[Pandora]

Part 1 - Czestochowa

I went on a pilgrimage to Poland for 11 days. Actually, officially only the first three days, when I went to Czestochowa, were a pilgrimage. After that, I drove to Kraków and met my group a day later. Everyone but me was learning Polish there. I would have liked to as well but I scraped together all of my money and it wasn’t enough. So I just participated in the cultural events that took place most days for about 2 hours and spend most of my private time at the holy places of Poland. More than half of the events were cancelled though, due to the terrible plane crash of the president, his wife, and all the other victims, and the resulting national mourning. So I had a lot of time.

I arrived in Czestochowa on Friday afternoon. Ever since I came to faith a few years ago and got to know the Catholic world I had a special relationship with, or better longing, for Our Lady of Czestochowa. I’m not sure why. Probably because of Pope John Paul II (who was God’s main instrument in bringing me to Him) and my own Polish roots. I wouldn’t have dreamed to see her so soon! When I spontaneously decided to take part in the cultural tour in Cracow I knew I had to visit the monastery Jasna Gora where the wonderful icon of Our Lady of Czestochowa is in her own beautiful chapel and immerse myself in the atmosphere of Poland’s national sanctuary. At the time I left, I was in a rather severe spiritual crisis (I posted about it in the forum) but I still prayed a novena to Our Lady of Czestochowa in preparation and asked Pope John Paul II to be with me in Poland. During my stay I was alone but it didn’t matter because God let me feel his presence often during this trip and through my prayers for you I felt connected to you. Not all my issues have been resolved but I felt like Jesus is okay with my hesitation, doesn’t hold it against me, and is waiting patiently for me to be ready. All I felt was love and acceptance.

I didn’t get to the monastery until shortly before sunset. When I walked up to it (or rather climbed ) the sight of Jasna Gora greeted me in the cloudy sunset. Beautiful!






A few candles before the statue of the Blessed Virgin at the end of the alley up to the monastery:



Once you’re at the monastery you turn left and a larger than life statue of the late Polish primate Cardinal Stephan Wyszynski (who loved this place so much) is greeting the pilgrims and is facing the four gates.





I have a special relationship with Cardinal Wyszynski and so naturally loved this statue. He is not beatified yet, but the process is ongoing. I asked him to pray for all of you as well.

Here are the first two gates you have to pass:



It was late evening by the time I was in the monastery and I was very tired and high-strung. At first I was a little frustrated because I was stressed and couldn’t “get into it” like I hoped. But during Mass when I prayed for your intentions I felt the Blessed Mother come into my heart. I could feel her so clearly and my heart was burning in my chest. This feeling came pretty much every time during these three days when I prayed there. I could feel that this is a holy place and that Jesus was happy with me being there, that I took all of you with me, that for the time being I was where I‘m supposed to be, that I was more than welcome. This was so what I needed because just a couple of weeks earlier I postponed me becoming Catholic and watching people receive communion and confess and this holy place was painful and made me feel apart. Anyway, even before I went there I was rather sure that this trip would give me a spiritual boost but I think it was more than that. I can remember thinking about this when I was standing in the chapel before Our Lady of Czestochowa. It felt like blocks inside me were being removed (before this trip I found it almost impossible to pray) and now the path of communication is wide open between me and God. This feeling continues, I can still often feel God’s presence when I’m praying now. I also felt really close to Our Lady for the first time there. Her icon there is so captivating, that it was hard to leave. The deep faith of the Polish people – not just in Czestochowa but everywhere I went – was incredible. Little children, teenagers, adults, very old and frail people – they all prayed with so much devotion and fervor.

People were constantly moving through the chapel (there was a tunnel that was going behind the picture) on their knees. I did this too – a very interesting and humbling experience – and one that would be impossible in Germany. The floor was solid stone but in the stone there were indentations from all the knees of the pilgrims over the centuries. Masses were said one after the other. One was finished and two minutes later the next began. On the right side of the icon is the silver rose (the highest award a pope can give) and on the left side was the belt that goes around the waist of bishops, cardinals and the pope. It was the belt Pope John Paul II wore during the assassination attempt in 1981. You could still see the blood were the bullet entered his stomach.

Unfortunately taking pictures with flash was forbidden and since the chapel and monastery were rather dark anyway you can barely see anything on my pictures. These are the best ones but you can't see the pope's belt on them:





The next day, after a very good breakfast, I returned to the monastery and went to the treasury, the museum, the basilica, and of course the chapel again. At my hotel there were a lot of American priests and sisters. I copied all your prayer requests and had them included in a novena that is being prayed before the picture of Our Lady of Czestochowa.

