The apparition of Our Lady of Šiluva

This picture portrays one of the most famous events in the history of the Church in Lithuania, the apparition of the Blessed Virgin Mary at Šiluva in 1608. The Reformation had spread in Lithuania in the 16th century, and was still strong, and therefore the apparition at Šiluva was of great importance in the rivalry between the various confessions in the Diocese of Žemaitija. According to the story, which was written down in the 17th century, some young shepherds who were watching over their flocks in a field saw a girl on top of a large stone holding a baby in her arms and weeping. They sought out a member of the Calvinist Church to tell him about their vision, who repeated it to a Calvinist preacher. He went back to the field and saw the Virgin, and asked her why she was weeping. She answered that it was because people used to worship her son in that place, but ‘now they just plough and sow’, and then she disappeared. As dissenters, the Calvinists laughed at the vision, and interpreted it as the apparition of an evil spirit. But news of the shepherds’ vision quickly spread, and people recalled that there had once been a Catholic church on the site of the stone. Eventually, the place and the newly built church there became an important site of pilgrimage in the Diocese of Žemaitija,and the painting of the Blessed Virgin Mary that was placed on the main altar became famous far and wide for its powers of intercession. The picture was crowned in 1786, with the approval of the Holy See. This painting in the collection was based on a devotional picture printed in 1886 to mark the centenary of the coronation.

Text author Dalia Vasiliūnienė

Source: Law firm Valiunas Ellex art album HEAVEN AND BEYOND (2016). Compiler Dalia Vasiliūnienė. Text authors Dalia Vasiliūnienė, Skaidrė Urbonienė
Expositions: “Heaven and Beyond. Works of religious art from the collection of Rolandas Valiūnas and the law firm Valiunas Ellex“, 31 May–24 September 2016, Church Heritage Museum, Vilnius (curators Dalia Vasiliūnienė, Skaidrė Urbonienė)

This picture portrays one of the most famous events in the history of the Church in Lithuania, the apparition of the Blessed Virgin Mary at Šiluva in 1608. The Reformation had spread in Lithuania in the 16th century, and was still strong, and therefore the apparition at Šiluva was of great importance in the rivalry between the various confessions in the Diocese of Žemaitija. According to the story, which was written down in the 17th century, some young shepherds who were watching over their flocks in a field saw a girl on top of a large stone holding a baby in her arms and weeping. They sought out a member of the Calvinist Church to tell him about their vision, who repeated it to a Calvinist preacher. He went back to the field and saw the Virgin, and asked her why she was weeping. She answered that it was because people used to worship her son in that place, but ‘now they just plough and sow’, and then she disappeared. As dissenters, the Calvinists laughed at the vision, and interpreted it as the apparition of an evil spirit. But news of the shepherds’ vision quickly spread, and people recalled that there had once been a Catholic church on the site of the stone. Eventually, the place and the newly built church there became an important site of pilgrimage in the Diocese of Žemaitija,and the painting of the Blessed Virgin Mary that was placed on the main altar became famous far and wide for its powers of intercession. The picture was crowned in 1786, with the approval of the Holy See. This painting in the collection was based on a devotional picture printed in 1886 to mark the centenary of the coronation.

Text author Dalia Vasiliūnienė

Source: Law firm Valiunas Ellex art album HEAVEN AND BEYOND (2016). Compiler Dalia Vasiliūnienė. Text authors Dalia Vasiliūnienė, Skaidrė Urbonienė
Expositions: “Heaven and Beyond. Works of religious art from the collection of Rolandas Valiūnas and the law firm Valiunas Ellex“, 31 May–24 September 2016, Church Heritage Museum, Vilnius (curators Dalia Vasiliūnienė, Skaidrė Urbonienė)