8221; url=&#8221;https:\/\/www.google.com\/maps\/d\/edit?mid=1A5vB7ht8pNVNc2HHGf-A4LFvhYX_WMY&#038;ll=54.68975193272249%2C25.284931450000023&#038;z=14&#8243; text=&#8221;print map&#8221; icon_fontawesome=&#8221;fa fa-map&#8221; margin_top=&#8221;5&#8243; margin_right=&#8221;5&#8243; margin_bottom=&#8221;5&#8243; margin_left=&#8221;5&#8243;][\/vc_column_inner][\/vc_row_inner][\/vc_column][vc_column column_padding=&#8221;no-extra-padding&#8221; column_padding_position=&#8221;all&#8221; background_color_opacity=&#8221;1&#8243; background_hover_color_opacity=&#8221;1&#8243; column_shadow=&#8221;none&#8221; column_border_radius=&#8221;none&#8221; width=&#8221;1\/3&#8243; tablet_text_alignment=&#8221;default&#8221; phone_text_alignment=&#8221;default&#8221; column_border_width=&#8221;none&#8221; column_border_style=&#8221;solid&#8221;][vc_column_text]The Late Bishop of blessed memory Dr. Jonas Boruta SJ, in His presentation \u201cThe Martyrdom of Archbishop Me\u010dislovas Reinys: an Accident or a Conscious Choice?\u201d\u00a0reminded us of the words spoken by, now Saint, <strong>Pope John Paul II<\/strong> on the Hill of Crosses during His visit to Lithuania in 1993. Remembering the Lithuanian sons and daughters who were sentenced and imprisoned during the years of Soviet oppression, sent to concentration camps, exiled to Siberia, Kolyma, and sentenced to death, the Pope <strong>singled out three bishops of Lithuania<\/strong>: \u201cI would especially like to remind us Bishop <strong>Vincentas BORISEVI\u010cIUS<\/strong> of Tel\u0161iai, murdered in 1946 after long interrogations and cruel torture; Bishop <strong>Teofilius MATULIONIS<\/strong> of Kai\u0161iadorys, whose earthly journey was mainly a painful calvary of suffering and sorrow until his death in 1962; and Archbishop <strong>Me\u010dislovas REINYS<\/strong> of Vilnius, arrested in 1947 and who died in the prison of Vladimir in 1953. The innocent faced trial. An inhuman system of universal violence raged in your homeland at that time. It trampled and humiliated man. It was a repetition and fulfilment of what had already happened at Golgotha, where the Son of God, \u201chaving taken the form of the servant\u201d, as a man \u201chumbled himself, becoming obedient unto death\u201d. The <strong>Vilnius Pilgrim Centre<\/strong> has prepared the Way of Bishops as an opportunity to get to know these three heroes of Lithuania and of the Church and to learn more about their history.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row type=&#8221;in_container&#8221; full_screen_row_position=&#8221;middle&#8221; scene_position=&#8221;center&#8221; text_color=&#8221;dark&#8221; text_align=&#8221;left&#8221; overlay_strength=&#8221;0.3&#8243; shape_divider_position=&#8221;bottom&#8221;][vc_column column_padding=&#8221;no-extra-padding&#8221; column_padding_position=&#8221;all&#8221; background_color_opacity=&#8221;1&#8243; background_hover_color_opacity=&#8221;1&#8243; column_shadow=&#8221;none&#8221; column_border_radius=&#8221;none&#8221; width=&#8221;1\/1&#8243; tablet_text_alignment=&#8221;default&#8221; phone_text_alignment=&#8221;default&#8221; column_border_width=&#8221;none&#8221; column_border_style=&#8221;solid&#8221;]<div class=\"divider-wrap\"><div style=\"height: 25px;\" class=\"divider\"><\/div><\/div><div class=\"img-with-aniamtion-wrap center\" data-max-width=\"100%\" data-border-radius=\"none\"><div class=\"inner\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-shadow=\"none\" data-shadow-direction=\"middle\" class=\"img-with-animation \" data-delay=\"0\" height=\"90\" width=\"90\" data-animation=\"none\" src=\"https:\/\/cityofmercy.lt\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/IKONA_GAILESTINGUMO.png\"  alt=\"\" \/><\/div><\/div><div class=\"divider-wrap\"><div style=\"height: 25px;\" class=\"divider\"><\/div><\/div>\n    <div class=\"col span_12 section-title text-align-center extra-padding\">\n\t\t<h2>ROUTE&#8217;S SITES<\/h2><\/div><div class=\"clear\"><\/div>[\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row type=&#8221;in_container&#8221; full_screen_row_position=&#8221;middle&#8221; scene_position=&#8221;center&#8221; text_color=&#8221;dark&#8221; text_align=&#8221;left&#8221; overlay_strength=&#8221;0.3&#8243; shape_divider_position=&#8221;bottom&#8221;][vc_column column_padding=&#8221;no-extra-padding&#8221; column_padding_position=&#8221;all&#8221; background_color_opacity=&#8221;1&#8243; background_hover_color_opacity=&#8221;1&#8243; column_shadow=&#8221;none&#8221; column_border_radius=&#8221;none&#8221; width=&#8221;1\/1&#8243; tablet_text_alignment=&#8221;default&#8221; phone_text_alignment=&#8221;default&#8221; column_border_width=&#8221;none&#8221; column_border_style=&#8221;solid&#8221;][tabbed_section style=&#8221;minimal&#8221; alignment=&#8221;center&#8221; spacing=&#8221;default&#8221; tab_color=&#8221;Accent-Color&#8221; cta_button_style=&#8221;accent-color&#8221; icon_size=&#8221;24&#8243;][tab icon_family=&#8221;none&#8221; title=&#8221;1&#8243; id=&#8221;1752665908-1-33&#8243; tab_id=&#8221;1752666023553-4&#8243;][vc_row_inner column_margin=&#8221;default&#8221; text_align=&#8221;left&#8221;][vc_column_inner column_padding=&#8221;no-extra-padding&#8221; column_padding_position=&#8221;all&#8221; background_color_opacity=&#8221;1&#8243; background_hover_color_opacity=&#8221;1&#8243; column_shadow=&#8221;none&#8221; column_border_radius=&#8221;none&#8221; width=&#8221;1\/2&#8243; column_border_width=&#8221;none&#8221; column_border_style=&#8221;solid&#8221;][vc_gallery type=&#8221;nectarslider_style&#8221; images=&#8221;562,254,1034,8026,8025,8031,8008,8024,8032,8033,8023&#8243; flexible_slider_height=&#8221;true&#8221; bullet_navigation_style=&#8221;see_through&#8221; onclick=&#8221;link_no&#8221;]<div class=\"divider-wrap\"><div style=\"height: 