First 'Calvary Prayer Hill' of Mandalay Archdiocese blessed by the Archbishop

The first 'Prayer Hill' of the Mandalay Archdiocese was blessed and inaugurated by Archbishop Marco Tin Win at St. Theresa Parish, Chin Nyaung Pin Thar, Myanmar, on January 1.

This 'Prayer Hill' of the Archdiocese was named “The Calvary Hill.”

The archbishop presided over the New Year Mass together with the parish priest Fr. Leo, Fr. Dominic Jyo Du, Fr. Olivier, Fr. Patrick Win Lwin Htun, and Fr. Peter Soe Thu and blessed the cross at 8:00 in the morning on the top of Calvary Hill.

The Calvary Hill is the first “Prayer Hill” in the Archdiocese of Mandalay and the feast of the Exaltation of the Cross will be celebrated here on September 14 every year. 

The donors of the Calvary Hill land and the statues, the faithful from nearby Nyaung Pin Thar village, and donors of food served at the opening ceremony participated in the mass and blessing of the Cross.

They started preparation to post the cross in March 2022. They fixed the place to post the Cross on March 7, and on the same day, Fr. Leo blessed and pegged out the cross.

Rev. Fr. Leo told RVA, “When I came to this hill, I felt in my mind to put it up as a prayer hill and worked to make it true. I thank God for giving blessings to be able to set up the Prayer Hill. I am also thankful to the donors and the villagers.”

Not only Catholics from Nyaung Pin Thar but also Buddhists participated in the posting of ‘The Way of the Cross stations’ along the way to the top of Calvary Hill. At last, The Cross was posted successfully on March 30, 2022.

Nine acres of land for the Calvary Hill was donated by eight families. Eight statues on the top of the hill are donated by the eight families. 

The intention of posting the Cross on the Calvary is to pray, to receive inner peace by meditating on the way of the Cross of Jesus, and to witness that Catholics exist in the area. 

Salai U Gabriel, one of the donors of the land of “the Calvary Hill,” said, “When I heard the bishop and the priests intending to make that place as Calvary prayer hill, I wanted to participate by donating the land, which is my inheritance from my parents, Nicholas U Hla Maung and Lucia Daw Khants, for the intention of the repose of their souls. After donating the land, I kept on doing things to establish the prayer hill and I feel happy about it.” 

One of the volunteers, Salai Kyaw Lwin, described that his farm work was blessed and successful due to their sacrifices three days a week at Prayer Hill despite their busy farm works.

Salai Bo Lwin, the donor of the statue of ‘Pieta,’ Our Lady of Sorrows, at the hill and the president of the Prayer Hill establishing Committee, stated, “now everybody can come up to the top of the hill to pour out their difficulties standing in front of the statue. They can say the rosary together with Mother Mary and ask for grace from God.” - By Pinky Thiri Kyaw and Marcus Nyi Nyi Htun