Pilgrimage to the Hill of Crosses
On our recent visit to Lithuania, on our drive from the the city of Vilnius to the Baltic Coast, we made a detour northward towards the city of Siauliai so the we could visit the Hill of Crosses or Kryziu Kalnas. The Hill is more of a mound measuring only 10 meters in height, but its symbolism towers high and speaks with power to the thousands of pilgrims who visit it each year.
No one quite knows how the practice of leaving crosses on the hill began. Some think it began as a protest against the Tsar after revolts against the Russian Regime in 1831 and 1863. After World War 2, planting crosses on the Hill encapsulated the struggle of the Lithuanian people against Soviet occupation and atheist ideology. The Soviets banned religion and the Hill of Crosses was deemed anti-state. The road to the site was closed and KGB guards were posted all around the Hill. People who brought crosses to the hill were fined and incarcerated. The Soviets bulldozed the site three separate times, but as someone put it, “the soviets’ bulldozer atheism” provoked national resistance - partisans snuck through the barricades to rebuild the hill. Historian, Dr. Vytenis Rimkus tells the story how, despite the security small crosses started appearing at night. The hill looked completely empty, but was full of crosses lying in the grass made of little stones. (You can learn more about the history of the Hill of Crosses by watching this 15min. video - https://youtu.be/P0nX9PGRW64si=oA7iiUlnfFm2MLT8 )
Today, the hill not only stands as a testament to the Lithuanian people's determination to preserve their religious and national identity in the face of tyranny and oppression, but also receives the hopes and prayers of countless pilgrims from around the world who come to plant their own crosses inscribed with their prayers, petitions and thanksgivings.
Every cross represents a prayer, and those prayers - the voices of the martyrs from the past and the whispered prayers on the lips of living saints infuses the the Hill with a holy aura.
One of the cross inscriptions gives thanks to God for the honour to die for one’s country - and lists the names of 18 Lithuanians who were incarcerated and died at the Nazi Stutthof concentration camp.
Filling every space--either planted in the ground or hanging from larger crosses erected by community associations, congregations and religious orders--are thousands of small crosses erected by individuals and or families visiting from neighbouring countries or from across the globe asking for protection or healing or giving thanks for mercies received.
A Lithuanian cross carver, compares the cross to a tree, whose roots are anchored in the ground and its branches reach out to the sky. He says the cross is similar - it serves as a link between heaven and earth.