25px;\" class=\"divider\"><\/div><\/div>[vc_column_text]\n<h3><b><span lang=\"EN-GB\">Vilnius Archcathedral Basilica of St. Stanislaus and St. Ladislaus<\/span><\/b><\/h3>\n[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]Cathedral is Bishop\u2019s home church. Remembering the martyred bishops of the mid-20th century the first coming to our mind is Me\u010dislovas Reinys whose life is most closely linked to this city: first student and later professor of Vilnius St George seminary, teacher of pedagogical courses and at Lithuanian Gymnasium, vicar at St John\u2019s church (1914-15). And these few lines from the diary of A. Bieliauskas, a priest of Archdiocese of Vilnius and his contemporary, take us back to the day on which M. Reinys entered the Cathedral as apostolic administrator: \u201e [October 10, 1942] For it\u2019s kind of Ingress of H. E. Archb. Reinys to the Cathedral. In front of Bishop\u2019s Palace there is a couple of chestnut horses harnessed to a phaeton. They will take His Excellency to the Cathedral. [&#8230;] His Excellency begins his homily with words of the Gospel \u201eYour Son is alive\u201c. He pointed out that the life of the Church, society and nation, ordered on Cristian principals, is healthy and long lasting.\u201c The Archbishop\u2019s Ministry comes at a very difficult time, when Vilnius, just recovered from Poland, is invaded by Nazis and later again by Soviets, the Archbishop metropolitan R. Ja\u0142brzykowski being sent under arrest to Marijampol\u0117 in March 1942.<\/p>\n<p>In the Cathedral Square we also remember the celebration of the beatification of Bl. Teofilius Matulionis on June 25, 2017. Although Vilnius was not the place of Ministry of Bl. Teofilius Matulionis, he visited the Vilnius cathedral on several occasions, including in 1936, when he was returning from his travels from the USA and the Holy Land to Lithuania. Here, at the Cathedral, he certainly had stopped before the burial place of the Archbishop Jan Cieplak, named Archbishop of Vilnius after the resignation of Bl. Georg\/Jurgis Matulaitis from this Ministry, due to difficult political circumstances. Sadly, J. Cieplak died before taking up his duties, on his way to this, then Polish, city. T. Matulionis knew him well, having served together in then Leningrad (todays St Petersburg) and being through Bolshevik Russia persecutions. Lithuanian bishop met then with Archbishop R. Ja\u0142brzykowski, who took over as Archbishop of Vilnius after J. Ciepliaks death. Bl. Bishop Matulionis held dear the here venerated Saint Casimir on whose Feast Day, March 4, in 1900 he was ordained to priesthood. At the height of the Second World War, in 1943, he was appointed chief pastor of the Kai\u0161iadorys diocese. Bishop, who had been through more than one Russian prison, is principled: he protests against the abduction of young people for forced labour by the Nazis, refuses to sign the letter of thanks to Stalin \u201cFor the liberation of Lithuania\u201d, when Soviets are looting the churches, arresting the priests, banning the teaching of truths of the faith to children, he initiates an episcopal conference \u2013 at which M. Reinys is present \u2013 to adopt a common position on the way forward. In his circular letter, as the front approaches, on July 3, 1944, he addresses the priests: \u201eIn view of the approaching hostilities and the possibility of unexpected events, to the knowledge of the highly respected deans: &#8211; if all parishioners are forcibly evacuated, the priests must go with them; &#8211; if some parishioners voluntarily or forcibly leave their places, pastors and priests that have any duties must remain in place; &#8211; no priest may leave the territory of the diocese without a permission of the Curia. Let us trust in the Mercy of the Sacred Heart, in the protection of our Lady, and the intercession of St. Joseph and St. Casimir! \u201c<\/p>\n<p>V. Borisevi\u010dius officially becomes the governor of the Tel\u0161iai diocese in 1944, following the death of his predecessor, bishop J. Staugaitis. We can look upon the Cathedral of St. Stanislaus and St. Ladislaus as a symbolic meeting place of God servants V. Borisevi\u010dius\u2019 &#038; M. Reinys\u2019 (the actual place of their meeting was Reinys\u2019 apartment at 8, Pilies St, where he lived the last few years before his arrest; nowadays it is the seat of Lithuanian Catholic Academy of Science (LKMA)). Released after first arrest, bishop Borisevi\u010dius went to see M. Reinys, and had a long talk with the archbishop, preparing himself for refusal to collaborate with soviet authorities and for his most inevitable arrest.<\/p>\n<p>Putting on the bishop\u2019s mitre at that time was akin to being crowned with thorns. Following the Good shepherd, these bishops had chosen to lay down their lives for the sake of those entrusted to their care. At the Chapel of the Exiles a capsule of soil is kept from a common grave near Vladimir Prison, where Reinys had been buried. In this one of the harshiest prisons of USSR were also imprisoned Bl. T. Matulionis, priest, politician and public figure Vl. Mironas, foreign minister P. Urb\u0161ys and his wife, and many other of their compatriots.<\/p>\n[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner column_padding=&#8221;no-extra-padding&#8221; column_padding_position=&#8221;all&#8221; background_color_opacity=&#8221;1&#8243; background_hover_color_opacity=&#8221;1&#8243; column_shadow=&#8221;none&#8221; column_border_radius=&#8221;none&#8221; width=&#8221;1\/2&#8243; column_border_width=&#8221;none&#8221; column_border_style=&#8221;solid&#8221;]<div class=\"iwithtext\"><div class=\"iwt-icon\"> <i class=\"icon-default-style icon-map-marker accent-color\"><\/i> <\/div><div class=\"iwt-text\"> <a href=\"https:\/\/share.google\/oiiRdvxWf6J05enlw\">Katedros a. 2<\/a> <\/div><div class=\"clear\"><\/div><\/div><div class=\"divider-wrap\"><div style=\"height: 20px;\" class=\"divider\"><\/div><\/div><div class=\"iwithtext\"><div class=\"iwt-icon\"> <i class=\"icon-default-style icon-time accent-color\"><\/i> <\/div><div class=\"iwt-text\"> <b>Cathedral is open<\/b><br \/>\nMonday\u2013Saturday: 7 a.m.