Hill of Crosses

When I went to Lithuania two years ago, I visited a placed called The Hill of Crosses. During the uprising of 1831 when Lithuania was occupied by the Russians, some revolutionaries were praying in a chapel. The Russians surrounded the chapel, locked all the windows and doors. They then covered the chapel with dirt, killing everyone inside.

The people started bringing crosses to this hill as a memorial to those killed inside the chapel. During the Soviet occupation of Lithuania, the Soviets took all the wooden crosses and burned them. The metals ones they bulldozed into the ground. One night, a group of the faithful took a 30' foot cross and began a march towards the hill. The Soviets heard about the plan, and placed a stake out at the hill in order to catch and prosecute those in charge.

The next morning, as the sun rose over the Hill of Crosses, the silouette of a 30' cross was seen on the horizon.

John Paul II visited this hill, calling it a place of hope, peace and sacrifice. There are crosses from concentration camp victims, from pilgrims from all over the world, and of course, from the native Lithuanians. They are a proud people, and this place is a testament to their unflinching fidelity to the cross.

The St. Brigid's cross is my sister Deborah's. It was the only celtic cross that I saw there. The one below is from the St. Benedict Center.