Three
thousand Catholics make a 36-mile pilgrimage in honor of
Our Lady of Czestochowa
By NADIA POZO
CS&T Staff Writer
Swollen feet, blisters the size of jellybeans, leg cramps, and sheer exhaustion
from walking 36 miles in the blazing sun.
For the nearly 3,000 people who chose to make a two-day walking pilgrimage
to Our Lady of Czestochowa in honor of the Blessed Virgin Mary, these
were a small price to pay for all the graces received through Mary’s
intercession.
The pilgrims included nearly 400 mostly Polish people from Philadelphia
and many on vacation from Poland, who said their overwhelming love for
and gratitude toward the Blessed Mother motivated them to give up their
weekend, Saturday Aug. 12 and Sunday, Aug. 13, to publicly witness to
the fact that God and faith are central to their lives.
“In order to meet Jesus, I go through Mary,” said seminarian
Martin Iwanowicz, who is studying at St. Charles Borromeo Seminary for
the Archdiocese of Philadelphia. “I think it’s the fastest,
safest and surest way, although it is not the only way. All these people
on the pilgrimage are living the same way. We are sharing the same devotion.
Our ultimate goal is Christ. Mary shows us the way to reach Christ.”
Working with 12 other young men and women under the leadership of Father
Tadeusz Gorka, the organizer of the pilgrimage, Iwanowicz has served as
a safety guard for the past three years and has served in the opening
and closing Masses.
For the Philadelphia pilgrims, the journey began with 6 a.m. Mass at St.
Adalbert Church, a Polish personal Parish in Northeast Philadelphia, before
the pilgrims hit the streets as onlookers cheered them on.
Polish songs and prayers filled the early morning air as the pilgrims
began their journey to St. John Bosco in Hatboro, 20 miles away, where
they would rest for the night.
The day was long and strenuous, but the pilgrims had plenty of breaks
to keep hydrated and regain their energy before continuing on the walk
that included a police escort.
A breakfast stop at St. John Cantius and a welcome lunch break at Maternity
B.V.M the first day were opportunities for pilgrims to get to know each
other and share why they had chosen to do the walk.
Pilgrims were offered Polish favorites such as pierogies (semicircular
dumplings stuffed with mashed potatoes), and golumpki (stuffed cabbage)
for a delicious lunch cooked with great love by chef Roman Staniak and
the Polish women of St. Adalbert, treats that were particularly enjoyed
by the handful of pilgrims who did not speak Polish.
Msgr. Bernard Witkowski greeted the pilgrims at Maternity B.V.M., and
marveled at their zeal and energy.
He had wanted to participate in the pilgrimage, but a recent back operation
prevented him from doing so. Nonetheless, he offered his prayers and hospitality
as the pilgrims set out once again.
The afternoon hours were more challenging because of the heat, but the
powerful witness provided by the pilgrims did not go unnoticed. They stopped
traffic down major roads and highways through Philadelphia, Warminster
and Hatboro as they made their way to St. John Bosco.
Upon their arrival at 6 p.m., some pilgrims dropped wearily on the ground,
others got ready for dinner, and Father Gorka and his team continued the
work of feeding and organizing the group.
The evening included time for prayer, praise and worship and testimonies
in Polish before the women and children headed to the cafeteria and the
men headed to the gym to set up their sleeping quarters on the floor.
For some, sleep came easily. For others, the discomfort provided yet another
opportunity to offer up small mortifications in thanksgiving for favors
received. For still others, the anticipated excitement of the next day,
when the pilgrims’ long journey would come to an end, kept them
from sleep.
From Hatboro, the pilgrims headed through Bensalem to Doylestown, beginning
their walk in the dark at 5:15 a.m. Whether it was walking through Winster
Park, highways or neighborhood streets, some onlookers were visibly moved,
especially in Polish neighborhoods. Some onlooks were just curious while
others honked and waved encouragingly at the pilgrims on the last leg
of their trip, a 17-mile hike to the Shrine.
There, they would meet with nearly 3,000 other Polish, Spanish- and English-speaking
pilgrims coming from Great Meadows and Trenton N.J. for the 2 p.m. Mass
offered for the Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
“You’re never alone when you do this,” said Penn State
graduate, Natalia Czajkluska of St. Adalbert Parish. “People come
together, sharing their food and drinks, doing everything together. You
see how good the human heart is. Last year was horrible walking because
of the humidity, but people still came back to do it.”
Czajkluska has been a safety guard for all five years of the pilgrimage
— which requires great physical endurance, as guards run ahead of
the group to stop traffic and then fall behind to ensure everyone crosses
streets and intersections safely.
“It just demonstrated the incredible devotion to see the number
of people who give up time and energy to pray and do this when there are
those who say there is no God or are against religion,” said Dolores
Czaplicki from St. Ephrem in Bensalem.
She and her friends are in their 60s and have been doing the walk for
the past four years. She finds strength in knowing that millions of people
throughout the world do pilgrimage walks in honor of Mary, including hundreds
of thousands in Poland alone — specifically to the Shrine of Our
Lady of Czestochowa in Jasna Gora, Poland.
She offered her walk for her friends with cancer and for her family, she
said.
The oldest pilgrim on the Philadelphia walk was a 77-years-old and she
walked the whole way, both days.
“She did the Stations of the Cross before the pilgrimage and asked
Mary and Jesus to help her walk, and she did it. She told me that she’s
so grateful to the Blessed Mother,” said Father Gorka, the parochial
vicar of St. Adalbert Church.
The youngest pilgrims were 14-month-old twins who were able to make the
pilgrimage with lots of help from their parents and friends.
“It’s not a big deal if you have good friends,” said
Monika Szymanik, the boys’ mother. “It’s a joint effort.
I could never have done this by myself.”
For the Szymanik family, it’s a time to enjoy each other and to
spend time in community prayer.
Szymanik and her husband are no strangers to pilgrimages, having done
two-week walking pilgrimages to the original Shrine of Our Lady of Czestochowa,
also known as the Black Madonna, in Poland.
“When it’s over, you don’t remember the pain or the
hardships,” Szymanik continued. “You remember the good stuff,
how you were touched, and the funny things that happened.”
When the time finally arrived, the Philadelphia pilgrims, young and old,
knelt on the street leading up to the Shrine to give thanks to the Blessed
Mother for their safe arrival. They then continued on in triumph, singing
a Polish Marian hymn as they entered the grounds of the Shrine.
There, they were greeted by the New Jersey pilgrims who had already arrived.
First-time pilgrims were overcome with emotion, while veterans were beaming
with joy.
“My mom is the most important person to me. She couldn’t come
so she said to me, ‘Go for me, pray for me.’ I’d do
anything for her,” said 16-year-old Basia Goral from St. John Cantius,
who walked with her older sister Alexandra, 19, and brother, Jan, 18,
and his girlfriend Katie Brown.
The Goral siblings were also walking for their father and their deceased
grandmother, who had a great Marian devotion, they said.
As the days progressed and the pain set in, Goral, who walked for the
first time, remembered her intentions and the many graces her family has
received.
“I feel stronger,” added the Nazareth Academy junior of her
pilgrimage experience. “[This pilgrimage] shows what you’d
go through for your faith. My faith is who I am and I can’t change
that.”
During the homily, Bishop Thomas Wenski of Orlando, Fla., who had led
the Spanish pilgrims from Miami, New York and New Jersey in the four day
Meadow Land pilgrimage, encouraged all the grateful pilgrims with these
words:
“As we leave here today to continue on our life’s pilgrimage,
may we always keep in mind those words spoken by Mary at the Wedding Feast
at Cana, ‘Do whatever He tells you.’ If we want to find our
way to heaven, if we want to find joy ... we must do as our Mother tells
us, ‘Do what my Son Jesus tells you.’”
CS&T staff writer Nadia Pozo can be reached at npozo@adphila.org or
(215) 965-4614.