A few impressions:















Pope John Paul II statue:



There was a statue for every mystery of the rosary and for every station of the cross:



The look down from the alley to the monastery:



It started raining that day and continued to rain pretty much constantly for a week. It was the day the president’s plane crashed.
The next day I just spend about another two hours there and then traveled on to Cracow.

To be continued…

[mamamary]

i have so enjoyed your story and pictures!! can't wait for your next installment!!

[OnASpiritualJourney2]

Pandora your writing of your pilgrimage is beautiful! Thank you so much for sharing it with us and all the beautiful photos as well.

I'm looking forward to reading more too!

[marylover]

these are beautiful, the pic of Maximiliam Kolbe is very nice.

The deep faith of the Polish people – not just in Czestochowa but everywhere I went – was incredible. Little children, teenagers, adults, very old and frail people – they all prayed with so much devotion and fervor.

yes the Polish Catholic faith is so deep rooted in their religious customs. When I was growing up thats how it was. Our lives were all about our faith, I miss this beause in the US now its not like that. I wil get to Poland one of these days. I'm glad you have developed a great love for Our Lady of Czestechowa. The US has a replica that I have been to many times of Czestechowa. So happy for you!!!!! Makes me want to move to Poland.

[Pandora]

Thanks!

The next will be in a few days.

[Pandora]

Part 2 Cracow 1

I’m sorry this is taking so long. Work has piled up and loading the picture is taking forever! It’s also hard to choose, I have taken so many! Here is the first part of Cracow, the former house of John Paul II, mostly pictures:

My first day in Cracow I went to the Divine Mercy sanctuary but I will tell you about this in another part. The day after I visited the house where Pope John Paul II. lived as priest and bishop. It is also the house where St. Stanislaw lived in the 11th century, which is why the house is named after this saint.

The view from the outside:



Cardinal Franciszek Macharski is in the car you can see on the picture, I nearly collided with him a minute before.



The house is now a museum of the archdiocese. It is filled with lots and lots of presents the Holy Father received during his pontificate from all over the world, but also with personal belongings of Karol Wojtyla. I found his office, which is exactly the way it was in the 1950’s with all the original furnishing, to be most interesting. It felt like time stood still and Karol Wojtyla could enter at any time as a simple priest.











A few of his clothes from when he was bishop and cardinal:







I forgot to take a picture of his papal clothes but I did photograph them in Wadowice. His hometown will be the last part.

The document he was given when he became doctor of theology:



His theology diploma:



The document that made him priest (I think) by Cardinal Adam Sapieha:



The documents that made him bishop and archbishop:





His canoeing “diploma”:



His writing:







Personal clothes and his bike:








His canoe:





His personal kneeler and prayer book:





It was great to touch things that Pope John Paul II touched everyday, like his kneeler, his chair, his oven, his closet...

The chair he sat on whenever he was in Poland:



A few more impressions from his house:














To be continued…

[marylover]

Pandora these pictures are a treasure, I am going to tr to print some of them to show my family--simply awesome photography!! Its like being there.

[raj48]

pandora, I too so enjoyed all the pictures, what a journey!

Our Lady of Chestechowa shrine as you know has special meaning for me and my family, since my fathers chalice was taken there by friends after his death.

Thanks so much for remembering all of us at the shrine.

[missy]

I'm so happy for you!!! It sounds like you had a beautiful time!! I went there 17 years ago and loved it!! Maybe someday again with my family!!
You've earned a great vacation/pilgrimmage like this!!

[OnASpiritualJourney2]

Pandora I missed when you posted this. Thank you so much for sharing these awesome photos!!!!
How cool that a bicycle has become a relic!

[Pandora]

How cool that a bicycle has become a relic!

And a canoe!

[Pandora]

Our Lady of Chestechowa shrine as you know has special meaning for me and my family, since my fathers chalice was taken there by friends after his death.

Yes, I remember thinking during masses when the chalice was lifted: "maybe it's this one?"

[Pandora]

Part 3 Cracow 2

After I left the pope’s former house I went to the Pope John Paul II center just a few steps across the streets. He lived in this house as well. You can get information on the pope, see a few more documents and it’s free.



There I watched a 1-hour movie about Pope John Paul Ii in Cracow. It covered everything from his youth to the visits as pope. It really doesn’t matter where you go in Cracow – every place, street, and church (and Cracow is filled with churches why it’s also called the Rome of the North) is connected with him! Because the city is filled with churches and monasteries of pretty much every order, you can see nuns, monks, and priests EVERYWHERE! I was amazed at how young many of them were. I once read that Poland is the only European country that does not have a lack of religious callings. Even Italy has troubles in this area.

