Sejny. 06.09.2015 r. 40 Rocznica Koronacji Cudownej Figury Matki Boskiej Sejnenskiej. Sanktuarium Matki Boskiej Sejnenskiej. N/z Figura Matki Bozej Szafkowej z przelomu XIV-XV w. Fot. Andrzej Sidor/FORUM.

Minor Basilica was erected by the Dominicans from Vilnius in the years 1610-1619. The building was inspired by the Lithuanian Baroque style. Today’s image gained the church as a result of the reconstruction carried out 150 years later. The interior of the temple creates a beautiful and harmonious whole. The church consists of the main altar, two Chapels (the Heart of Jesus and the Mother of God) and eight side altars. Baroque dominates, but also features of the Gothic style are visible as well as rococo features. In the presbytery there is a Baroque altar with a painting depicting the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, at the top of which is the image of Christ crucified. On the sides of the altar there are Baroque statues of Saints: Peter and Paul and a wooden, gold-plated tabernacle, dated to the 18th century. On both sides of the altar there are antique tin candlesticks with tripartite feet decorated with acanthus leaf ornament. On both sides of the church there are classicist chapels under which there are church crypts. Under the Chapel of the Heart of Jesus lie the ashes of the Massalski – the founders of the reconstruction and under the Chapel of the Holy Mother- the remains of the Sejny Bishops. Nowadays both crypts and church towers are inaccessible to the public. Local legend says that one of the towers has a crystal armchair inside.

In the Chapel of Mother of God there is brought from Königsberg to Sejny at the beginning of the 17th century (1602) by the founder of the town Jerzy Grodziński the “cupboard” figure of the Mother of God with the Child who hides the mystery of the Holy Trinity. The sculpture was made at the turn of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries – from the lime tree. To this day, only five such figures have been preserved, including three in Poland: Lubieszów, Klonówka and Sejny; one at the Cluny Museum (in Paris) and one at the National Museum in Nuremberg.

Bringing the Figure to Sejny has become a legend: Grodziński had a vision in which a friar in a white habit ordered him to go to Konigsberg, find a woodcarver and buy from him a statue of the Holy Mother, purchased from some pagan. Pious Grodziński immediately went to the place indicated in his dream with the intention of bringing the statue to the newly-built church. He drove the market with the woodcarver with great difficulty, as he demanded a large sum of money. Grodziński arranged a statue on a horse-drawn carriage pulled by horses and set off on his return journey. Meanwhile, the woodcarver began to regret that he took a small sum of money and chased after Grodziński. When he caught up with him, he was astonished because he saw his gray clothes instead of the harnessed bayhorses. He was even more surprised when he did not see the figure on the wagon. They both looked for her but they did not find her. So they decided to return to Konigsberg and look for her on the way. But in vain did they look for lost. Upon arriving at the woodcarver’s house, they said that the statue of the Virgin Mary is located where it was taken from. This miracle was increased by the greed of the woodcarver. He demanded for the figure as much gold as it weighs. The surprise of both was amazing when it turned out that the figure weighs less than before. The woodcarver reluctantly gave back the statue, which reached Sejny without any problems. Because the church was not yet completed Grodziński decided to temporarily place the statue in the church in Grodno. A statue was placed on a cart to which horses were harnessed, later also oxen, but were unable to move the cart from place. Grodziński saw the divine in it and left the statue in Sejny.

From the beginning of her arrival in Sejny figure became famous for grace and miraculous healings. In 1938 Father Złotkowski wrote: “With the arrival of this figure to Sejny and placing it in the church of Saint George, Mother of God, as if she had visited these sides personally, as the Queen among the faithful people began to generously sow her favors: not only prayers in the needs of the soul were heard, but even sufferings and diseases found here a cure and miraculous healings: crippled, blind, lame, the deaf were suddenly recovering, as evidenced by the numerous votive offerings here suspended. And even one accident happened that the deceased child (Massalski) on the altar in front of this statue, when the parents’ prayer miraculously came alive, the holiness of this figure spread widely throughout Poland, Lithuania and Prussia and brought many pilgrims to countless crowds up to a year “(Ks. Prelate Złotkowski Sejny 1938. Figure graces famous for the Mother of God and the church of Sejny.

In the autumn of 1619 the figure of the Mother of God was moved in a solemn procession to the new, built in her honor temple. On September 7, 1975 the miraculous figure of the Mother of God was crowned (the papal crown was placed).

Returning to the main nave of the church, attention is attracted by the richly decorated altars, decorated with figures and statues of seated putti. In addition, the altars are decorated with images of saints.

On the side walls under the choir are hung two portraits. On the left there is an eighteenth-century painting depicting founder of church property – Jerzy Grodziński, and on the right a portrait of the church-keeper Róża Strutyńska- dating back to the turn of the 18th and 19th century (thanks to her the church was rebuilt in 1760). Noteworthy is the rococo organ group from the second half of the 18th century valued in Poland and around the world. A contemporary instrument of organs consisting of 36 votes was made in the organ-master’s workshop of Jonas Garalevićius in Kaunas in 1907. Since 1997 the International Youth Organ Festival “Juniores Priores Organorum Sejnensis” has been held in the Sejny Basilica. In 1818, in connection with the creation of the Sejny Diocese, the Dominican church was raised to the rank of the cathedral. Due to the transfer of the seat of the bishopric to Łomża in 1925 the temple received the title of collegiate, while the decree of Pope Paul VI of September 26, 1973 it was granted the prestigious title of the Minor Basilica.

Address: St. Agota sq. 1, Sejny.