Jasna Góra pilgrimage in full swing
PR dla Zagranicy
Roberto Galea
12.08.2016 10:34
Thousands of faithful join pilgrimage to Jasna Góra monastery in southern Poland
Cardinal Stanisław Dziwisz (L) met with some of the pilgrims in Kraków. Photo: PAP/Waldemar Deska
The Jasna Góra pilgrimage will on Friday include pilgrims from the cities of Sandomierz, Zielona Góry, Warmia, Białystok and Toruń.
Thousands of pilgrims from around the country will attend festivities of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Częstochowa in Jasna Góra on the 15th of August. The event is the biggest walking pilgrimage in the country.
On Saturday, the pilgrimage will be joined by Catholics from the cities and towns of Koszalin, Kołobrzeg and Szczecin, and on Sunday from the capital, Warsaw.
The first religious devotees set off to Częstochowa in 1711, to give their thanks to the Virgin Mary for salvaging their city from plague.
In modern times, pilgrims travel to the religious site to express their gratitude for hearing their prayers for health, well-being or bearing a child, by praying before the famous image of the Black Madonna – or traverse the distance for such pleas to be granted.
The pilgrims will cover the same 250km-long trail first set out centuries ago.
Some of the most notable pilgrimages include those launched by Warsaw’s academic groups, called ‘17’, the homeless and the handicapped.
Other pilgrimages, run by cyclists and roller-skaters, for example, will reach Częstochowa on 26 August, the Feast of Our Lady Czestochowa. (rg)