\u20136 p.m.<br \/>\nSunday: 7 a.m.-7 p.m.<br \/>\nExcursions are not allowed during the Holy Mass. <\/div><div class=\"clear\"><\/div><\/div><div class=\"divider-wrap\"><div style=\"height: 20px;\" class=\"divider\"><\/div><\/div><div class=\"iwithtext\"><div class=\"iwt-icon\"> <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cityofmercy.lt\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/taurinis.png\" alt=\"\" \/> <\/div><div class=\"iwt-text\"> <strong>Holy Mass (in Lithuanian)<\/strong><br \/>\nMonday\u2013Saturday: 8 a.m., 12.30 p.m., 5.30 p.m.<br \/>\nSunday: 8 a.m., 9 a.m., 10 a.m., 11.15 a.m., 12.30 p.m., 5.30 p.m.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Holy Mass (in Latin)<\/strong><br \/>\nSunday \u2013 6.30 p.m. <\/div><div class=\"clear\"><\/div><\/div><div class=\"divider-wrap\"><div style=\"height: 20px;\" class=\"divider\"><\/div><\/div><div class=\"iwithtext\"><div class=\"iwt-icon\"> <i class=\"icon-default-style icon-info accent-color\"><\/i> <\/div><div class=\"iwt-text\"> <strong>Information about visiting the crypts of Vilnius Cathedral:<\/strong><br \/>\nChurch Heritage Museum<br \/>\n+370 600 12080<br \/>\nkatedrospozemiai@bpmuziejus.lt<br \/>\nwww.bpmuziejus.lt <\/div><div class=\"clear\"><\/div><\/div><div class=\"divider-wrap\"><div style=\"height: 20px;\" class=\"divider\"><\/div><\/div><div class=\"iwithtext\"><div class=\"iwt-icon\"> <i class=\"icon-default-style icon-calendar accent-color\"><\/i> <\/div><div class=\"iwt-text\"> <b>Feast days \u2013 Indulgences<\/b><br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/cityofmercy.lt\/en_GB\/renginiai\/sv-kazimiero-svente\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">The Feast of St. Casimir<\/a> \u2013\u00a0 March 4. <\/div><div class=\"clear\"><\/div><\/div><div class=\"divider-wrap\"><div style=\"height: 20px;\" class=\"divider\"><\/div><\/div><div class=\"iwithtext\"><div class=\"iwt-icon\"> <i class=\"icon-default-style icon-globe accent-color\"><\/i> <\/div><div class=\"iwt-text\"> <a href=\"http:\/\/www.katedra.lt\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">www.katedra.lt<\/a> <\/div><div class=\"clear\"><\/div><\/div>[\/vc_column_inner][\/vc_row_inner][\/tab][tab icon_family=&#8221;none&#8221; title=&#8221;2&#8243; id=&#8221;1752665908-2-25&#8243; tab_id=&#8221;1752666023594-0&#8243;][vc_row_inner column_margin=&#8221;default&#8221; text_align=&#8221;left&#8221;][vc_column_inner column_padding=&#8221;no-extra-padding&#8221; column_padding_position=&#8221;all&#8221; background_color_opacity=&#8221;1&#8243; background_hover_color_opacity=&#8221;1&#8243; column_shadow=&#8221;none&#8221; column_border_radius=&#8221;none&#8221; width=&#8221;1\/2&#8243; column_border_width=&#8221;none&#8221; column_border_style=&#8221;solid&#8221;][vc_gallery type=&#8221;nectarslider_style&#8221; images=&#8221;658,6605,250,329,219,6443,6604,242,221,8029&#8243; flexible_slider_height=&#8221;true&#8221; bullet_navigation_style=&#8221;see_through&#8221; onclick=&#8221;link_no&#8221;]<div class=\"divider-wrap\"><div style=\"height: 20px;\" class=\"divider\"><\/div><\/div>[vc_column_text]\n<h3><b><span lang=\"EN-GB\">Shrine of Divine Mercy <\/span><\/b><\/h3>\n[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]\n<div>\n<p class=\"Standard\"><span lang=\"EN-GB\"> Important is the role of bishops M. Reinys and T. Matulionis in spreading the cult of Divine Mercy. In 1940, Me\u010dislovas Reinys was appointed auxiliary bishop to the ordinary of Vilnius, R. Ja\u0142brzykowski. With the invasion of nazis and then soviets, he had to take over the ruling of the archdiocese twice. It is archbishop Reinys who, on May 29, 1942, approves the Divine Mercy Chaplet prayer. This shrine, at that time still the Church of the Most Holy Trinity, was in 1946-47 the last place in Vilnius where Father Sopo\u0107ko served before his permanent retreat to Bialystok. After noticing that the service-goers do not understand Polish nor Lithuanian well, the priest appealed to the ruler of the archdiocese, suggesting the introduction of Russian language for the services. The archbishop, aware of the need of the Russian-speaking people that arrived in Lithuania after second Soviet occupation being able to find their way to God, to receive the sacraments, gives his consent. In April of the same year, when Father Sopo\u0107ko served still at the Church of St. Johns, the archbishop accepted another of priest\u2019s requests, allowing the celebration of the Feast of Divine Mercy on the first Sunday after Easter, which Jesus had urged through Sister Faustina. It was the first celebration of the Feast of Divine Mercy, included in the universal liturgical calendar of the Church only since year 2000. <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p class=\"Standard\"><span lang=\"EN-GB\">Fr. It is quite possible that the archbishop Reinys was not the only to know the Apostle of Divine Mercy. It is very likely that bishop Matulionis had a personal encounter with Father Sopo\u0107ko because Father Juozapas Labukas, the then prelate of diocese of Kai\u0161iadorys, was Sopo\u0107ko\u2019s classmate at the Vilnius seminary and his collaborator in Vilnius region. About Sister Faustina, who lived in Vilnius, the apparitions of Jesus she experienced there, and about the message of Divine Mercy bishop Matulionis learned from the Benedictine sisters. Because of his personal consecration and devotion to the Sacred Heart, he immediately embraced the message about the unfathomable mercy flowing from this Heart. He had a copy of Divine Mercy painting in his private chapel, and on June 6, 1943, in his heartfelt letter from Kai\u0161iadorys to a friend and priest Vincas Dainius he inserted a picture of Merciful Jesus, promoting the devotion: \u201cI send you a Divine Mercy image. Cry out to the Mercy of God, He will protect you.