Prayer for Lithuania in Šiluva
Holy Virgin of Šiluva, “Sanitas Aegrotorum” – Health of the Sick, today I address you with great emotion as Pastor of the universal Church. During long years of oppressive suffering and trials, you never ceased to keep watch over Lithuania, the Land of Crosses.
I have come here to thank you, in the name of this Nation of believers: it is through your intercession that the hour of resurrection and hope has arrived in this land dedicated to you. In Cana, at your petition, your Son transformed water into wine. Help the people of Lithuania transform the painful experience of the past into a joyful future:
where believers were persecuted and maltreated, may religious and social peace now take hold;
where hatred dominated, may forgiveness now reign;
where intolerance was rampant, may people now find common ground and mutual trust.
Today the Church spread across the five continents honours you and gives glory to God for his designs of grace and mercy.
Good Mother, constantly watch over this Nation and bless it.
Strengthen Lithuanians’ resolve to listen to the word of your Son, Jesus – the word of life, propagated here many centuries ago.
Queen of Peace, honoured at the Shrine of Šiluva, help these children who turn to you with confidence to build the house that is their future not on the sand of ideologies, but on the rock of the Gospel. Encourage them to base their social and political activity not on selfishness, whether personal or collective, but on the ideals of love and of unity.
In this shrine, surrounded by green fields, you hear the petitions of the Lithuanian people and you bolster their hope. Grant them zeal and courage to overcome material and moral difficulties. Make the work of their hands and their minds fruitful. Protect the joy of their homes and the harmony of their social life. Maintain their resolve to work for a brighter future.
In a special way, I entrust young people to you. May they find the meaning of their life in Christ, and may they be ever vigilant in hope.
I entrust to you also the Bishops, the Priests, those who are consecrated to God and all Christians. Win for each of them the grace to serve the Kingdom of God with perseverance and generosity, to become the yeast of the new evangelization among their brothers and sisters.
Mary, Mother of all Lithuanians, Star of this Nation that appeals to you and loves you, pray for us!
JOHN PAUL II
From a homily during the Liturgy of the Word at the Shrine of Šiluva (September 7, 1993).