Anyway, I really enjoyed the movie because all the footage was unknown to me. When you watch a documentary on the pope’s life and pontificate it always shows the same video clips. Not so this one.

This may sound strange but after maybe the first half of the movie I just knew that he was with me. I prayed to him before the trip to be with me in Poland and did so again in Czestochowa. I suddenly felt the same sensation as in Czestochowa that I described above. My heart was burning in my chest and an incredible calm, peace, and happiness filled my entire body and soul. And I just had this knowledge that it was he who paid me a visit. Because he was God’s main instrument who brought me to faith I often pray for his guidance.

Here is a picture of the bishop’s palace. He lived there always when he visited Cracow as pope, and of course also as archbishop before. Now it is the home of Archbishop Cardinal Stanisław Dziwisz, the former secretary of Pope John Paul II.



There is always a picture of the pope in the window. It is the same window that the pope always appeared to talk to and joke with the youth when he visited the city. They wouldn’t let him go to sleep and he just kept talking to him. He said that when he is back in Rome they should do the same with the cardinal, they were not supposed to let him off! At the pope’s birthday people are gathering now every year and are singing his favorite song. The idea is that the pope is standing at the window in heaven and giving him joy this way.



Right next to the bishop’s palace is the Franciscan Church. It dates back to the 13th century and is part of a monastery. St. Maximilian Kolbe lived here for about 5 years in the late 1920’s. Karol Wojtyla very often visited this church during his entire life in Cracow, he even had “his own pew”.

This is the only picture I have taken of it from the outside. Not so good, I know. I forgot to take another one at another time. You can see the many candles people were lighting for the victims of the plane crash.



Inside, there are two side chapels – one dedicated to the suffering of Christ and one to the Sorrowful Mother. Currently a copy of the Shroud of Turin is being exhibited in the former. Very cool, from the looks it could have been the original!



In the chapel of the Blessed Mother is a wonderful painting of Our Lady of Sorrows. Pope John Paul II spent a lot of time praying before this very image. So did I. The atmosphere in this little chapel was wonderful. Here again, the Blessed Mother came into my heart and gave me peace after a very hectic day.



Except for the Wawel, this is Cracow’s most famous church, the St. Mary cathedral. Every full hour, also at night, a trumpeter plays a certain melody, which abruptly stops in the middle of the 3rd time, commemorating a legend that says a trumpeter warned the people in the 13th century when the Tatars were attacking. He was killed by an arrow while trumpeting the alarm. Every 20nd of April, the day the pope died, his favorite song is played from up there.



Inside is the extraordinary altar made by Veit Stoß. Art students and professors from all over the world come to Cracow to study this masterpiece. Unfortunately, I don’t have a picture. Taking photos was strictly prohibited.

This cathedral is standing on the medieval market square, which is the biggest in the whole world from that period. By the way, the entire old town of Cracow is a World Heritage Site (UNESCO). Opposite the cathedral are the medieval Cloth Halls. Unfortunately, they are currently being renovated. Normally, they are breathtakingly beautiful.


Inside you can buy various things, but mostly touristy stuff and jewelry.





One side of the market square, a row of houses:



The other side, the oldest remaining building of the city, a medieval tower:



The middle of the square, a monument for the poet Adam Mieckiwicz:




The Florian Street is pretty much the most famous street of the city. It leads to the St. Mary cathedral and ends with the Florian Gate and the last part of the remaining medieval city wall.



Inside there is a Marian shrine. A nun is opening it every morning.



Behind the gate and wall is the last remaining Barbakan, an additional fortification.



Down the road is St. Florian church, now a basilica. It is the church Pope John Paul ii. served at as vicar in the late 1940’s.







Taking pictures inside was again very tricky. Flash was forbidden, and I didn’t want to disturb the prayers of the people anyway. These dark pictures can’t even remotely reflect the beauty of the old churches. And it was raining outside, so it’s even darker.









The Wawel castle and cathedral:





A sea of candles for the plane crash victims at the foot of the Wawel:





And also before St. Mary Cathedral:



St. Peter and Paul church:





The courtyard of the university, which is one of the first of the world. The Pope studied here, as did Copernicus.






To be continued…

[marylover]

thanks for these Pandora and all your hard work.

I will look at them more closely when I get home from work tonight. They are nice.

[Pandora]

After a looong delay here is finally the next part:

Part 4 - The Divine Mercy Sanctuary in Krakow-Lagiewniki



Next to Czestochowa, the Divine Mercy sanctuary in Cracow was my favorite place. Here St. Faustina spent most of her life and is buried in the chapel. I went three times.