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p class=\"Standard\"><span lang=\"EN-GB\">The painting of the Merciful Jesus, which currently is exposed above the central altar, was completed in June-July of 1934, at which time the National Eucharistic Congress was held in Kaunas from June 28 to July 1, culminating in the signing of the Act of Consecration of Lithuania to the Sacred Heart of Jesus on July the 1st. Among the many signatures below the consecratory text were those of the President of Lithuania, A. Smetona, and bishops M. Reinys, T. Matulionis and V. Borisevi\u010dius.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p class=\"Standard\"><span lang=\"EN-GB\">For more than 10 years this shrine is the place of a perpetual Adoration of Blessed Sacrament. No doubt that Bl. Teofilius would rejoice in it, after having been imprisoned many times and not always having the opportunity to celebrate Mass in places of imprisonment, he longed for the Eucharist. In 1937, on the 550th anniversary of the Baptism of Lithuania, by his zealous care began the perpetual Adoration at the monastery of Benedictine nuns in Kaunas. \u201cO come, let us adore Him!\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner column_padding=&#8221;no-extra-padding&#8221; column_padding_position=&#8221;all&#8221; background_color_opacity=&#8221;1&#8243; background_hover_color_opacity=&#8221;1&#8243; column_shadow=&#8221;none&#8221; column_border_radius=&#8221;none&#8221; width=&#8221;1\/2&#8243; column_border_width=&#8221;none&#8221; column_border_style=&#8221;solid&#8221;]<div class=\"iwithtext\"><div class=\"iwt-icon\"> <i class=\"icon-default-style icon-map-marker accent-color\"><\/i> <\/div><div class=\"iwt-text\"> <a href=\"https:\/\/goo.gl\/maps\/XCWAusCcA6c2u4v27\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Dominikonu Street 12, Vilnius<\/a> <\/div><div class=\"clear\"><\/div><\/div><div class=\"divider-wrap\"><div style=\"height: 20px;\" class=\"divider\"><\/div><\/div><div class=\"iwithtext\"><div class=\"iwt-icon\"> <i class=\"icon-default-style icon-time accent-color\"><\/i> <\/div><div class=\"iwt-text\"> The Shrine is open 24 hours a day. <\/div><div class=\"clear\"><\/div><\/div><div class=\"divider-wrap\"><div style=\"height: 20px;\" class=\"divider\"><\/div><\/div><div class=\"iwithtext\"><div class=\"iwt-icon\"> <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cityofmercy.lt\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/taurinis.png\" alt=\"\" \/> <\/div><div class=\"iwt-text\"> \n<div class=\"iwithtext\">\n<div class=\"iwt-text\"><strong>Holy Mass (in Lithuanian)<\/strong><br \/>\nMonday\u2013Saturday \u2013 10 a.m., 12 p.m. (noon), 8 p.m.<br \/>\nSunday \u2013 10 a.m., 12 p.m. (noon), 6 p.m., 8 p.m.<\/div>\n<div class=\"clear\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"divider-wrap\">\n<div class=\"divider\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"iwithtext\">\n<div class=\"iwt-icon\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"iwt-text\"><strong>Holy Mass (in Polish)<\/strong><br \/>\nMonday\u2013Sunday \u2013 4 p.m.<\/div>\n<div class=\"clear\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"divider-wrap\">\n<div class=\"divider\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"iwithtext\">\n<div class=\"iwt-icon\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"iwt-text\"><strong>Holy Mass (in French)<\/strong><br \/>\nOn the first Friday of every month at 6 p.m.<\/div>\n<div class=\"clear\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"divider-wrap\">\n<div class=\"divider\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"iwithtext\">\n<div class=\"iwt-icon\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"iwt-text\">Chaplet of Divine Mercy is prayed daily at 12.45 p.m., 3 p.m. (in Lithuanian), 3.40 p.m. (in Polish)<\/div>\n<\/div>\n <\/div><div class=\"clear\"><\/div><\/div><div class=\"divider-wrap\"><div style=\"height: 20px;\" class=\"divider\"><\/div><\/div><div class=\"iwithtext\"><div class=\"iwt-icon\"> <i class=\"icon-default-style icon-calendar accent-color\"><\/i> <\/div><div class=\"iwt-text\"> <strong>Feast days \u2013 Indulgences<\/strong><br \/>\nThe Solemnity of Divine Mercy is celebrated on the first Sunday after Easter.<br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/cityofmercy.lt\/en_GB\/renginiai\/gailestingumo-savaite\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Divine Mercy Week<\/a>\u00a0is celebrated from the second day of Easter until the Solemnity of Divine Mercy.<br \/>\nA minor feast of the Shrine is celebrated every Friday. <\/div><div class=\"clear\"><\/div><\/div><div class=\"divider-wrap\"><div style=\"height: 20px;\" class=\"divider\"><\/div><\/div><div class=\"iwithtext\"><div class=\"iwt-icon\"> <i class=\"icon-default-style icon-globe accent-color\"><\/i> <\/div><div class=\"iwt-text\"> <a href=\"http:\/\/www.gailestingumas.lt\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">www.gailestingumas.lt<\/a> <\/div><div class=\"clear\"><\/div><\/div>[\/vc_column_inner][\/vc_row_inner][\/tab][tab icon_family=&#8221;none&#8221; title=&#8221;3&#8243; id=&#8221;1752847902871-0-8&#8243; tab_id=&#8221;1752847902874-10&#8243;][vc_row_inner column_margin=&#8221;default&#8221; text_align=&#8221;left&#8221;][vc_column_inner column_padding=&#8221;no-extra-padding&#8221; column_padding_position=&#8221;all&#8221; background_color_opacity=&#8221;1&#8243; background_hover_color_opacity=&#8221;1&#8243; column_shadow=&#8221;none&#8221; column_border_radius=&#8221;none&#8221; width=&#8221;1\/2&#8243; column_border_width=&#8221;none&#8221; column_border_style=&#8221;solid&#8221;][vc_gallery