St. Casimir Chapel

The Story

The Chapel of St. Casimir in Vilnius Cathedral, Lithuania, is the burial place of the country's patron saint, Prince Casimir Jagiellon. Beneath the chapel's Baroque dome, a silver sarcophagus holds the relics of the young royal whose holiness made him the enduring patron of Lithuania and its youth. Casimir was born in 1458, a son of King Casimir IV of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania. Trained for rule, he became known instead for his prayer, his purity, his generosity to the poor, and his tender devotion to the Virgin Mary; the Marian hymn Omni die dic Mariae is closely associated with him and was found buried with him, according to the traditional account. He refused what he regarded as an unjust course of war, embraced a life of asceticism, and died of tuberculosis in 1484 at the age of twenty-five. Devotion at his tomb in Vilnius grew quickly, with healings and favors reported by pilgrims, and tradition holds that his body was found intact when the tomb was opened in 1604. He was canonized in 1602, and in 1636 his relics were solemnly transferred to the richly decorated chapel built for them beside the cathedral sanctuary, a masterpiece of early Baroque art. Through war, occupation, and the Soviet era, when the cathedral itself was closed and the relics were moved for safekeeping, devotion to St. Casimir never ceased. His relics were restored to the chapel in 1989, and his feast on March 4 remains a national celebration, marked in Vilnius by the centuries-old Kaziuko muge fair.

Church Recognition

St. Casimir was canonized in 1602 and is venerated as the patron saint of Lithuania; his relics rest in the chapel built for them in Vilnius Cathedral, itself a minor basilica, and his feast on March 4 is on the General Roman Calendar.

Catholic Teaching

The chapel expresses the Church's veneration of the relics of the saints (CCC 1674) and the communion of saints, through which the faithful seek the intercession of those who now live in Christ (CCC 946-962); St. Casimir's Marian devotion also models Mary's role in leading hearts to her Son.

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Practical

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Pilgrims visit the St. Casimir Chapel in Vilnius Cathedral to pray before the silver sarcophagus holding the saint's relics; celebrations peak around his feast on March 4, when Vilnius also holds the traditional St. Casimir's Fair.

Go Deeper

The cathedral's official website, https://www.katedra.lt, offers visitor information on the chapel; readers may also consult the Catechism on the communion of saints (CCC 946-962) and accounts of St. Casimir's life published for his 1984 fifth centenary.