Faith

You may be wondering what my new picture at the heading of this blog is. In Lithuania I visited the famous Hill of Crosses, north of the city of Siauliai. Here hundreds of thousands of crosses and rosaries represent the religion and national sentiment of Lithuania, which is overwhelmingly Catholic. During the Soviet period the authorities routinely came to remove them or even bulldoze them on several occasions. They even threatened to flood the little valley where it is located. But the crosses returned - and when independence was retrieved in 1991 the number just exploded. Pope John Paul celebrated Mass here, and they have left the altar canopy in place, slowly aging - rather different to Pontcanna Fields where I don't think there is anything to remember 2nd June 1982... The Pope gave to the Hill a big Crucifix which is in my second photo. A new Francisan monastery has been built nearby, with a plate glass window behind the altar opening onto the Hill. The Hill of Crosses is a beautiful place, something extraordinary, right in the middle of nowhere. I noticed that everyone, believer and non-believer alike, as they walked over the hill, spoke in hushed tones...

p.s. Don't forget that if you want to see any of my photos in my blog, such as the first one today, in much more detail, just click on it.