The church and the friary in Kretinga

         

In 1602 on the bank of Akmena Jan Karol Chodkiewicz with his wife Zophia built a wooden church and invited six Bernardine brothers to tend it as well Kretinga citizenry‘s spirituality.

         

Friary and the church were twice plundered and ravaged during the XVIIth century wars between the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the Kingdom of Sweden. Supposedly, praying franciscan brothers together with parish were mured up alive in the cellar of the church.

         

Though the rule of the Czar restricted franciscan activity in the XIXth century,  friary and the church flourished, franciscan fathers were known for sermons and calibre.

         

Soviet rulers closed friary in 1940. After various hardships franciscans returned to the Church in 1989 officialy celebrating Mass in their former shrine.

         

In 2005 and in september bishop J. Boruta hallowed Martyrs‘ chapel with the discovered bones of 120 mured up people.

Piety for the st. Anthony of Padua augmented in XVIII century with the erection of the st. Anthony of Padua‘s name altar. Image of the saint having a vision hung in this wooden altar.           In 1862 st. Anthony‘s reliquiae were brought, altar renewed, imaged changed (new depicting st. Anthony with the monstrance). Soon the wake of St. Anthony became the most important feast of franciscan brothers and Kretinga parish gathering worshippers from all over Lithuania.