Posted on 06/26/2006 5:46:27 PM PDT by NYer
Freeper, Salvation, has just returned from a whirlwind tour of christian sites in the East. While I can only speak for myself, I am sure there are others who would like to learn more about where she traveled, as well as her experiences. While getting herself re-aclamated to US time, let's all welcome Salvation back home and to the FreeRepublic Forum. We are all indebted to you, Salvation, for your daily Mass Reading posts and the lives of the saints.
Please post your messages to this thread and let's hope Salvation will post her exciting experience to the forum.
Welcome Home!
"I would say that's rather Poles vs. Russians and Serbs vs. Croats in case of Balkans than Orthodox vs. Catholics in general."
Apart from that, there was,
4th Crusade and sacking of Constantinople
1054 Schizm and mutual excommunication between Pope and Orthodox Patriarch.
So there were quite a few nasty conflicts between Orthodox and Catholics apart from Russian-Polish or Serbo-Croat wars. Let's hope that it will never ever happen again.
OMG!
In post #84 instead of "meat" should have been "meet".
:-)))))
I never knew the K of C had chapters in Poland. >>>
they just started this year.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1595428/posts
and knowing how devout the poles are I wouldn't be surprised if councils number in the thousands in yrs. to come.
Congratulations on your pilgrimage. Prague is by far the most beautiful city I've ever seen, but then I haven't travelled near as far as you. While causing great envy, you remind me of a great trip a couple of summers ago. Even my protestant friends were genuflecting in the Cathedral of St. Vitus.
It is so beautiful, isn't it?
I knew what you meant. I have a couple of typos in here -- so I am not going to point fingers.
Thanks for the KC information.
Hi, everyone,
Sunday, June 18th
Auschwitz, Wadowice, Kalvaria Zebrydowska
What a day, sad and tearful, seeing how the Jews suffered at the hands of the Nazis. Entire displays (rooms) of combs and hairbrushes, shoes of all kinds, blouses, baby clothes, children's shoes, prostheses, etc. that we saw! What a sad remembrance of the huge numbers that died here. Knowing that I will get an artificial hip this fall or winter brought my emotions to the surface and all I could do was stand and cry in the room with the discarded prostheses.
We also sea St. Maximllian Kolbe's cell -- so moving. Another site was the standing cell. Prisoners had to enter like a dog by crawling in a hole at the bottom. Then they had to stand all night (four of them) in and 2' x2' space and then in the morning go out and work. What cruelty.
For meals the prisoners had tea in the morning, soup for lunch and bread for dinner. Anyone who disobeyed by trying to keep some of the bread for the next day was killed at the "killing wall" -- within hearing of all.
Some of the people did not want to continue after walking through the main concentration camp at Auschwitz. But Father Gary challenged them by asking how they could come to Auschwitz and not go the additional two miles to Birkeneau. BTW, everything is as it was during World War II; nothing has been altered in the buildings. Just cleaned up -- I can't even begin to imagine the stench of death that must have lingered there for many years.
At Birkeneau (about two miles away--we went on the bus.) prisoners lived in a horse barn sleeping in bunks, 3 high. Most of the children as well as the pregnant women were shot. Medical experiments with different kinds of drugs were performed on the children and some of the adults. All the handicapped people were also killed because without their prostheses they were useless. At the barn-like structure there was a concrete latrine with at least 12 holes on each side -- maybe more. This was all out in front of everyone -- no privacy at all.
The guide pointed toward the green grassy area -- probably the size of 20 city blocks and said something about the biggest graveyard in Europe. Of course, nothing is marked; only a plaque.
Everyone who came in the gate at Birkeneau knew they would never come out and so they called the entrance gate "The Death Gate."
Many of our pilgrims kept asking how God could permit such atrocities. How could we know what good is today if we were not aware of the evil??
I would strongly recommend that anyone who visits Europe make this stop at Auschwitz with its barbed wire and watchtowers a MUST SEE!
We had Mass later in Wadowice, the birthplace of Pope John Paul II. I didn't realize until after Mass when I was signing and dating a huge concrete book out in front of the church that his was my birthday. They sang "Happy Birthday" to me on the bus and again at dinner when we had cake for dessert. Unfortunately we did not get to see Pope John Paul II's home next to the church, but his baptismal certificate was open for viewing. A long line!
We traveled on to Our Lady of Calvary Church high on a hill at Kalvaria Zebrydowska. There are 42 churches in a circle there. I was able to climb to the highest one, but did not go on, just sat and enjoyed the serenity of the setting at the end of the day..
Glad that the day ended on a happier note.
Thanks Salvation!
Here is something for all of us to ponder.
First they came for the Jews
and I did not speak out
because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for the Communists
and I did not speak out
because I was not a Communist.
Then they came for the trade unionists
and I did not speak out
because I was not a trade unionist.
Then they came for me
and there was no one left
to speak out for me.
Pastor Martin Niemöller
Community and individuality are not opposites. People cannot survive on their own. When the odds are stacked against you, you must rally with the oppressed and hated.
When a growing oppressive regime is taking hold, you must act, otherwise you will soon face your enemy alone and hopeless.
Strength of community is a strength as much as individualism, as long you are willing to face weaknesses in your own community. Ignoring slacking values will mean that you will be rallied against by those you oppress.
