- Place
- Vilnius City Municipality
- Region
- Vilnius
- Type
- active Neo-Gothic Catholic church
- Address
- 17 Gerosios Vilties Street, Vilnius
- Coordinates
- 54.66956, 25.24457
- Visit duration
- 20-35 minutes outside services
- Best time
- during officially announced opening, without disturbing worship
Vilkpėdė Church of Divine Providence, Sacred Heart parish church
An orphanage chapel consecrated in 1913
The church was built and consecrated on 22 October 1913. Priest Karol Lubianiec organised construction, and Vilnius architect-sculptor Antanas Vivulskis designed the compact single-nave Neo-Gothic building.
It began not as a large parish church but as a chapel for the orphanage on Gerosios Vilties Street. About 500 children lived there in 1918.
From Salesians to theatre storage
After 1925 the chapel belonged to the Salesians. Soviet authorities closed it in 1948 and gave it to the state drama theatre as scenery storage.
Worship resumed after the building was returned to believers in 1961, while the nearby monumental Sacred Heart church remained unfinished and was later closed.
Memory of the Sacred Heart parish
When the unfinished Sacred Heart church closed in 1964, some furnishings moved here. The parish highlights the statue of Our Lady, Queen of the World, the Holy Family altarpiece and relics.
The names therefore differ: the building is the Church of Divine Providence, while the worshipping community is Vilnius Sacred Heart parish.
A Gothic altar and three annual feast traditions
The principal visual focus inside is a Gothic-form high altar with a Holy Family painting. Other works and votive offerings transferred from the unfinished Sacred Heart church explain why this small chapel preserves the memory of more than one Vilnius sanctuary.
The parish highlights three annual celebrations: the Feast of the Sacred Heart, the Queenship of Mary indulgenced feast on 22 August, and the titular Divine Providence feast at the end of the liturgical year on Christ the King Sunday. The church can be crowded then, so choose another time for a quiet architectural visit.
Hours, services, and respectful access
On 2026-07-22, the church's official page listed weekday opening 16:00-20:30 and Sunday 06:30-15:00. The Archdiocese also announced Lithuanian and Polish Masses; reconfirm both schedules before travel.
This is a small active church. Silence phones, avoid late tourist entry during Mass and ask before photographing inside.
