Benedictine Monastery and the church of the Blessed Virgin Mary of the Gates of Dawn in Palendriai

The monastery is located in the village of Palendriai. The Benedictines moved into the newly built monastery in the autumn of 2001. The church of the monastery is open for everyone, who wants to pray with the monks. Benedictines commit themselves to seek God’s love and grace by observing the vows of obedience, constancy, chastity and poverty. A fragment of the cross on which Christ was crucified and a thorn from the crown of thorns are kept in the monastery. It is believed that these relics touched the very body of Christ. Next to the monastery there is a church of the Blessed Virgin Mary of the Gates of Dawn or Blessed Virgin Mary Oratory of the Gates of Dawn. This church is not functioning, but it is one of the most interesting and beautiful examples of reinforced concrete architecture of the pre-war Lithuania. It was built by Lithuanian priest and patron Kazimieras Ambrozaitis and designed by architect Vladas Bitė from Šiauliai. Its construction began in 1935 and it was concecrated in 1938.