Deepertruth: The Virgin Mary Appearing in Lithuania 1608

In the 16th century the wars of the Reformation reached Lithuania, and Calvinism seized control of the area surrounding Siluva. But Catholic pilgrims continued to come to the Chapel at Siluva, even under increasing threat from the Calvinists. Seeing what was coming, the parish priest, Fr. Honas Holubka, gathered the important church documents, including the icon of Our Lady and the Child Jesus, sealed them into a metal box and buried them nearby. In an effort to crush Catholic piety, the Calvinists demolished the Chapel and leveled the ground. Years later local Catholics sought to regain legal ownership of lands seized, including the land the church was on, and were unable to do so because they had no documentation showing ownership.

Siluva, Lithuania, AD 1608; some 80 years after the church was demolished. Children shepherds and their sheep were on the land of the old church. They were suddenly transfixed by a vision of a weeping woman, standing on a rock and holding an infant. She did not speak; she was weeping. Then, she disappeared. One of the children ran to the local Calvinist catechist and told him of the vision of the weeping lady, and he was not believed. The other children all told their parents, and soon there was quite a commotion, and a crowd gathered at the place. The Calvinist catechist, and another teacher named Saliamonas also went to the place.