The picture of Our Lady of the Gates of Dawn in Vilnius

Jan Kazimierz Wilczyński, Album de Wilna, series V

 The Polish inscription under the image ‘Mother of Mercy, take us under your protection’ is a quote from a prayer to the Blessed Virgin Mary. Bishop Andrzej Benedykt Kłągiewicz decided to have these words written on the façade of the chapel in 1828. In order to avoid repressions by the Imperial Russian administration after the 1863 uprising (there were plans to remove the miracle-working picture from the chapel and put it in the neighbouring Orthodox church), the provocative inscription was replaced by the Latin words ‘Mater Misericordiae, sub tuum praesidium confugimus.’ The Polish words, designed by the artist Jerzy Hoppen, were restored in 1933 when Vilnius was under Polish rule. After the Second World War, in consideration of the national feelings of Catholics who lived in Vilnius, the Latin wording, which was acceptable to everyone, was reinstated.

Text author Dalia Vasiliūnienė

Jan Kazimierz Wilczyński, Album de Wilna, series V

 The Polish inscription under the image ‘Mother of Mercy, take us under your protection’ is a quote from a prayer to the Blessed Virgin Mary. Bishop Andrzej Benedykt Kłągiewicz decided to have these words written on the façade of the chapel in 1828. In order to avoid repressions by the Imperial Russian administration after the 1863 uprising (there were plans to remove the miracle-working picture from the chapel and put it in the neighbouring Orthodox church), the provocative inscription was replaced by the Latin words ‘Mater Misericordiae, sub tuum praesidium confugimus.’ The Polish words, designed by the artist Jerzy Hoppen, were restored in 1933 when Vilnius was under Polish rule. After the Second World War, in consideration of the national feelings of Catholics who lived in Vilnius, the Latin wording, which was acceptable to everyone, was reinstated.

Text author Dalia Vasiliūnienė