Church of Divine Providence in Vilnius

At the beginning of the 20^th century the church of Divine Providence was built not as a church of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus parish but as a chapel for an orphanage, situated at Dobra Rada Street (Lithuanian: Gerosios Vilties, English: Good Advice Street). August Klein, a Lithuanian engineer and architect of German descent was the author of the project, though the new interior was designed by Eduard Rouba.

On 22 October 1913, in the presence of a great amount of clergy gathered, priest prelate Jan Hanusowicz consecrated the chapel of Divine Providence and delivered a homily on  the meaning of the consecration ceremony and the duty to respect the temples. During the high Mass the prelate Jan Kurczewski talked about the Christian mercy  which originates in the love of Jesus’ Heart. The church is a one-nave, neo-Gothic style cuboids’ form with towers and lower and narrower apse. After 1925, the church was a Salesians’ property who came to Vilnius on 15 August, 1924.

Maria Znamierowska-Prufferowa, author of the book “Vilnius – the city closest to the heart” shares her impressions from 17 December, 1944: ‘And this poor church designed by Wiwulski [author’s mistake – D. L.] has a lost charm in it. It stands on the hill, wounded by the bullets, it’s so slender and seems to possess some elements of movement. While the interior resembles some sort of a trivial crib filled with the childish sweetness where everything is made of paper and cardboard and at the same time is clean, colourful, fresh and touching with its naivety. The church has an interior gallery which seems to be the extension of a small crib theatre. It doesn’t have its own parish, it belongs to the church of the Heart of Jesus. People from Ponary sometimes come here. From the church’s courtyard spreads the wide  view of the way to Troki. This is the view of the desert lands with sparsely spread shabby houses. Heading East, the buildings of the hospital at Wilcza Łapa can be seen’.

After the Soviet occupation of Lithuania and Poland the church was transferred to the National Drama Theatre and converted to decorations’ storehouse. In 1961 it was returned to the worshippers and the Masses where celebrated here again.

When in 1964 the communist authorities decided to close the Church of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus (architect – Antoni Wiwulski) and rebuild it to the Builders’ Community Centre (Lithuanian: Statybininkų kultūros rūmai), part of the furnishings, including the holly statue of Mary Queen of the World and the statue of Jesus embracing a fireman, was transported to the church of the Divine Providence at Dobra Rada Street.

The former chapel of Divine Providence in Vilnius became a parish church of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus but its former name was also preserved. Now it’s the only catholic church in the Wilcza Łapa district (Lithuanian: Vilkpėdė, English: Wolf’s Paw). The services are held everyday here in Polish and Lithuanian.

At the beginning of the 21th century, priest Gintaras Petronis was eagerly trying to restore the church of Divine Providence and the chapel in Ponary (which belonged to him). This year the present rector Walentinas Sziusza with his two assistants – elder priest Kazimierz Kindurys and the vicar Powilasam Narijauskas has started the fundamental renovation of the church. The licence for the renovation was granted by the Department of Cultural Heritage in Vilnius.

Celebrations of the 10^th anniversary of the church will be held on Sunday, 13 October.

Schedule:

11:00 a.m. – a short conference of Dariusz Lewicki about the history of the Heart of Jesus parish and the church of the Divine Provenance at Dobra Rada (in Polish and Lithuanian).

11:40 a.m. – meeting and greetings from the Bishop

12:00 – Anniversary High Mass, celebrated by His Excellency Bishop Gintaras Gruszas (in Polish and Lithuanian)

2:00 p.m. – concert in the hall room of the Wilcza Łapa Association Centre (Skroblu, 19 Street)

More information available in Lithuanian at www.gerojiviltis.lt (within few months the site will be translated into Polish by Dariusz Lewicki).

Source: http://pl.delfi.lt/kultura/kultura/kosciol-opatrznosci-bozej-w-wilnie.d?id=63017940

Tłumaczenie by Elżbieta Szafarz w ramach praktyk w Europejskiej Fundacji Praw Człowieka, www.efhr.eu. Translated by Elżbieta Szafarz within the framework of a traineeship programme of the European Foundation of Human Rights, www.efhr.eu.