Birds-Eye-View of the entire sanctuary:



The monastery, as seen from the basilica:





The basilica:



Downstairs there are various chapels in the underground of the basilica. Each holds a relic of a saint, pictures farther down below.



The tower:





You can’t really see it on the picture but at the foot of the tower there is a statue of Pope John Paul II, sending out a dove to the world.

The entrance to the basilica:




In the entrance hall there is the cornerstone from Calvary that was brought from Jerusalem. Pope John Paul II blessed it in 1997 when the building began. People were touching it when exiting:



The inside of the basilica:

You weren’t supposed to photograph but I quickly took a couple of pictures:



Opening the tabernacle for the eucharist:



It was very impressive, there were always about 8 priests celebrating the mass. I was also very impressed with the age of the sisters of St. Faustyna’s congregation: Most weren’t much older than me.

During Mass I had a very special moment: I felt completely open to Christ and had a picture in my mind’s eye that the rays from the picture of the Divine Mercy Jesus entered my heart without any obstacle or resistance on my part. My heart was aflame. It was like I could not only see those rays interiorly but could also feel them entering my heart. In that moment I felt myself in His presence and was totally bare before Him but it wasn’t threatening, on the contrary. It felt like it is supposed to be. I felt as open to Him as a child, without the complicated workings and doubts of the adult mind. And I felt His love. I was beginning to understand why going on pilgrimages has such a big place in Catholicism. Taking a pause from our daily and hectic life and set out to meet God gives us the opportunity to experience Him better. Coming back to what I felt and saw regarding the rays I was stunned to read in the little guide book I purchased later what St. Faustina wrote in one of her visions of the future regarding the basilica and the pilgrims coming there (I love the diary but I still have only read portions of it, I have got to sit down and read the whole thing!):

“A huge church was built (…) and there was a great multitude of people, inside and outside, and the rays issuing from the merciful heart of Jesus were flowing down upon everyone.”


Next to the basilica there is a small chapel of pepetual eucharistic adoration:



Under the basilica there are various chapels. One is dedicated to St. Faustina and is holding a bone relic of hers.

Others show other relics of other saints:



St. Stephen relic, king of Hungary:





Relics of a Slovakian saint:



The chapel of the passion of Christ is part of the monastery building. Before it there are statues of the Divine Mercy Jesus and St. Faustina:





Stations of the Cross:



The monastery’s cemetery, here St. Faustina was originally buried before her remains were laid to rest in the chapel:







The chapel were St. Faustina is buried and where the original Divine Mercy picture from Hyla is hanging:

A sign showing the way:



The outside:



Pope John Paul II often came here to pray when he was a forced laborer in WWII when the Nazis occupied Poland. The stone quarry he worked at is very near to the sanctuary. On one of his visits as pope he said back then he could never have imagined that one day he would come here as the pope.

Taking pictures of the inside was strictly forbidden and enforced. I took a picture from the guidebook for you but it only shows a part of the chapel:



St. Faustina is buried under the picture of Jesus. In her time, there was a picture of the Sacred Heart of Jesus hanging there and it was one of her favorite places to pray. Before it, you can pray before another bone relic of St. Faustina.

This chapel is sooo beautiful! One evening I was there late when almost all other pilgrims had gone home. One of my cultural events was cancelled and I had to find something to do for the evening. So I drove back to the sanctuary. It was getting dark and the last rays of sunshine were coming through the stained glass windows. Gradually the entire chapel filled with nuns. There were maybe 2 or 3 other pilgrims there but me, so I was almost alone among them. They started to pray; among those prayers was the Divine Mercy chaplet. They are praying it with outstretched arms. But the most beautiful thing was their singing. Combined with the amazing atmosphere in this holy place I felt almost like being in heaven already! I made a recording and whenever I play it I feel myself transported backwards to this special hour.

To be continued…

[OnASpiritualJourney2]

Thank you so much for taking the time to upload all these beautiful pictures and to share your experience. Wow! I felt like I was reading St. Faustina's words when you were telling us how you felt during the Mass. What a beautiful gift and blessing to have been given. It must have been an amazing pilgrimage.

[Pandora]

Yes, when I'm putting it into writing it sounds pretty amazing but at the time it felt so right and natural. Not normal but like I wasn't surprised? Ah, it's hard to describe. I guess natural and right are the best words.

And remembering this experience made me feel a lot better. It's so easy to forget the graces we have received in the past when the present seems so dark.

[Pandora]

Soon I will finally be able to write the final part.

[OnASpiritualJourney2]

Looking forward to it Pandora!