Aglona festival reaches its peak, President to address public

The Feast of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary reaches its climax today at the Aglona Basilica with a Holy Mass at noon, led by Apostolic Nuncio to the Baltic states Georg Gänswein. Pilgrims from parishes across Latvia have been travelling to Aglona on foot since early August.

Preparations at the basilica began several days earlier: August 11 was dedicated to the sick, August 12 to families, and prayers on August 13 focused on peace. On August 14, the feast of St Meinard was celebrated, and the vigil service for the Assumption was led by Riga Archbishop-Metropolitan Zbigņevs Stankevičs. At 10pm, the traditional People's Way of the Cross took place on the basilica's Sacred Square.

President cuts short his holiday

Citing the security situation, President Edgars Rinkēvičs, who had been on holiday since August 8, has decided to cut it short. At the Aglona festival he will use the opportunity to address the public for the first time since becoming president. Early Friday morning, residents of several Latgale municipalities — Augšdaugava, Preiļi, Rēzekne, Balvi and Alūksne — received a cell broadcast warning about a threat in the airspace. Separately, fighters from NATO's Baltic air policing mission shot down a foreign drone that had entered Latvian airspace near Lake Boževa, about five kilometres from the centre of Rugāji in Balvi municipality.

About the feast and the basilica

The Feast of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary is one of the largest and oldest Catholic feasts dedicated to Mary, and in Latvia it is most widely celebrated in Aglona. The government has designated it an event of national significance, and the basilica has become an important pilgrimage site not only in Latvia but across Europe and beyond.

Built in Baroque style, the basilica features 60-metre-tall towers, richly decorated vaults and ten stone altars, as well as organs more than 200 years old. Aglona has been inhabited since the first millennium BC, and its ties to Christian culture date back to 1263. In 1980, marking the basilica's 200th anniversary, Pope John Paul II granted it the title "Basilica Minoris" — the only such title held in Latvia.