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Posted on 08/08/2007 2:52:29 PM PDT by lizol
Poland's pilgrims
06.08.2007
In a run up to the August 15 Feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, hundreds of thousands of people from all over Poland set off on walking pilgrimages, marching hundreds of kilometers across the country to the Black Madonna of Czestochowa, Poland's major Marian Shrine.
Report by Joanna Najfeld
Every year at the beginning of August, hundreds of thousands of people in Poland set off on an exhausting march, lasting even two weeks to pay homage to Our Lady of Czestochowa at Poland's most revered religious and national pilgrimage destination - Jasna Góra.
Days of tiring march, often in adverse weather conditions, sleeping in tents on open fields with very scant sanitary facilities, basic food, injuries and no comfort at all. Amidst all this, focus on prayer, meditation, forming friendships and helping one another bear the hardships of the pilgrimage.
It is all worth the final climb up the Jasna Gora hill to fall to the feet of the Black Madonna of Czestochowa, say those who undertake the effort. 28-year old Marek is a lawyer. He finds annual pilgrimages crucial to his personal fulfillment:
'This is my ninth time, I started in 1999, when I was 20 years old. Every year I go on a pilgrimage from Kraków to Częstochowa. This is 200 kilometers of marching. I do that because I am Catholic and my faith is important to me. Pilgrimage helps me focus on God and reflect on my life.'
Polish mass pilgrimages attract a wide array of people. Special groups are organized for students, the disabled, or whole families. Religious commentator Tomasz Terlikowski:
'Some people who wish to do penance for their sins walk barefoot. But there are also students who pray for successful exams. There are mothers, who pray for their children's conversion, and marriages who wish to have children. The truth is that if you live that experience deeply, you will want to come back.'
The phenomenon of going on a pilgrimage is known in all cultures, but Poland is special. It is here that sometimes whole villages undertake the exhausting march to express their commitment to God. Tomasz Terlikowski again:
'The beginnings of this tradition are hard to pin down. Poles would go on pilgrimages as early as in Middle Ages. Catholic, Orthodox and, after the Reformation, Protestant people walked together to the same Catholic destinations. Later, strong patriotic feelings were added to this. The Black Madonna of Czestochowa, or Jasna Góra, is the most typical example here. Pilgrims always prayed there for Poland.'
Some pilgrimages, such as the Warsaw Walking Pilgrimage, the oldest one departing from the Polish capital, have been going on for hundreds of years despite various setbacks. Religious commentator, Tomasz Terlikowski.
'Even during World War 2, secret illegal pilgrimages to Jasna Gora took place. Neither did communism manage to prevent people from marching to sacred places. Communists tried to poison pilgrims, persecute them, they sent special agents to disintegrate groups of pilgrims. That only strengthened the Polish religious spirit.'
Over 20 separate pilgrimages have set off this year from various Polish cities to Jasna Góra, including six from Warsaw alone. Most can be followed through a special internet pilgrimage center.
The main traditional Warsaw Walking Pilgrimage contains about 15 groups, numbering from fifty to two hundred and fifty persons each. It started in 1711 and continued year after year uninterrupted even by wars. This year, the pilgrimage is joined by several hundred soldiers from the United States, Lithuania, Slovakia and Germany, who are praying for peace and God's protection in their work. The main theme is the Biblical call to "Seek first the Kingdom of God and everything else shall be added unto you."
Wow, I bet she makes some really good pierogies!
Ping
More photos of female Lithuanian soldiers! Want.
She looks like my Grandma Aniszewski.
I’ve been to Czestochowa...It was part of the trip around Poland that my host-dad took me on when I was there as a foreign exchange student...lots of people there...and I bet I was the only Lutheran...
Catholic ping!
"Trying to remind Catholics of Distributism..."
Free Poland is our Friend.
Wonderful pictures. I have some friends (a family of six) in Siedlce who in past years have walked the pilgrimage from that town. In a disturned world, that this tradition survives inspires hope.
That’s awesome Lizol. Thank you for the post.
Wonderful photos, all those smiles, makes one feel good.
Lovely country.
Thanks for sharing.
Ping.
Here’s to our allies, God Bless the Poles!
Regards
As the grandchild of a Lutheran/Catholic marriage, I'd say if anyone asks for odds on that bet, don't give them odds.
You wouldn't want to lose your shirt or the old homestead on that particular wager.
Those girls could be Polish, too. Wilno is about 20% Polish, still, despite heavy official Lithuanian discrimination.
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