From the Pastor
July/10/2009
The second part of our trip took us to Poland, where we visited Radom, and participated in the ceremonies marking the farewell of my friend, their former bishop, from his diocese in Radom. He now takes up his new position in heading one of the Vatican Pontifical Councils and receives the promotion the rank of archbishop. His two predecessors in this Council (both living) have received the red biretta of a cardinal, so we might expect to hear that he, too, will someday wear the same color biretta. The Sunday afternoon farewell at the cathedral began with an overpacked cathedral, and Mass concelebrated by over 350 bishops and priests. There were presentations from Church officials, religious communities, parishioners and government officials. In his seven years there, he had become endeared to the people, and a lot of emotion was shown in the faces of the people and their departing archbishop.
A reception followed at the new diocesan seminary, and we had a chance to spend some time with the archbishop before we left. The remaining days were spent visiting the famous icon of Our Lady of Czestochowa, also popularly referred to as “The Black Madonna,” because of the darkness of the skin tones in the painting of our Lady and Jesus. These were caused by an attempt at burning the icon when some vandals tried to steal the painting. Two sword slashes also mar the picture, the results of other plunderers trying to steal the icon, which miraculously remained at the monastery because the horses would not pull the icon in the wagon. It was my privilege, again, to offer Mass before the miraculous image. Here, we climbed the famous bell tower of the monastery that dominates the entire countryside (300 steps up – no elevator!).
A side trip to Lublin took us to the only Catholic university that remained open in the former communist world, a tribute to the deep faith of the people of Poland, which today is sending forth many of its numerous priests to countries all over the world, in particular, France and Germany (no longer sources of vocations the way they once were). We took time to visit the infamous and stark Majdanek concentration camp, where tens of thousands of people, specifically Jews, were executed during the Second World War. We saw the crematoria there, and the vast
array of many of the possessions of the prisoners, objects which were not spirited away before the liberation of thebcamp. Surely, doubters of the Holocaust would have a hard time explaining away what our eyes beheld!
Krakow, the long-time residence of the late Pope John Paul II, is a very ancient and beautiful city, and here webvisited the famous Wieliczka salt mines, with entire chapels carved in the salt, several hundred feet below thebearth’s surface. National Geographic recently presented a special television feature on these mines and their fascinatingbhistory and legacy. Likewise, we visited the famous Marian Church of the Trumpeter of Krakow, then thebArchbishop’s Residence (once the dwelling of Pope John Paul II and now his successor and former secretary, CardinalbStanislaus Dziwisz) and came to a special shrine in nearby Lagiewniki district, the final resting place of St. Sister Faustina, the religious sister who fearlessly introduced the devotion of the Divine Mercy to a very skeptical world. The new, large basilica near her convent and grave can accommodate large numbers of pilgrims, and there, on two successive days, I included your intentions in the Masses I celebrated.
The last part of our trip to southern Poland included a visit to Wadowice, the home town and birth place of our previous pope, Karol (Charles) Wojtyla. The church where he was baptized, made his First Holy Communion and was confirmed sits along the beautiful main square of this small city. We were able to pray there, touch his baptismal font and view the papal thrones once used by the former pope and the present one on their visits to this lovely town. Many pilgrims and tourists find their way to this spiritual oasis while on journey to the Auschwitz concentration camp, not far away. Since we had already visited Majdanek, we were not ready to stomach any more scenes of “man’s inhumanity to man.” It was better to leave this region on a more positive note, and see the many wonderful roadside shrines dedicated to Our Lord or Our Lady that dot the Polish countryside in numbers that seem, at least to me, to be greater than any other in Europe. This is truly a testimony to the faith of a people that has been able to withstand many terrible invasions and treacheries upon the Catholicity of Poland. That is why Pope John Paul II, a man who made a real difference in the way he presented Catholicity in our lifetime, was well prepared to take on the task to which God called him.
Very Rev. Canon Tom
A reception followed at the new diocesan seminary, and we had a chance to spend some time with the archbishop before we left. The remaining days were spent visiting the famous icon of Our Lady of Czestochowa, also popularly referred to as “The Black Madonna,” because of the darkness of the skin tones in the painting of our Lady and Jesus. These were caused by an attempt at burning the icon when some vandals tried to steal the painting. Two sword slashes also mar the picture, the results of other plunderers trying to steal the icon, which miraculously remained at the monastery because the horses would not pull the icon in the wagon. It was my privilege, again, to offer Mass before the miraculous image. Here, we climbed the famous bell tower of the monastery that dominates the entire countryside (300 steps up – no elevator!).
A side trip to Lublin took us to the only Catholic university that remained open in the former communist world, a tribute to the deep faith of the people of Poland, which today is sending forth many of its numerous priests to countries all over the world, in particular, France and Germany (no longer sources of vocations the way they once were). We took time to visit the infamous and stark Majdanek concentration camp, where tens of thousands of people, specifically Jews, were executed during the Second World War. We saw the crematoria there, and the vast
array of many of the possessions of the prisoners, objects which were not spirited away before the liberation of thebcamp. Surely, doubters of the Holocaust would have a hard time explaining away what our eyes beheld!
Krakow, the long-time residence of the late Pope John Paul II, is a very ancient and beautiful city, and here webvisited the famous Wieliczka salt mines, with entire chapels carved in the salt, several hundred feet below thebearth’s surface. National Geographic recently presented a special television feature on these mines and their fascinatingbhistory and legacy. Likewise, we visited the famous Marian Church of the Trumpeter of Krakow, then thebArchbishop’s Residence (once the dwelling of Pope John Paul II and now his successor and former secretary, CardinalbStanislaus Dziwisz) and came to a special shrine in nearby Lagiewniki district, the final resting place of St. Sister Faustina, the religious sister who fearlessly introduced the devotion of the Divine Mercy to a very skeptical world. The new, large basilica near her convent and grave can accommodate large numbers of pilgrims, and there, on two successive days, I included your intentions in the Masses I celebrated.
The last part of our trip to southern Poland included a visit to Wadowice, the home town and birth place of our previous pope, Karol (Charles) Wojtyla. The church where he was baptized, made his First Holy Communion and was confirmed sits along the beautiful main square of this small city. We were able to pray there, touch his baptismal font and view the papal thrones once used by the former pope and the present one on their visits to this lovely town. Many pilgrims and tourists find their way to this spiritual oasis while on journey to the Auschwitz concentration camp, not far away. Since we had already visited Majdanek, we were not ready to stomach any more scenes of “man’s inhumanity to man.” It was better to leave this region on a more positive note, and see the many wonderful roadside shrines dedicated to Our Lord or Our Lady that dot the Polish countryside in numbers that seem, at least to me, to be greater than any other in Europe. This is truly a testimony to the faith of a people that has been able to withstand many terrible invasions and treacheries upon the Catholicity of Poland. That is why Pope John Paul II, a man who made a real difference in the way he presented Catholicity in our lifetime, was well prepared to take on the task to which God called him.
Very Rev. Canon Tom