Welcome back, freeper Salvation! (Vanity)

June 26, 2006

[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!

[Salvation]

Today I will post about our visit to Czechochova -- promounced in Polish -- Chess-toe-hoe-va

[Salvation]

Thanks for that information. Our guide, Ava, was full of historical information and I was on brain-overload. Another thing I will purchase for myself is a waistband tape recorder or CD recorder. So MUCH information!!!!!

[Pyro7480]

Today I will post about our visit to Czechochova -- promounced in Polish -- Chess-toe-hoe-va

I always had trouble pronouncing that, and I'm a quarter Polish! ;-) I've called that icon "Our Lady, Queen of Poland."

[Salvation]

They have established a feast day in Poland to celebrate the Black Madonna, Our Lady of Czechtohowa, as Queen of Poland.

It was amazing to be in Poland -- nearly 99% Catholic. It makes my heart ache that we are not dedicated to the Mother of God like the country of Poland is. All of our guides in Poland were Catholic and gave us lots of Catholic facts too.

[Salvation]

Our country, the USA, is dedicated to the Immaculate Conception, however, so we can keep praying that our country slowly turns back to Christ and Mary.

With the influx of Catholics from Mexico there is a great dedication among them to Our Lady of Guadlaupe -- so maybe we are on our way!

[fatima]

I read "A Man for Others".I met the man who was saved by St Maximillian .I was there at a new Church dedicated to St Maximillian and interviewed him and his wife.They did not speak English.I was told to look at him ,ask my question and keep looking at him as the interpreter explained.This worked very well.He was nearly blind then and that was a long time ago.I had no notes-never do.He cried when he talked about the Saint as if it was yesterday and he told us he made a promise to God that if he lived he would tell everyone what Saint Maximillian did for him.It was an honor to met him and his wife.

[Pyro7480]

With the influx of Catholics from Mexico there is a great dedication among them to Our Lady of Guadlaupe -- so maybe we are on our way!

When the Bishop Zumárraga saw the Image of Our Lady of Guadalupe on St. Juan Diego's tilma, he said "It's the Immaculate One." So technically, you can say that Our Lady under the title of the Immaculate Conception is the patron of the U.S. and Mexico. ;-)

[ELS]

Our Lady is the Patroness of the Americas.

[Lawgvr1955]

Welcome back!!!

[Salvation]

**I met the man who was saved by St Maximillian **

Wow! What an experience that must have been!

[Salvation]

I had forgotten about the title of Patroness of the Americas.

[Salvation]

Thanks, Lawgvr1955. Read on.

[fatima]

It was an honor.He told me when he got home his one son was dead.He lived his life telling everyone about this great Saint(((Hugs))) Night.

[Salvation]

Ping your list please -- and correct me in my monologue if I am mistaken. All the days seem to blur together. I don't know what I would be doing right now if I had not taken notes!

[Salvation]

Saturday, June 17th, Jasna Gora

What an awesome day this was. See Our Lady of Czestochowa was so moving. People crawled while praying on their knees around the back of the Black Madonna icon. There were ruts in the marble according to one of my friends who crawled the trip. On the back of the Black Madonna were many Eyes of God. Once they got to the far side they were allowed four at a time to enter and kneel and pray for about five minutes. I didn't do this because of my hip and inability to crawl. However, I was able to stand in the second row for over a half hour and pray. What a blessing.

When we pulled into the Jasna Gora complex I was astounded by the number of cars and buses parked in the lot. From 100 to 200 buses -- I'm not kidding or exaggerating! The cars looked as though they could be parked in a large lot at the state fair. Astronomical and nearly unbelievable number of people there, But I saw them with my own eyes!!!! I felt like I was walking the streets of New York City during the noon hour! There were an unusual number of young people, several groups of the Knights of Columbus and other groups -- several dedicated to the Sacred Heart since they carried Sacred Heart banners.

Father Gary celebrated Mass in the Chapel of St. ______________. the first hermit. We just walked right in and had Mass! Another miracle for us! Thank you, Holy Spirit.
I walked around with Kathy and we visited many of the adjoin chapels and took photographs since she had a digital camera and did not need to use a flash. Another purchase I will make when I make another trip like this.

I also went to the gift shop and got Father Gary a birthday gift -- a beautiful painting of Our Lady of Czestochowa with a blue background and gold frame.

We ate lunch at a huge cafeteria operated by the nuns who maintain the Jasna Gora Shrine. Some people went upstairs and did a tour of the Stations of the Cross. I heard they were absolutely beautiful.

[Clemenza]

I never knew the K of C had chapters in Poland.

I need to get over there soon, as it is the land from which my paternal ancestors emigrated from. Did you make it to my great-grandfather's hometown of Zakopane? It was a favorite of PJP II.

[Salvation]

I don't know if they were from Poland or if they were visiting from the U. S. or some other country.

[Salvation]

You will hear more about Pope John Paul II when I tell you about our visit to Wadowice and Krakow.

[Salvation]

http://www.cs.virginia.edu/~whh8b/blog_photos/JG/Pictures.html

 

http://www.galenfrysinger.com/czestochowa_poland.htm

 

http://www.polishamericancenter.org/Czestochowa.htm

 

http://www.udayton.edu/mary/meditations/olczest.html

 

http://www.catholicexchange.com/vm/index.asp?art_id=28670

 

				The shrine of Our Lady of Czestochowa, the Polish Shrine, is built into the outer side of the right wall of the Family Shrine. The life-size mosaic is on of two in existence of the famous painting of Czestochowa. The original painting is attributed to St. Luke the Evangelist.  It portrays the Blessed Mother holding the Child Jesus in her arms, while He holds a book on His knees and imparts a blessing with the other hand.  In Poland , the painting has been a special object of veneration for centuries and the faith of the people has been rewarded with miracles and many blessings. Tradition has it that the scars on the Virgin Mary's face were inflicted by a Tartar marauder, who is said to have been struck dead as he raised his arm to slash the picture a third time. The darken features were caused by a fire that destroyed the monastery in which the painting was displayed.  For this reason, the painting is also referred to as the "Black Madonna."

[Larry Lucido]

Very nice. Thanks for the report.