Every year on Pentecost, when people in the Village of Papšyčy celebrate Zialionyja Sviontki, the day of appearance of the Holy Spirit to the Apostles, they get together to carry a namiotka. This Rite has been performed continuously since its beginning.
The Rite starts with the participants’ singing a special song ‘Krуlu nieba wysokiego’ (The King of the High Sky), after which a procession is formed and people unfold a namiotka, a cloth 5—6 meters long, which is carried by the youngest people of the community, preferably children.
Local people gather at the village cross, where the Rite begins, and put their sacrifices onto the namiotka. Today, they sacrifice money. Then people carry the namiotka over young children and their parents, which is thought to improve their health and well-being. Then the singing procession marches through the village towards the chapel at the cemetery. It is a long distance to go, and on the way to the destination the procession is joined by other Papšyčy residents.
Once the namiotka is delivered to the cemetery, it is consecrated and the Holy Mass starts, during which people keep the namiotka spread. Everyone, who has come to the cemetery and walked in the procession, puts his or her sacrifice on it. After the Mass, the namiotka is donated to the Catholic Church in the Village of Udzela.
The villagers believe in the power of the Rite, ‘Well, nothing has ever happened in the village, nothing special. No suicides, nothing at all.’
Budslaŭ Fest is an important part of honoring the Budslaŭ Icon of Our Lady, which is housed in the Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary in the Village of Budslaŭ. The icon is famous for miracles and Budslaŭ is known as the place of appearance of the Blessed Virgin Mary to the believers, which, according to the legend, occurred on July 2, 1588. The word about the miraculous icon kept spreading, and due to this believers of all ages kept coming to Budslaŭ for worship and veneration throughout the time. The first official pilgrimage took place in 1992. Since then the annual Budslaŭ Fest has been held — a feast to venerate Budslaŭ’s Our Lady Icon, the Patroness of Belarus. On the first weekend of July, all the bishops of Belarus’ Catholic Church, clergy and representatives of the monastic orders gather in Budslaŭ. The Apostolic Nuncio in Belarus is sure to participate in the celebration too. Representatives of the Greek Catholic clergy and the Orthodox Church, as well as top leaders from other countries, government officials and local authorities also attend the event. Tens of thousands of believers from Belarus, Russia, Lithuania, Latvia, Poland, Slovenia, Italy and Ukraine seek to join the Fest. The celebration involves priests’ welcoming the pilgrims, holy masses that come one after another, a night procession with candles, a youth prayer vigil, worship of the holy gifts, the hours of prayer to Mother of God, and holy Rosary, Litany to Our Lady
