Before I left, a friend asked me why I want to go to Poland of all places. My answer was one a child would probably give: I like Polish people. The next question was how many Polish people I knew. So here you have it folks:
- Pope John Paul II
- Saint Maximilian Kolbe
- Saint Faustina Kowalska
- Dr. George Woytanowitz (history professor at St. Thomas)
- "Big Mike"
- Agnieszka "Aga" Lula
- Justin Wiltse (fellow Bernardian)
"To Poland the Church brought Christ, the key to understanding that great and fundamentalreality that is man. For man cannot be fully understood without Christ. Or rather, man is incapable of understanding himself fully without Christ. He cannot understand who he is, nor what his true dignity is, nor what his vocation is, nor what his final end is. He cannot understand any of this without Christ.
Therefore Christ cannot be kept out of the history of man in any part of the globe, at any longitude or latitude of geography. The exclusion of Christ from the history of man is an act against man. Without Christ it is impossible to understand the history of Poland, especially the history of the people who have passed or are passing through this land. The history of people. The history of the nation is above all the history of people. And the history of each person unfolds in Jesus Christ. In him it becomes the history of salvation." (Vatican.va)
After delivering this to the Polish people, they started to heed the words of scripture repeated over one hundred times: "Be not afraid." They went into their workplaces, their homes, and in the public square to proclaim the truth of Christ in their live. With that, Poland's communist grasp weakened significantly and eventually weakened the rest of the Slovak area, in turn weakening the USSR. The rest is history.
The one thing I loved most about Krakow was the amount of Catholic churches and the outward piety of the city's people. The city basically basically had a Mass schedule comparable to that of Rome. People were always at Mass and even the Cathedral guards were practicing Catholics, as evident by them serving Mass, reading at Mass and genuflecting before the Blessed Sacrament before entering the Adoration Chapel. If I could speak Polish, I would 100% move to Krakow and live there for the rest of my life!! There is something about a Catholic society that wins my heart over EVERY single time.
Some of the churches we visited were jaw-droppingly beautiful. Built in the classical style, the decor was much more "Here live God; come and behold Him!" rather than the modern "We worship God here; look at my decorating skills! Supes cute!" (Too far? I think not...). The reverence displayed by the Poles in their church design and church-going is something I wish every Catholic would heed. Along with these stunning churches, the Adoration Chapels where truly built for royal to given proper respect to the King of Kings. It is a Catholic paradise in Poland!!
Speaking of paradise, SNOW. LOTS of snow!! When we were descending into KRA (JPII International Airport), we were delayed by 15 minutes and forced to fly around in the air because they had to clear the runway of snow. With temperatures around the 28° to 36° range, I was able to experience the winter I missed this year. Luckily for me, I checked the forecast before leaving Rome and brought my Columbia Omniheat jacket to ensure I am toasty warm the whole time!! There is something about an all-white backdrop to beautiful church architecture which can soften my heart no matter how hard it may have become from churches like this and this and this or dare I say this one. Sometimes conserving what is beautiful is better than creating something new and beautiful (Most times I'd say).
Anyway, back to snow!! Though it was freezing cold in the churches when we went to Mass, it was a blessing to have these cold temperatures following me around for the week. It made me remember why I fell in love with Minnesota :)
This an abrupt change but while we were in Poland, we went to visit Auschwitz and the neighboring Auschwitz-Birkenau. Hitler's Holocaust of the Jewish people was one that will stain history for countless years to come. I have always had an interest in the time period during Second War World and this trip brought all these horrific events back into my mind. It was very difficult at times to see rooms filled with confiscated shoes, luggage, glasses and literal tons of human hair. My heart ached for all the innocent lives that were lost to this horrible Nazi cause. All that was described to us was unimaginable but despite the sadness that me heart felt, I was able to see light at the end of a long tunnel.
On part of the tour, we had the opportunity to visit Block 11 where there were starvation cells. It is in this building that both Pope John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI came to pray at one particular cell. If my memory serves me correctly, it was in Cell 18 where St. Maximilian Kolbe, a Polish Franciscan priest and one of my favorite saints, was martyred after starving to death along with 10 other men. His story is a very sad one but one should not overlook the fact that he did not died in vain but out of the love of Christ. Saint Maximilian Kolbe chose to enter that cell in the place of this father with children who was initially selected. This martyr of the love of Christ is an inspiration and a call to all Christians to agape, or the total gift of self through love.
Saint Maximilian Kolbe's story is not unique either. There were many people interned in these concentration camps who hoped to the point of death and lived to love. Many lost their lives but gained eternity with God for having faith in him and never giving up hope in the face of certain death. Those who can see love even in these most volatile conditions brought me hope. I am not sure I could have that strength but how I pray that if I was in their place and I can still see hope at every moment.
It was certainly a spiritual experience as much as a historical experience to visit Auschwitz. I will not forget the things that I saw there for the rest of my life and I will always heed the call given by those who died in the hope of rising to new life after death. They are a true inspiration.
I apologize for the sudden change of topic yet again. Poland was filled with completely unique experience and it's a shame to bunch them together in one post. Yet, everything is connected by the common thread of this penultimate topic. On Sunday of that week, we made our way further outside of Krakow to the world renowned Divine Mercy Sanctuary established by Blessed Pope John Paul II in 2002. While the Sanctuary itself was...interesting...the message of Christ to St. Faustina is one that should resonate in our lives. For those unfamiliar with the Divine Mercy Devotion, EWTN uses these words:
"Devotion to The Divine Mercy involves a total commitment toThis devotion has become increasing popular in the United States and around the world over time, especially after Blessed John Paul II started to actively promote it following his canonization of St. Faustina in 2000. That say year, Pope John Paul II declared the First Sunday after Easter as the Sunday of Divine Mercy, according to what is specified in the diary of St. Faustina. Because of this ever growing devotion, a lot of people flock to he tomb and to the Sanctuary.
God as Mercy. It is a decision to trust completely in Him, to
accept His mercy with thanksgiving, and to be merciful as
He is merciful."
Read more:http://www.ewtn.com/devotionals/mercy/backgr.htm#ixzz2R059Gndy
I will tell you with all my experience with papal events and conclaves, the crowds at Divine Mercy Sunday are INTENSE. I have never experienced that much pushing and "sardine-ing" (Definition: when a group of people actively try to imitate the compact nature of sardines) in a liturgical setting. The either Mass was in Polish but I was still able to participate partially because the Kyrie, Gloria, Sanctus, and Agnus Dei were sung in Latin by the choirs present. It was a great experience but I NEVER plan on doing it again...unless, of course, I have some VIP access or something.
After some shopping at religious goods booths, prayer at the tomb of St. Faustina, praying the Chaplet of Divine Mercy during the hour of Divine Mercy on site, and eating some Polish food from a street vendor, we finally made our way to find a taxi to take us to the airport. Much to our surprise, the taxi driver was a kind/funny man who gave us a history of Poland as we drove to KRA and told us about his daughters whom he loves very much.
Our last surprise of Poland was at the airport itself. As we were waiting for our flight to eventually come, I spotted signs for the airport chapel. Having bad experiences with other airport chapels in the US, I was hesitate to see this one. I was half expecting a picture of Jesus next to Buddha next to Ganesha, the Hindu god of knowledge, wisdom and wealth.
But nope! Instead I found a crucifix placed above the Blessed Sacrament with a pilot praying before embarking on his flight. That propeller in the corner has a considerable amount of rosaries hanging off of it and there was a Mass schedule posted by the door. Only in a Catholic country can I be blessed with such a surprise!!
There you have it folks!! There was my experience in Krakow, Poland: the city that stole my heart.
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