Paper short abstract:

The feast of Pentecost in Vilnius Calvary and visiting believers the Stations of the Cross during feast is one of the most significant factors in Vilnius religious life and the most distinct place for the folk to practice their regional devotion.

Paper long abstract:

The Calvary Route of the Cross in Vilnius Verkiai suburb in the middle of the 17th century and it focused on visiting the Stations of the Cross during feast the Pentacost. It was not only the sacred content of the very ritual of visiting the Cross Route distinguished, but folk piety as well. The feast of Pentecost in Vilnius Calvary, was a universal centre of devotion shared by Lithuanian, Byelorussian, Ukrainian and Polish Catholics. After World War II worshippers were prevented from walking the Route of the Cross in Vilnius Calvary. Consequently, almost all the chapels on the Route of the Cross were blown up in 1962. However, in 1989 a free celebration of the feast of Pentecost started. Moreover, in 2002 the chapels were rebuilt and the feast of Pentecost renewed. The succession of the traditions of folk piety is observed only in hymns and rituals at the chapels. Owing to this, observations of the rituals and the survey of worshippers prove that religious aspirations are becoming the most significant in the contemporary process of walking the Route of the Cross. Summing up, it may be deduced that the modernisation of the society and the strengthening of its secular layer have ensured a much more purified religious form for the tradition of the feast of Pentecost revived in Vilnius Calvary. The focus of folk piety, however, is becoming of minor importance