Skiemonys Chapel

Skiemonys has been a site of Catholic worship since approximately 1500, with a monastic presence from 1677 to 1832. The 1962 Marian apparition to Ramute Macvyte in a nearby field transformed the parish into a pilgrimage destination whose significance was amplified by Soviet suppression.

The church at Skiemonys dates to around 1500, though details of the earliest chapel are lost. In 1618, the area was granted to the Canonical Canons Regular of Penance from Vidukle, who established a monastery and built a wooden church in 1677. The monastery operated until the Russian suppression of 1832. The current church, the third or fourth on the site, was built in 1884 by Father K. Bernatavicius, and a brick bell tower was added in 1903.

The event that transformed Skiemonys from parish to pilgrimage site occurred on the night of July 13, 1962. Eighteen-year-old Ramute Macvyte was walking through clover fields at Janonis, near the church, when at 11 PM she saw the Virgin Mary dressed in white with blue ribbons, hands positioned as if celebrating Mass. The Virgin wept golden tears that fell like coins and spoke: 'I will help mankind if man turns to prayer.' She asked people not to eat meat on Fridays. The apparition recurred the following evening. Within days, crowds gathered despite the prohibition of religious activity under Soviet law. On July 15, uniformed military personnel arrived, physically assaulting and dispersing pilgrims.