type=&#8221;nectarslider_style&#8221; images=&#8221;7377,7150,7378,7156,7155,7164,8045,8046,7145,7151&#8243; flexible_slider_height=&#8221;true&#8221; bullet_navigation_style=&#8221;see_through&#8221; onclick=&#8221;link_no&#8221;]<div class=\"divider-wrap\"><div style=\"height: 20px;\" class=\"divider\"><\/div><\/div>[vc_column_text]\n<h3><b><span lang=\"EN-GB\">Vilnius KGB (NKGB (MGB)) Prison<\/span><\/b><\/h3>\n[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]\n<div>\n<p class=\"Standard\"><span lang=\"EN-GB\">First time from 18 December 1945, Tel\u0161iai bishop Borisevi\u010dius was detained in this prison (more about the prison: https:\/\/www.journals.vu.lt\/gr\/article\/view\/35702) for six days on the accusation of anti-soviet activities and contacts with partisans, with attempt to recruit him. Having failed to break him, they released him for he would make up his mind. Following his meeting with archbishop Reinys, 3 January 1946, V. Borisevi\u010dius wrote to the chiefs of NKGB (MGB) prison: &#8220;After what I have been through these days, the words of the Gospel of St. John (10, 11), that \u2018The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep,\u2019 moved me deeply. I therefore declare that the denouncements are totally incompatible with my title, my ministry, and my conscience, and I categorically refuse to do so. If I have committed a crime, it is for me, not for someone else, to atone for it. That is what my religion tells.&#8221; Knowingly or not, V. Borisevi\u010dius was arrested for the second time on the day of archbishops Reinys&#8217; 62nd birthday, 5 February. He was tortured and interrogated. Almost 7 months later, on 28 August, the LSSR MVD military tribunal, a repressive structure of the occupational regime, sentences the Tel\u0161iai bishop to death and the next day he is transferred to Luki\u0161k\u0117s Prison.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p class=\"Textbody\"><span lang=\"EN-GB\">Precisely one year after Bishop Borisevi\u010dius&#8217; first arrest, on 18 December 1946, T. Matulionis, Bishop of Kai\u0161iadorys, was arrested and imprisoned there until November 1947. He was accused of having forbidden priests to announce political information in churches, of having warned Catholic youth not to join pioneer and komsomol organisations, and of having urged them to help the victims of the war and the deportations. He was put to interrogations. Among his answers given to the interrogators one can read: &#8220;I confess that my letters to the faithful were against bolshevism, against the soviet government. [&#8230;] The reason that prompted me to write these appeals was my disapproval of the policy of the soviet government in the religious matter; in my opinion, the soviet government persecuted religion, and that is why I urged the faithful to pray for the non-recurrence of 1940, when Lithuania was incorporated into the Soviet Union. [&#8230;] And if the Soviet government did return to Lithuania, I wanted the faithful Lithuanians to adhere strictly to their religion and not to succumb to the anti-religious propaganda of the bolsheviks and the organisations they established.&#8221; Since Bishop Matulionis was well versed in the canons of the Church and Soviet law, the interrogators have not succeeded to collect the trial material. Thus the decision was taken by the Special Council in Moscow (\u041e\u0441\u043e\u0301\u0431\u043e\u0435 \u0441\u043e\u0432\u0435\u0449\u0430\u0301\u043d\u0438\u0435 \u043f\u0440\u0438 \u041c\u0413\u0411 \u0421\u0421\u0421\u0420) in 1947, which sentenced the Kai\u0161iadorys bishop to seven years&#8217; in the special regime Vladimir prison, to which he was deported from Vilnius on 19 November.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p class=\"Textbody\"><span lang=\"EN-GB\">12 June 1947, archbishop M. Reinys is arrested by soviet authorities for \u201cacting as an intermediary to the traitors of Homeland, participation in an anti-soviet and nationalist organisation and anti-soviet agitation.\u201d From the very beginning of the second soviet occupation, attempts were made to recruit the archbishop by blackmailing him about the fate of his captured relatives. Many of M. Reinys family members were deported in 1941: brothers Kazimieras and Jonas, sisters Emilija ir Leokadija. The regime wished to make him sign an appeal to the Forest brothers so they would come out. Archbishop Reinys justified his categorical refusal to do so based on the canons of the Church that forbade the interference in politics. He was put to interrogation. In his report of 16 June 1947 a soviet interrogator Golytsin stated: \u201cQuestion: What has prompted you to write anti-soviet, or as you call it, anti-bolshevik \u2013 anti-communist articles? Response: I wrote the anti-bolshevik articles in the press quite consciously, as a person opposed to the Bolshevik ideology and worldview.\u201d Sentenced the same year to eight years of imprisonment at the harsh regime Vladimir prison (rehabilitated in 1989), he dies under unknown circumstances when his period of detention was nearing completion.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner column_padding=&#8221;no-extra-padding&#8221; column_padding_position=&#8221;all&#8221; background_color_opacity=&#8221;1&#8243; background_hover_color_opacity=&#8221;1&#8243; column_shadow=&#8221;none&#8221; column_border_radius=&#8221;none&#8221; width=&#8221;1\/2&#8243; column_border_width=&#8221;none&#8221; column_border_style=&#8221;solid&#8221;]<div class=\"iwithtext\"><div class=\"iwt-icon\"> <i class=\"icon-default-style icon-map-marker accent-color\"><\/i> <\/div><div class=\"iwt-text\"> <a href=\"https:\/\/goo.gl\/maps\/jYswn9EsaxCKgSQGA\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Auk\u0173 g. 2A, Vilnius<\/a> <\/div><div class=\"clear\"><\/div><\/div><div class=\"divider-wrap\"><div style=\"height: 20px;\" class=\"divider\"><\/div><\/div><div class=\"iwithtext\"><div class=\"iwt-icon\"> <i class=\"icon-default-style icon-time accent-color\"><\/i> <\/div><div class=\"iwt-text\"> <b>Museum of Occupation and Freedom Fights<\/b><br \/>\nMonday\u2013Tuesday is closed.