People in Poland are generally more serene, wore simpler clothes, less hurried, and very Catholic! Our Polish guide took pride in the fact that Poland is 90% Catholic, as evidenced by the so many churches we saw. It seemed like there was a church in every corner.
Our first taste of Polish lifestyle and culture was in Wroclaw (pronounced as Vro-chuave) where we visited St. John's Cathedral and the Church of the Holy Cross, among others. Next in our itinerary was Czestochowa where we visited the Jasna Gora Monastery which houses the Icon of Our Lady of Czestochowa, adorned in gold with precious stones, which are gifts from pilgrims from all over the world. On the walls of the church hang donated precious and semi-precious jewelry pieces carefully arranged very much like curtains and a museum of other donations from all over the world. It was so touching how they kept every little item donated to Our Lady... from the simplest to the very intricate work of art. In the monastery, we met a group of Filipino American pilgrims from California, who also came with a Filipino chaplain. We learned from a Filipina nun who was assigned to guide and tour us around, that the icon had two scars on the left cheek which could not be removed despite efforts to cover it with fresh paint.
After shopping for souvenirs and a very restful evening at the hotel, we continued our pilgrimage to the capital city of Warsaw. This city which was completely destroyed during World War II, has surprisingly been rebuilt. We visited Chopin's Memorial Park called the Lazienki Park, as well as the Palace of Culture & Science. We took the elevator to an observation point, which gave us a view of Warsaw and the Ghetto area. We also visited the Ghetto Area as well as their reconstructed Old Town Square where we spent some hours just enjoying the scenery and watching the locals enjoy ice cream with their family. We were told that next to Warsaw, Manila came next, when it came to the extent of the World War II destruction. Proudly we can say, that in terms of infrastructure, we are not too far behind. Our excitement grew as we neared the Convent of Sister Faustina and the Church of the Divine Mercy in Lagiewniki. The place now houses a very modern structure which can accommodate thousands of pilgrims. A very beautiful nun met our group and gave us a closed door lecture on the life of Sister Faustina Kowalska now St. Faustina, and how she was fated to propagate the devotion to the Divine Mercy by our Lord. During one of Jesus' apparitions, He asked Sister Faustina to have His image painted with the letters "Jesus I trust in You" written below the image. His message for us is very clear. He wants us to know that He loves us all and is ready to forgive us, as long as we return to Him. What a comforting thought, I said to myself. I took a picture of a replica of the enshrined image of the Divine Mercy at another church and I could not understand why the picture seemed to glow in a very different way. Whether it was caused by a defect in my camera, I cannot say. All I know is what I feel in my heart each time I see it. It was for me, the most touching part of our pilgrimage and I know that He will always be there to lead me in a way that He has led Sister Faustina and all the other pilgrims like me to a much better relationship with Him.
The last places that we visited in Poland were Krakow the former capital of Poland, Wadowice... the home of Pope John Paul II and the concentration camps at Auchwitz and Birkenau. Krakow was not damaged during the war, so we enjoyed the magnificent church of St. Mary, with an altar looking like a book depicting the life of our Blessed Mother. Once again, the Old Town Square was the place that we enjoyed the most. The Gothic architecture from the 14th century was impressive, to say the least.
Also included in our tour was a visit to the concentration camps at Aushwitz and Birkenau. We saw how the Jews (both Jewish and Christians) were gassed and cremated. We also saw the prison cell of St. Maximilian Kolby, a Catholic priest who offerred his life in exchange for the life of a father who had 5 small children. This man survived the holocaust and lived to testify during the beatification and sainthood of St. Maximilian Kolby.
As in all tours, my duty was to keep the group together as we board our motorcoach for sightseeing, dinners at local restaurants and shopping. The latter was always the hardest to control, but I survived. Our final stop was Vienna... the city of Johann Strauss, but that is reserved for the next weeks of Travel Talk.
For your comments, you can reach me at Delmar Travel & Tours, Inc. Tel. Nos. 2536561 & 2536571 or email me at: marilou@delmar travelphils.com or marilou_ordonez 2000@yahoo.com.