Religion

An Oasis for Lithuanians. A walking tour of St. Anthony’s Franciscan Monastery in Kennebunkport, Maine

Laima Vincė. When I was growing up in the 1970’s and 1980’s, our family made a yearly summer pilgrimage to the St. Anthony’s Guest House on the Franciscan monastery grounds. My mother recalls spending her summers here in the 1950s and 1960s. Back then, we would hear Lithuanian spoken on …

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A Life of Devotion: Brother Vincent Žvingilas

By Kendall Svengalis. LITHUANIAN HERITAGE September / October 2021 Over the course of its 112-year existence, Draugas (The Friend), the Chicago-based Lithuanian-Catholic newspaper, has bene ted from the contributions and tireless efforts of several hundreds of editors, writers, and staff members. Beginning in 1918, its operations, both administrative and editorial, …

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History of Annunciation Parish Past and Present

The Church of the Annunciation.

Petras Palys. Church of the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, is located at 259 N. 5th Street, Brooklyn, New York. A parish is a community of believers, part of Christ’s Mystical Body, which sustains us through grace and belief. The parish strives to unite the faithful in Christ, to …

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The Reconsecration of the Church of the Annunciation. The Brooklyn church has served the Lithuanian community continuously since 1914

The newly refurbished interior of Annunciation Church.

Raimundas Šližys. For New York area Lithuanians and the entire American Lithuanian community as well, March 24th was a special day. On that date after a yearlong restoration, the historic Church of the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary Church in Brooklyn, NY, was solemnly reconsecrated. Since 1914, when the …

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Femme au Foyer – 24 Days of a Baltic Christmas

Found a great blog by Latvian-American Liene Kukainis. It’s called “Femme au foyer” which translates to “woman at the hearth.” For the past several years Liene has been putting together a list of posts each December each having something to do with a Baltic Christmas. Here are the postings to-date …

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Aloyzas Baronas and the Christmas harmonica tale

We received an inquiry at Lithuanian Heritage relating to a very short story written by Aloyzas Baronas, about “Kaziuko Armonika.”  The reader wanted to know where one could find more stories like this to read to children about the magical goings on during the night before Christmas, where animals are …

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A trip turned pilgrimage. OUR LADY OF ŠILUVA DE RINCON, NEW MEXICO

MEEK AND MILD IN THE LAND OF CHILI PEPPERS.

Vilius Žalpys. On Oct. 1, 2015, I flew out of Portland, Oregon, to visit with family and friends in Los Angeles, California, and attend the annual Lithuanian Days Festival at St. Casimir’s Parish in LA. I intended to spend the week in and around LA. As I was filling out …

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IT’S A MIRACLE! Holy Doors Opened at Lithuanian Parish

Parish priests await to begin the Holy Door ceremonies at Immaculate Conception Church in Chicago's Brighton Park.

Viktoras Kelmelis. Pope Francis has declared 2016 to be the Year of Divine Mercy. On Holy Thursday, Bishop Alberto Rojas announced that Brighton Park’s Immaculate Conception church ( 2745 W. 44th Street, Chicago, IL) was chosen to be an official Year of Divine Mercy Shrine. Immaculate Conception Parish was founded …

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Saulute: A Repository of Precious Childhood Memories

By MILDA B. RICHARDSON. Older generations familiar with rural life in Lithuania describe how the Christmas season was traditionally one of tranquility, a time for quiet meditation. This kind of peace is hard to achieve in the frenetic urban environment. Throughout the centuries following the introduction of Christianity in Lithuania, Advent …

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NO ONE CAN CONQUER A NATION THAT SINGS LIKE THIS NATION

By VITALIJUS ZAIKAUSKAS. It is July 2014 and it has finally arrived –– the National Lithuanian Song Festival. It takes place in Vilnius in Vingis Park, a site which has become identified with the first massive gatherings demanding freedom some twenty years ago. But today we are here to celebrate. We …

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