The most famous shrine in Lithuania is the Gates of Dawn in Vilnius. It is famous for the miraculous painting of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of Mercy, one of the most prominent Renaissance paintings in Lithuania. Because of the Madona of the Gates of Dawn Vilnius is often called the holy city. Since ancient times the prayerful people from all the corners of Lithuania had flocked to pray at the image of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of Mercy.
It is not known when exactly the chapel was established and when the miraculous image of the mother of God was hung there. There were 5 major roads leading to Vilnius then, and a gate stood on each of them. The Gates of Dawn was one of them. When the Russian authorities demolished the wall surrounding Vilnius and all the gates, they left the Gates of Dawn intact, probably because even then there must have been a magical painting in it. There were lots of legends related to the painting. It is said that Barbora Radvilaite herself was depicted in it.
The first miracle related to the painting was described 350 years ago. While the parents were saying prayers, their child fell from the second floor and survived. They started to believe in St. Virgin miracles. When the fire broke out at the Gates of Dawn, two monks grabbed the painting and carried it out, only later they realized that a miracle had happened again, because the painting was very heavy at least four men were needed to lift it.
The Swedish Protestants who occupied Vilnius mocked the Catholics and even shot at the painting: that gaping hole can still be seen today. In the evening, while those Swedes were celebrating, a metal door suddenly fell and killed them.
Vilnius was badly damaged by the fire: the wooden chapel of the Gates of Dawn, which had stood for 44 years, also burned down. The miraculous picture was saved from the burning chapel by the Carmelites. The brick chapel of the Gates of Dawn was built around 1719 again and remains there nowadays. The holy painting was also brought to the new chapel during a solemn procession. Although Vilnius has seen many wars, the magical picture has survived to this day.
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