<br \/>\nOpened:<br \/>\nWednesday-Saturday 10 a.m. &#8211; 6 p. m.<br \/>\nSunday: 10 a.m.- 5 p.m. <\/div><div class=\"clear\"><\/div><\/div><div class=\"divider-wrap\"><div style=\"height: 20px;\" class=\"divider\"><\/div><\/div><div class=\"iwithtext\"><div class=\"iwt-icon\"> <i class=\"icon-default-style icon-globe accent-color\"><\/i> <\/div><div class=\"iwt-text\"> <a href=\"http:\/\/www.olkm.lt\/en\/\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">www.olkm.lt\/en\/<\/a> <\/div><div class=\"clear\"><\/div><\/div>[\/vc_column_inner][\/vc_row_inner][\/tab][tab icon_family=&#8221;none&#8221; title=&#8221;4&#8243; id=&#8221;1752848848719-0-6&#8243; tab_id=&#8221;1752848848723-3&#8243;][vc_row_inner column_margin=&#8221;default&#8221; text_align=&#8221;left&#8221;][vc_column_inner column_padding=&#8221;no-extra-padding&#8221; column_padding_position=&#8221;all&#8221; background_color_opacity=&#8221;1&#8243; background_hover_color_opacity=&#8221;1&#8243; column_shadow=&#8221;none&#8221; column_border_radius=&#8221;none&#8221; width=&#8221;1\/2&#8243; column_border_width=&#8221;none&#8221; column_border_style=&#8221;solid&#8221;][vc_gallery type=&#8221;nectarslider_style&#8221; images=&#8221;8036,8037,8038,8040,8042&#8243; flexible_slider_height=&#8221;true&#8221; bullet_navigation_style=&#8221;see_through&#8221; onclick=&#8221;link_no&#8221;]<div class=\"divider-wrap\"><div style=\"height: 20px;\" class=\"divider\"><\/div><\/div>[vc_column_text]\n<h3><b><span lang=\"EN-GB\">Luki\u0161k\u0117s Prison<\/span><\/b><\/h3>\n[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]\n<div>\n<p class=\"Textbody\"><span lang=\"EN-GB\">Built in 1904, during yet Tsarist Russia era, it was at the time the most modern prison in the empire. A number of prominent Lithuanian personalities were imprisoned here, including: the author of Lithuanian national anthem V. Kudirka, Lithuanian female writer \u017demait\u0117, the signatories of Lithuanian Independence Act of 1918 such as Jonas Vilei\u0161is, Mykolas Bir\u017ei\u0161ka, and the leader of Lithuanian resistance movement, following the second soviet occupation, Adolfas Ramanauskas-Vanagas; it was also used for detention of Lithuanian political prisoners and members of resistance movement; during the nazis occupation here were detained Jewish people before them being taken to Paneriai execution range. <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p class=\"Textbody\"><span lang=\"EN-GB\">A tsarist-era prison with the Church of St. Nicolas the Wonderworker can be a reminder to us of the first, one year, sentence to Bl. Teofilius in 1910 because he baptised an infant born in a mixed Orthodox and Catholic family. Since the Tsarist authorities did not imprison Catholic priests for denominational offences, the sentence was allowed to be served in a monastery in St. Petersburg. As for bl. Teofilius, he did not consider such a restriction of liberty as a punishment, but rather as a meaningful retreat, using this time also to reflect on misunderstandings and obstacles to salvation caused by the division of Christians. Then, very soon after his secret episcopal ordination in 1929, he was imprisoned several times in bolshevik Russia: in Solowetsky Monastery turned into prison camp, then moved to a prison in Leningrad, and then later to a camp on Lake Ladoga. There he worked extremely hard physical labour with days when he could carry up to 12 m3 firewood on his shoulders over branches and stones a hundred metres or more from the forest to the road. This work made him disabled. In 1933, after Lithuanian government took steps to arrange a prisoner exchange, the bishop (since 1929) was returned to Lithuania, together with other Lithuanian priests imprisoned in bolshevik Russia. The group of prisoners sent to Russia in exchange of Lithuanian priests also included the future leader of soviet Lithuania, A. Snie\u010dkus. Despite the hardships and sufferings that he endured, bishop Matulionis, seeing the importance of the mission, will all his life have a burning desire to go back to Russia.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p class=\"Textbody\"><span lang=\"EN-GB\">The servant of God M. Reinys was imprisoned in Luki\u0161k\u0117s Prison in 1919, for the speech he gave on the first anniversary of Lithuania\u2019s Independence. He was arrested and taken to Luki\u0161k\u0117s by the bolsheviks, in whose hands Vilnius had fallen at the time. Later, he was detained as a hostage with other Lithuanians until July, first in Daugavpils and then in Smolensk. After the exchange of prisoners between Lithuanian and Russian governments, Fr. M. Reinys regained his freedom and returned to his homeland. Based on P. Dogelis memoirs and Reinys\u2019 own accounts, the difficulties and trials of this first imprisonment and liberation were described by P. Dovydaitis in his jubilee essay \u201cA Letter to Bishop Me\u010dislovas Reinys on the Occasion of His 50th Birthday Anniversary\u201d: \u201cYou were a needle in the eye of the bolsheviks who took Vilnius. For you were not only a dry \u2018stubengelert\u2019, i. e. not only a bureau scientist and teacher, but also a public figure. As such, if you had the opportunity to give a public lecture, you did not flirt with bolshevism, as some Catholics did. That is why the bolsheviks first attacked you in their \u201crags\u201d, and when they were forced to flee, they took you as hostage, along with the other more prominent Lithuanians in Vilnius. That meant that your comparative weight was outstanding even then. After your arrest on 23 February 1919, you weren\u2019t released before exactly five months later. As a psychologist by profession and not much talkative to interviewers that solicit you, you called this five month period of your life, when answering one of them, a period of \u2018specific pleasure\u2019, describing it in one sentence: \u201cIn 1919, during five months, the bolsheviks gave me a good opportunity to get to know at their expense the prisons of Vilnius, Daugavpils and Smolensk, to personally experience their pleasures\u2026 with all their bugs, and thus to get know the psychology of a prisoner well.