Vilnius, Lithuania

On the way to Vilnius we got sidetracked by a cancelled SAS flight which cost us the better part of another travel day at the Stockholm airport. All of which reminds me of two more travel tips! First, whenever flying a minor route which has multiple flights a day, always search to see what the cancellation rate is. Some airlines are known to cancel flights just to consolidate the route, and they do it often enough to make planning on a given flight impossible. I can’t swear that is what happened to us, but our half-filled morning flight got cancelled and we flew on a now full flight in the afternoon.

Very suspicious. The other tip is related: if you are flying in the Eurozone, you have great customer rights to refunds and compensation. Despite getting us on a later flight, SAS now owes us almost 500 Euros cash! They don’t advertise it much, but that is the law in Europe.

We are staying just down the street in Vilnius from the Shrine of Divine Mercy. Here’s the story:

Back in the early 1930s, a young Polish woman named Helena Kowalska joined the sisters of Our Lady of Mercy in Vilnius. As Sister Faustina, she started having ecstatic visions of Jesus, who instructed her to keep a record of what He said. Her diary became an extended meditation on the notion of Divine Mercy, despite the fact she only had a few years of formal education. Many of her fellow religious were skeptical, although one priest, Father Michael Sopocko, believed and encouraged her.

According to her diary, Jesus instructed her to be his “Secretary” of Divine Mercy, in order to help mankind understand just how overwhelming God’s mercy is. He directed her to have an exact replica made of His image of Divine Mercy, to profess certain prayers, and to have a Feast of Divine Mercy established for the entire world…quite a to-do list for a poor, barely literate, Polish nun.

While Sister Faustina was having the image painted, she began a long decline in health (probably due to tuberculosis), resulting in her death in October, 1938. She had predicted a terrible war would break out, and when the Nazis and Soviets occupied Poland, her cause and most of Church leadership in Poland went underground. The Divine Mercy image went on an extended, secret journey to escape capture by first the Nazis, and then the Communists.

While the Divine Mercy devotion continued to grow over the next few decades, it remained mainly a Polish or Polish-American phenomenon. Some in the Church opposed the devotion, and sought to have it declared heretical. In a twist of fate (perhaps Divine intervention?), a papal conclave in 1978 elected the first ever Polish Pope, John Paul II, who happened to be one of the principal proponents of the Divine Mercy cause.  He canonized now Saint Faustina in 2000, and established the worldwide feast of Divine Mercy as the second Sunday of Easter.

Judy has been especially devoted to the Divine Mercy cause, so this stop was especially meaningful for her.

Vilnius is a lovely city with much intact architecture despite its violent history. We really enjoyed strolling its narrow streets and trying some of its hearty cuisine. We walked over seven miles and climbed the Hill of Three Crosses, a local landmark with amazing views. We also enjoyed such Lithuanian delicacies as meat-filled dumplings (Zeppelins), cold beetroot soup with warm potatoes, and hearty game stew.

Here are a few parting shots: