Lithuania Revisited: The Hill Of Crosses

I need to offer an addendum to my comments from earlier this month regarding the twentieth anniversary of Lithuania's secession from the Soviet Union to mention a wonderful site just outside the Lithuanian city of Šiauliai, a symbol of peaceful resistance to foreign occupation. The Hill of Crosses is a small hill where numerous crucifixes had been placed as an act of Lithuanian national pride in this heavily Catholic country during the long periods of Russian domination.

The Hill of Crosses contains over 100,000 crosses planted in its soil, along with statues and paintings of the Virgin Mary, carvings of Lithuanian patriots, effigies, and rosaries. It is a testament to the deep faith of a people who one day hoped for their land to be free.

Lithuania became part of the Russian Empire in 1795 after the final partition of the Polish/Lithuanian Commonwealth by Prussia, Austria, and Russia. In 1831 and 1863, the Lithuanian people rose against their Russian oppressors and failed in both instances. Because the bodies of the Lithuanian rebels were never found, relatives of the deceased came to this hill outside Šiauliai, where a fort had once stood, to place crosses as a substitute for proper graves. During Lithuania's period of independence between the two World Wars, many people came to pray for peace and for the martyrs who fought for their country.

After the Soviet Union annexed Lithuania illegally - forcing the country under Russian domination once again - the Hill of Crosses took on a new meaning as Lithuanian patriots kept planting crosses on the hill as an act of defiance against their atheistic Soviet oppressors. The Communists sought to remove the crosses, and they even bulldozed the hill thrice, but the more they tried to suppress this act of peaceful resistance, the more Lithuanians continued to plant crosses and other icons to demonstrate their faith, their heritage, and their desire for independence once again.

Pope John Paul II - who was more instrumental than any other individual for the fall of the Iron Curtain and the breakup of the Soviet Union - made a pilgrimage here in 1993, when Lithuania was once again in the family of nations.

The Pope declared it a place for hope, peace, love and sacrifice, recognizing its significance in the way Lithuanians restored their independence without firing a shot. A Franciscan religious retreat opened nearby in 2000.

The Hill of Crosses remains a place of prayer and a monument to freedom. It is one of the most astonishing points of interest in Catholic Europe.