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p class=\"Textbody\"><span lang=\"EN-GB\">Bishop Borisevi\u010dius was imprisoned here for the last months of his life, after his death sentence, from 29 August 1946. On that day, the Church commemorates the Martyrdom of St. John the Baptist, of whom it is written: \u201cHe himself was not the Light, but he came to bear witness about the Light.\u201d (Jn 1, 8) At the beginning of his priestly journey, in 1913 in Kalvarija, Borisevi\u010dius served as a prison chaplain, on 18 November 1946 he took his last steps as a prisoner himself.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner column_padding=&#8221;no-extra-padding&#8221; column_padding_position=&#8221;all&#8221; background_color_opacity=&#8221;1&#8243; background_hover_color_opacity=&#8221;1&#8243; column_shadow=&#8221;none&#8221; column_border_radius=&#8221;none&#8221; width=&#8221;1\/2&#8243; column_border_width=&#8221;none&#8221; column_border_style=&#8221;solid&#8221;]<div class=\"iwithtext\"><div class=\"iwt-icon\"> <i class=\"icon-default-style icon-map-marker accent-color\"><\/i> <\/div><div class=\"iwt-text\"> <a href=\"https:\/\/goo.gl\/maps\/qe21mUzsuvKKCD5VA\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Luki\u0161ki\u0173 skg. 6, Vilnius<\/a> <\/div><div class=\"clear\"><\/div><\/div><div class=\"divider-wrap\"><div style=\"height: 20px;\" class=\"divider\"><\/div><\/div><div class=\"iwithtext\"><div class=\"iwt-icon\"> <i class=\"icon-default-style icon-globe accent-color\"><\/i> <\/div><div class=\"iwt-text\"> <a href=\"http:\/\/www.lukiskiukalejimas.lt\/pasivaiksciojimai\/home-eng\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">www.lukiskiukalejimas.lt\/pasivaiksciojimai\/home-eng\/<\/a> <\/div><div class=\"clear\"><\/div><\/div>[\/vc_column_inner][\/vc_row_inner][\/tab][tab icon_family=&#8221;none&#8221; title=&#8221;5&#8243; id=&#8221;1752848861977-0-4&#8243; tab_id=&#8221;1752848861980-4&#8243;][vc_row_inner column_margin=&#8221;default&#8221; text_align=&#8221;left&#8221;][vc_column_inner column_padding=&#8221;no-extra-padding&#8221; column_padding_position=&#8221;all&#8221; background_color_opacity=&#8221;1&#8243; background_hover_color_opacity=&#8221;1&#8243; column_shadow=&#8221;none&#8221; column_border_radius=&#8221;none&#8221; width=&#8221;1\/2&#8243; column_border_width=&#8221;none&#8221; column_border_style=&#8221;solid&#8221;][vc_gallery type=&#8221;nectarslider_style&#8221; images=&#8221;7932,8005,8051,8052&#8243; flexible_slider_height=&#8221;true&#8221; bullet_navigation_style=&#8221;see_through&#8221; onclick=&#8221;link_no&#8221;]<div class=\"divider-wrap\"><div style=\"height: 0px;\" class=\"divider\"><\/div><\/div>[vc_column_text]\n<h3><b><span lang=\"EN-GB\">The Memorial Complex of Tuskul\u0117nai Peace Park<\/span><\/b><\/h3>\n[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]\n<div>\n<p>He was assigned a grave with the wicked,<br \/>\nAnd with the rich in his death,<br \/>\nThough he had done no violence,<br \/>\nNor was any deceit in his mouth. (Is 53,9)<\/p>\n<div>\n<div>\n<p class=\"Standard\"><span lang=\"EN-GB\">The remains of Servant of God Vincentas Borisevi\u010dius were found by archeologists in 1994, after the Department of State Security identified a mass grave at the site. It was discovered that almost a thousand people \u2013 patriots and war criminals, Red Army deserters and marauders \u2013 who had been murdered in the Soviet security prison (Inner Prison of the NKGB (MGB): https:\/\/www.journals.vu.lt\/gr\/article\/view\/35702) had been burried here in Tuskul\u0117nai.<\/span><\/p>\n<div><span lang=\"EN-GB\">Another martyred Bishop, Me\u010dislovas Reinys, was also burried in a masse grave, but in Russia, next to Vladimir Prison. As the date of his release drew nearer, he died under mysterious circumstances. In the Chapel of the Exiles of Vilnius Cathedral and in the churchyard of his home parish in Daugailiai (in Utena County) are kept soil capsules brought from the cemetery of Vladimir Prison during the first years of restored Independence. The testimony of G. Starke (https:\/\/www.proquest.com\/openview\/8935f9e302fd19af30dcd25134a329fe\/1?pq-origsite=gscholar&#038;cbl=1819501), Counsellor of the German embassy in Moscow and Lutheran, who was imprisoned with the Archbishop Reinys for a year, has reached us to this day, that M. Reinys was taller than all the inmates in his cell, not in height, but in his posture and in his spiritual traits. When one prisoner died in 1951, the Archbishop comforted and reassured the others: \u201cLet us not grieve, the martyred are fighting with us. <\u2026> They strengthen our ranks. May they be glorified who do not bow to untruth. They will live forever.