Niemöller affirms we must rally against unhealthy organized regimes. We must also stay vigilant with those that appear to be good natured, as all organisation attracts corruption. Niemöller also warns us that if it is you who are corrupt, then you will face a stronger combined force of foe!
Vexen Crabtree
Photo: Sean Gallup/Getty Images
Tourists walk through the concentration camp known as Auschwitz II, or Birkenau, Jan, 25, in Oswiecim, Poland.
Great cathedral, a large chamber carved entirely within salt, including floor,
walls, ceiling, and decorations. Chandeliers are made with salt crystals.
 |
Closeup view of the cathedral's altar. More on Wieliczka salt mine. |
in southern PolandThanks for that wonderful link. I can see that we only saw a smidgeon of what is available there. What a shame! It looks like it could be an entire day rather than an hour at the end of the day like we had.
Wawel1.jpg (79KB, MIME type: image/jpeg)
I think I got my days mixed up because our itnerary changed.
Now for Day 10
June 21, 2006
We left Krakow today and started our long trek south. I know that during the entire pilgrimage we drove 2000 kilometers. And it seemed as though this day we covered 1000 of them!!!
Even though we started out early we were delayed at the Poland/Slovakia border when one person could not find his/her passport. The border people let us through and we had to park while the passport was found. Some of us stood around the person hunting for the passport and prayed. It was finally found in her regular luggage -- it was not on their person as we were instructed that morning at breakfast.
By the way, the breakfasts at the motels were fabulous (other than the half-cooked scrambled eggs) LOL! We always had several kinds of sausage, bacon, scrambled eggs -- one morning we even had individual omelets! Lots of juice and fruit as well as hard-boiled eggs, cereal, yogurt and plentiful supplies of 100% milk and fresh cream. Coffee was always served in the morning, but if we wanted coffee with our evening meal we usually had to pay extra for it, just like a cocktail or other kind of beverage. Bottled water was always available at all the breakfast buffets. A thing that was astonishing to me was the fact that offered were also a complete bread, cold cuts, cheese, etc. for making a sandwich if we so desired. We got smart along the way when our dinner was delayed until 8:00 pm and we had no lunch stop and started making sandwiches to take along the way. Whole fruit was also available. In other words, we ate our way through Eastern Europe!!
We continued across the flat and green plains of Slovakia and entered Hungary. Driving into Budapest was a wonderful experience -- it seemed so romantic for the couples. The Buda part of Budapest is a flat plain. It united with the Pest part that is located all up a steep hill. What divides these two parts of Budapest? The Danube River!! Now you can see why I thought it was so romantic.
Our motel was only two blocks from a huge town square. But more about that tomorrow.
President Bush was also in Budapest at the same time we were so some of the sight-seeing routes were blocked out. However, our driver, being a native of Germany, knew his way around the back streets of Budapest and we got to where we were going -- eventually. I didn't see that having Bush in the town made that much of a difference, but I guess to the natives, it was noticeable.
Dinner that night was on our own and it was finally here that I was able to use my credit card and get some more cash -- euros. The dollar is weaker than the euro, so each euro was worth $1.35. The exchange rate seemed to change day by day. In Czech Republic and Poland the dollar was stronger so it seemed like we got more money. )If only that was the truth!!)
"Hungary is not dead ; she will live again!"-this is how, in the first part of the nineteenth century, Count István Széchenyi, one of the greatest figures of the Reform Period, whom Lajos Kossuth called "the greatest Hungarian", encouraged the nation, groaning under foreign oppression. He himself whole-heatedly urged and sponsored the building of factories, mills, roads and bridges. It was in his initiative, and according to his ideas, that the Chain Bridge was built from 1839 to 1849 to the plans of the English engineer William Tierney Clark by Adam Clark, a Scot. 
The bridge, 380 meters (420 yds.) long and 15.7 meters (17.5 yds.) wide, is supported by pillars shaped like antique triumphal arches. It was the first bridge over the Danube and it not only linked Buda with Pest but also the western with the eastern parts of the country. In January 1945 Hitler's troops blew it up, but in 1948-49 it was rebuilt in its original form.
More photos: http://www.fsz.bme.hu/hungary/budapest/kepek/szines.htm
Budapest sights: http://www.budapest.com/tours/
Day 13, 2006
Saturday, June 24th
Drove to Vienna today.
Were able to see St. Stepehen Cathedral, Belvedere Palace, Ring Boulevard, Hofburg Palace and a view of the Prater amesement park, but only from the seats of the bus.
We did make a short stop at St. Stepehn Cathedral early in the day and continued with the bus tour.
I could have spent another day in Vienna; I judge we did not reap our full money's worth this day. Father Gary and some of our group took the underground down to St. Stephen Cathedral for a Vigil Mass. Another group -- me included -- walked four blocks to a local church for the Vigil Mass. (We all knew we would be airborne for the U. S. on Sunday.) Our group then stopped at a local cafe for supper. Once again -- Excellent food!!
I will try to find some pictures of Vienna. I really could have stayed there at least another day. Really didn't see that much except from the seats of a bus.
God bless you all for bearing with me and my tardiness in finishing this thread.
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