"Christianizers"

Meditation by the hieromonk Giovanni Guaita July 12, 2026.

Hello, friends!

Today we celebrate the holy apostles Peter and Paul. I am in the city of Vilnius. And this city seems to have no connection whatsoever with these two Chief Apostles. Peter and Paul are the Chief Apostles, the ones who first began to preach: Peter, of course, at the beginning, and then Paul. And they preached not only to the Jews, but also to the pagans.

The Good News has spread throughout the world. Of course, first in Central Asia, in Palestine and in Europe—all the lands around the Mediterranean Sea gradually began to convert to the Christian faith. One might say that our old continent, Europe, is the very first Christian continent. But, to tell the truth, the various European countries converted at different times: some earlier, some later. One of the last countries to convert to the Christian faith was, in fact, Lithuania. Everyone knows Lithuania as a deeply believing country, and Lithuanians as people of great faith. But their baptism, in reality, took place very, very late. Right up until the fourteenth century, the Lithuanians were pagans.

The history of the conversion of Lithuania is truly interesting. Today, on the feast of Peter and Paul, that is, of the Chief Apostles, I decided to tell you a little about the conversion of Lithuania and about the local martyrs of Vilnius, who played a key role precisely in the conversion of their country.

And, friends, I am not here alone. With me is my dear friend Gleb, whom I met recently. He is not Lithuanian, he is Belarusian, but he has been living in Lithuania for quite some time already. Here he is an altar server, an acolyte, right here, in the Monastery of the Holy Spirit. And this is the centre, one might say, of the Eparchy of Vilnius and in general of our Orthodox Church in Vilnius and in Lithuania. I would like to ask Gleb to tell us something about these martyrs of Vilnius. It is a very interesting story. If I have understood correctly, they converted thanks to the preaching of a priest named Nestor, right?

- Yes, it was the priest Nestor. At that time Prince Algirdas was ruling, and he had an Orthodox wife, Princess Maria. During that period, Prince Algirdas was taking an interest in Orthodoxy and he granted the priest Nestor permission to open and build several churches. Two in Vitebsk, and one right here in Vilnius. This church was dedicated to the Martyr Paraskeva.

- And then, if I am not mistaken, following Nestor’s preaching, two brothers converted

- Nestor helped many pagans to convert to Orthodoxy and to abandon idolatry; among the converted pagans there were two brothers: the younger one, Anthony, and the elder one, John.

But after the death of Princess Maria, consort of Prince Algirdas, the pagan authorities began to put pressure on the prince to ban Orthodoxy in Lithuania. And the two brothers, the holy martyrs, also suffered these pressures.

- As I understand, they were both imprisoned, weren’t they?

- Yes. At first, they tried to force them to abjure and, for example, they forced them to eat meat on fast days, but they would not accept it. They locked them both in prison and began to torture them.

- And then it happened that, after various difficulties and tortures, one of them gave in. Moreover, the elder one, if I am not mistaken, John.

– Yes, the elder one, John.

- And then?

- Since the younger brother, Anthony, did not give in, whilst the elder chose freedom instead of the torments, the latter was released, and for a certain period the younger brother as well.

- Yes, that's exactly how it went: the Lithuanian prince, although he had previously been interested in the Christian faith, let them both go. But later, the elder brother, John, also began to repent, realising he had made a mistake. And from here the story develops.

- Yes. The brothers remained true to their Christian faith, so Prince Algirdas, infuriated along with the pagans, threw them back into prison, where he began to torture them again, beating them and continuing to torment each of the brothers. At first, they executed the younger brother, Anthony. The elder brother, John, remained steadfast in his Orthodox faith regardless; they continued to torture him and finally hanged him from an oak tree.

- And then it happened that someone else, a third person, learnt of the sacrifice of the two brothers — Eustathius, if I am not mistaken — and he too was baptised, embracing the Orthodox Christian faith. The most astonishing thing is that, following all these events, the sacrifice of the three martyrs became very famous. As a result, the Grand Duke himself, who had them tortured, converted.

- He even became a monk towards the end of his life. And all twelve or fourteen of his sons also became Christians.

- A truly interesting, unusual and singular story. As always happens in the history of the Christianisation of many countries, the sacrifice and suffering of some generate, as a result, the faith of others. It is what Tertullian said: "The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the Church". It is exactly what happened here in Lithuania.

- The relics of the holy martyrs are now in the church of the Monastery of the Holy Spirit in Vilnius. And they are, of course, greatly venerated. Many come: Catholics, as well as ordinary tourists, and often foreigners too.

- Yes, and there are surprising things here. After all, Lithuania is a predominantly Catholic country, but historically it is also tied to Orthodoxy. Surprisingly, many do not know this history, but there are also Protestants, and not a few of them. And right here, in the centre of Lithuania, practically on the same street or the next one, is the Monastery of the Holy Spirit, which is the heart of the Orthodox Church in Lithuania. And nearby there is a Catholic chapel where the very famous icon of Our Lady of the Gate of Dawn is venerated, who is also the protectress of the city and the country. There are also other Catholic and Protestant churches, practically all close to one another. And one must say that relations are quite good. Very often priests tell me that sometimes Catholics, coming out of Mass, enter the Orthodox church and leave commemoration notes for their relatives, both for the living and for the departed. Just think, it is a truly interesting and extraordinary thing, in my opinion.

- The sky in Vilnius is beautiful, especially in spring and summer. Even I, who come from Belarus, which is very close by, find that in Vilnius it is special. It is pink, fading into purple, into beige, with very warm, relaxing, and splendid tones.

- Wonderful. And the city centre is incredibly beautiful, with its various churches and monasteries, but also the streets themselves and the alleys in the centre of Vilnius are truly splendid.

- Yes, Gleb, I also wanted to ask you about the church and the crypt, because there is the upper church, which is splendid, but there is also a crypt.

- At a certain point, it was built to house the relics of our holy martyrs. In the event of an attack, they would hide them there, but now they are located right above this crypt. In the lower church, instead, at the moment we celebrate the Liturgy in the Ukrainian language for the refugees who have arrived from Ukraine.

So, friends, happy feast of the Chief Apostles Peter and Paul. My friend Gleb and I send you our greetings. I believe that this account of the evangelisation of Lithuania and of the sacrifice of the martyrs of Vilnius can inspire us. And we can understand, in the first place, that our sufferings are precious and very important, because they are a testimony and can become one for so many people. In the second place, for me the example of Lithuania is very important, where Christians from different Churches manage to coexist not only peacefully, but, I would say, loving one another.