\u201d The death of Archbishop Reinys was not announced to his relatives until six months later, in May 1954. <\/span><\/div>\n<p class=\"Textbody\"><span lang=\"EN-GB\">Despite his advanced age, hard prison conditions and the sufferings he had experienced in Vladimir, bishop Matulionis managed to return to Lithuania in 1956. The Blessed man of extraordinary endurance continued to unswervingly observe his prerogatives of Bishop, did not succumb to the pressure of authorities and their desire to submit him. February 9, 1962, on the day of his thirty-third anniversary of Bishop consecration, he had a telegraph from the Holy Father to announce him, that he was conferred a title of Archbishop \u201cfor praiseworthy steadfastness fulfilling the duties of a Good Shepherd in the Holy Church for so many years\u201d. Few months later, August 20, he died in exile in \u0160eduva, at the age of eighty-nine. A couple of days earlier, he had been visited by a previously unseen nurse who had given him an injection \u201cof vitamins C and B 12\u201d, and a little later by security officers who did not spare the elderly either threats or blows. Despite prohibitions against announcing about the funeral from the pulpits and against ringing the bells, over a hundred of priests and even bigger community of the faithful gathered for the funeral in Kai\u0161iadorys surrounded by masses of people who were prevented from entering the town. After burial in the crypt of the Kai\u0161iadorys Cathedral, the tomb was locked. <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"Textbody\"><span lang=\"EN-GB\">The remains of bishop V. Borisevi\u010dius were reburied in the crypt of Tel\u0161iai Cathedral in 1999 (September 27). In 1991, a beatification case was opened. The diocesan phase of the case was completed in 2018 and the collected material was handed over to the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints in Vatican.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner column_padding=&#8221;no-extra-padding&#8221; column_padding_position=&#8221;all&#8221; background_color_opacity=&#8221;1&#8243; background_hover_color_opacity=&#8221;1&#8243; column_shadow=&#8221;none&#8221; column_border_radius=&#8221;none&#8221; width=&#8221;1\/2&#8243; column_border_width=&#8221;none&#8221; column_border_style=&#8221;solid&#8221;]<div class=\"iwithtext\"><div class=\"iwt-icon\"> <i class=\"icon-default-style icon-map-marker accent-color\"><\/i> <\/div><div class=\"iwt-text\"> <a href=\"https:\/\/goo.gl\/maps\/jYswn9EsaxCKgSQGA\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">\u017dirm\u016bn\u0173 g. 1N, Vilnius<\/a> <\/div><div class=\"clear\"><\/div><\/div><div class=\"divider-wrap\"><div style=\"height: 25px;\" class=\"divider\"><\/div><\/div><div class=\"iwithtext\"><div class=\"iwt-icon\"> <i class=\"icon-default-style icon-glass accent-color\"><\/i> <\/div><div class=\"iwt-text\"> <b>Visiting hours<\/b><br \/>\nWednesday\u2013Saturday: 10 a.m.\u2013 6 p.m.<br \/>\nSunday: 10 a.m.- 5 p.m.<br \/>\nClosed on Mondays and Tuesdays.<\/p>\n<p>Prices:<\/p>\n<p>6 \u20ac adults<br \/>\n3 \u20ac students, pensioners<\/p>\n<p>Phone: + 370 646 49629<br \/>\nEmail: tuskulenai@genocid.lt <\/div><div class=\"clear\"><\/div><\/div><div class=\"divider-wrap\"><div style=\"height: 20px;\" class=\"divider\"><\/div><\/div><div class=\"iwithtext\"><div class=\"iwt-icon\"> <i class=\"icon-default-style icon-globe accent-color\"><\/i> <\/div><div class=\"iwt-text\"> <a href=\"http:\/\/www.tuskulenumemorialas.lt\/en\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">www.tuskulenumemorialas.lt\/en\/<\/a> <\/div><div class=\"clear\"><\/div><\/div>[\/vc_column_inner][\/vc_row_inner][\/tab][\/tabbed_section][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row type=&#8221;in_container&#8221; full_screen_row_position=&#8221;middle&#8221; scene_position=&#8221;center&#8221; text_color=&#8221;dark&#8221; text_align=&#8221;left&#8221; overlay_strength=&#8221;0.3&#8243; shape_divider_position=&#8221;bottom&#8221;][vc_column column_padding=&#8221;no-extra-padding&#8221; column_padding_position=&#8221;all&#8221; background_color_opacity=&#8221;1&#8243; background_hover_color_opacity=&#8221;1&#8243; column_shadow=&#8221;none&#8221; column_border_radius=&#8221;none&#8221; width=&#8221;1\/1&#8243; tablet_text_alignment=&#8221;default&#8221; phone_text_alignment=&#8221;default&#8221; column_border_width=&#8221;none&#8221; column_border_style=&#8221;solid&#8221;][vc_column_text]\n[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row]\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>[vc_row type=&#8221;in_container&#8221; full_screen_row_position=&#8221;middle&#8221; scene_position=&#8221;center&#8221; text_color=&#8221;dark&#8221; text_align=&#8221;left&#8221; overlay_strength=&#8221;0.3&#8243; shape_divider_position=&#8221;bottom&#8221;][vc_column centered_text=&#8221;true&#8221; column_padding=&#8221;no-extra-padding&#8221; column_&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":0,"parent":36,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-7970","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cityofmercy.lt\/en_GB\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/7970","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cityofmercy.lt\/en_GB\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cityofmercy.lt\/en_GB\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cityofmercy.lt\/en_GB\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/13"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cityofmercy.lt\/en_GB\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7970"}],"version-history":[{"count":49,"href":"https:\/\/cityofmercy.lt\/en_GB\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/7970\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7979,"href":"https:\/\/cityofmercy.lt\/en_GB\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/7970\/revisions\/7979"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cityofmercy.lt\/en_GB\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/36"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cityofmercy.lt\/en_GB\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7970"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}