2024 Danube Pilgrimage: Krakow Part 1

When I first learned of this pilgrimage, I was asked if I was interested in the Krakow Extension. I didn't even hesitate. My response: "I can't be that close to JPII and not go!" While the other experiences I had were incredible, they don't hold a candle to the last 3 days. Well, really 2 since I missed 1 day because I caught whatever was going around the bus and chose to stay in bed that day. Even though I missed Czestochowa, it gave me a good reason to say "I'll be back". 

As soon as we entered Poland, we had mass at a wooden church in Orawka. Built in 1659, St. John the Baptist is the oldest church in Upper Orava. It was dark, cold, smelled musty, and absolutely fantastic. 

Some of the pictures depict life of the local people

View of the High Altar; the large pictures on the walls and ceilings are of St. John's life

Close-up of the High Altar

St. Anne

The disciples collecting St. John the Baptist's body following his beheading.

A view of the cemetery

I was extremely disappointed that I missed the next day: Czestochowa, but I think God had something else in store for me. The next day was all about JPII Centre and the Divine Mercy Basilica. 

The JPII Centre

Doors to the JPII Center depicting his life

JPII Statue facing the Divine Mercy Basilica

The blood-stained cassock JPII was wearing when he was shot

Just a short distance from the JPII Center is the Divine Mercy Basilica. I love that these 2 are so very close together. 

The Basilica of the Divine Mercy was built to resemble a ship, a modern Ark of the Covenant for the salvation of all who put their trust in the Divine Mercy.

Since it was All Saints Day, the first thing we did was place a candle in the cemetery of our choice: either the nun's cemetery or the cemetery of soldiers from WWI.

I chose to place a candle at the grave of a WWI Veteran at the Convent of the Sisters of Our Lady of Mercy, Krakow

Cemetery of the Nuns

Statue of St. Faustina with the JPII Center in the background

Mass was in the Italian Chapel; we had time to venerate a relic quickly before walking around the downstairs of the Basilica, which holds 5 chapels with gifts from different countries.

The Chapel of St. Faustina, or the Italian Chapel

Relic of St. Faustina in the Italian Chapel

Chapel of St. Andrew the Apostle is a gift of the Greek Catholic Church of Poland and Ukraine.

The Chapel of Our Lady of the Seven Sorrows (The Slovak Chapel)

The Communio Sanctorum Chapel (The Hungarian Chapel)
A relic of St. Stephen is in front of the altar.

Holy Cross Chapel (The German Chapel)
The statue is of St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross (Edith Stein)

The main church on the top floor of the Basilica

And then, the convent where St. Faustina lived and died. I felt such peace when I stepped onto the grounds of the convent. 

Reproduction of St. Faustina's cell

St. Faustina's cell at the time of her death

The ceiling over the altar in the chapel

The altar in the chapel

St. Faustina's remains under the original Divine Mercy

The altar

The ceiling

We had time to venerate St. Faustina's remains, and I had enough time to sit in a pew and pray the Divine Mercy Chaplet in thanksgiving for answered prayers before my husband's death. I sat there and thought about all of the times I sat in the little chapel in my home parish in East TN and looked at a reproduction of the Divine Mercy Image while repeating, "Jesus, I trust in You". This was the highlight of my pilgrimage. I could have sat there for hours, if not all day. 

While we were quickly viewing the reproduction of her cell, one of our guides had slips of paper on which were written lines from St. Faustina's Diary. We were encouraged to pick one on our way out. I said a quick prayer asking St. Faustina to help me choose the one that would speak to me. Well, she did. I left the room with tears in my eyes. It was as if she were right there with me. As I write this a year later, I can still feel it. One of the reasons it's taken me so long to write this is that it's so hard to describe. I still don't think I'm doing an adequate job of it, but maybe that's the point. It's something so personal that it's so very hard to describe. 

The second part of that day (the JPII Center and Divine Mercy were just half of the day) was all about JPII. The walking tour was tailored to the pilgrimage...if I'm not mistaken, the guides who were with us from Select International led the tour since they were all from Krakow. 

Wawel Cathedral on the grounds of Krakow Castle. Photography was not allowed inside. The chapel contains many side chapels. In the tombs is the chapel where JPII said his first Mass. It is also the site of many coronations for Polish Monarchs. This is also where JPII was ordained as auxiliary bishop for Krakow.

I found this fascinating: In the middle of the town square, there is an Adoration Chapel, St. Adalbert. If someone hadn't pointed it out to me, I wouldn't have known to go in. It was amazing. The square is crowded, it's loud, and then you walk into this chapel and it's peaceful and quiet.

And then you walk back into "the real world"! If I get back to Krakow, I'm definitely going to revisit the chapel. There is a basilica also in the Main Square: St. Mary's. It is also famous for the St. Mary's Trumpet Call that occurs at the top of every hour. Played since the 14th century, the trumpeter plays at the top of every hour, repeating the tune 4 times directed toward the 4 cardinal points (North, South, East, West). The trumpeter is a firefighter who abruptly ends the tune in honor of the trumpeter who was shot with an arrow in the throat while alarming the city of approaching troops. The tradition continues over 6 centuries with breaks happening during the 19th century and WWII.

St. Francis Cathedral is across the street from the Archbishop's residence. This was JPII's home parish when he was the Archbishop of Krakow. He would often walk across the street and pray. His usual pew is now noted with a plaque. 

The Archbishop's Residence

Points of interest during our walking tour that we weren't able to enter due to time constraints:

St. Andrews: the oldest church in the city

Sts. Peter and Paul

JPII lived here from 1951-1067.

As we headed back to the hotel, we were very close to St. Florian's, which was JPII's first parish assignment. I drew up the courage to divert from the rest of the group and go in for a bit.

That will be a day I will never forget. I don't want to say it was worth missing Czestachowa, but I wasn't upset that I did. We were down to 1 last day of the pilgrimage, and I didn't want it to end!