During August 11-15, 2021, many pilgrims visited the Shrine of Kalwaria Pacławska, near Przemyśl, Poland.
The pilgrims focused in particular on St. Mary of the Assumption and this year’s milestone commemorations marking the 100th anniversary of the death of the Venerable Servant of God, Wenanty KATARZYNIEC; the 80th anniversary of the death of St. Maximilian KOLBE; and the 30th anniversary of the deaths of Blessed Zbigniew STRZAŁKOWSKI and Michał TOMASZEK.
For the 100th anniversary of the death of Friar Wenanty, a presentation entitled “Newfound Happiness” was written and performed in his honor. Friar Wenanty is buried in Kalwaria Pacławska.
For the duration of the feast, relics of the missionary martyrs Zbigniew STRZAŁKOWSKI and Michał TOMASZEK were on display, namely, the shirts they wore when they were martyred thirty years ago.
For the 80th anniversary St. Maximilian M. KOLBE, celebrated by the Church on August 14, 2021, the former Prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, His Eminence, Robert Cardinal SARAH, presided over a commemorative Mass at the Shrine on August 15th.
Cardinal SARAH dedicated most of his homily to Our Lady, whom he said, “entered the glory of heaven not only with her soul but also with her body.” He then encouraged the pilgrims to ask for “the grace to die in love”, because that “was the death of Our Lady. Hers was a death of love. Such a death is a good death.”
During midnight Mass, August 14-15, the Minister Provincial of the Province of St. Anthony and Bl. James of Strepar in Poland (Cracow), Friar Marian GOŁĄB, solemnly sent Friar Adam STASICKI to Peru, imposing the missionary cross upon him.
Notable participants in the festivities included the Most Reverend Salvatore PENNACCHIO, Apostolic Nuncio to Poland; the Most Reverend Adam SZAL, Metropolitan Archbishop of Przemyśl; the Vicar General, Friar Jan MACIEJOWSKI; and the Assistant General for the Foederatio Europae Mediae et Orientalis (FEMO) Friar Tomáš LESŇÁK.
For more information about Kalwaria Pacławska [Polish language only] visit the shrine’s website at:
https://kalwaria.franciszkanie.pl/
Friar Jan M. SZEWEK
