Following the Polish Saints
During this pilgrimage we get to know religious heritage of Poland: we visit shrines, see miraculous icons and retrace the most famous Saints and Blessed. It is a journey through history and tradition of the Catholic Church in Europe, which can be still easily experienced in Poland.
Day 1 Arrival
Day 2 Warsaw tour • Blessed J. Popieluszko Shrine • free time • overnight in Warsaw
Morning: Warsaw sightseeing (up to 4 h)
We discover the highlights of Warsaw: Old Market Square with the statue of Mermaid, Royal Palace and the Cathedral of St. John. In Krakowskie Przedmiescie, the most famous promenade of Warsaw we admire eg. Warsaw University, President’s Palace and the Church of the Holy Cross, where Chopin’s heart was buried. We also see the famous Palace of Culture and Science built in 50’ as a gift from Stalin. Then we take a relaxing walk around the beautiful Lazienki Park, the former suburban residence of the last Polish king with a beautiful grounds and a monument to Chopin.
Afternoon: Free time. Holy Mass in the Church of St. Stanislaw Kostka, a burial place of Blessed Jerzy Popieluszko, a charismatic priest and a chaplain of the Solidarity movement, a martyr of the communist regime.
Day 3 St. Maximilian Kolbe Shrine (Niepokalanow) • transfer to Czestochowa • overnight in Czestochowa
Morning: We visit Niepokalanow, a Franciscans monastery known as the Fortress of Our Lady the Immaculate. It was established in 1927 by St. Maximilian Kolbe and soon after became the largest centre of monastic life in Europe with 760 friars, its own printing house, radio station and even the fire brigade. Here we visit Basilica and the Museum of St. Maximilian Kolbe who died in Auschwitz in 1941. In 1982 he was canonized and declared a martyr. Possibility of the Holy Mass here.
Afternoon: Transfer to Czestochowa. Overnight in Czestochowa.
Day 4 Black Madonna Shrine (Czestochowa) • Auschwitz-Birkenau Museum • overnight in Krakow
Morning: We visit the largest shrine in Poland – the Monastery of Jasna Gora, the home of the miraculous icon known as the Black Madonna. According to legend it was painted by St. Luke the Evangelist, and arrived in Poland from the Byzantine Empire. We see a complex of monastic buildings, the impressive Baroque basilica, and a chapel with the miraculous image, surrounded by walls covered with countless votive offerings – poignant evidence of human faith. After the tour Holy Mass. Transfer to Auschwitz-Birkenau Museum.
Afternoon: We visit Auschwitz-Birkenau Museum, the site of the largest concentration and extermination camp built by the Nazis during WWII. It became a symbol of the Holocaust, Nazi crimes against the population and forced labor. During the tour we see Auschwitz (the displays in the former prison blocks depicting the history of the camp, extermination methods, and looting of property, here you also see the only surviving crematorium) and the camp at Birkenau (the Gate of Death, wooden barracks, the ruins of the crematoria, and Memorial).
Day 5 Krakow Old Town walk • Wieliczka Salt Mine (St. Kinga) • overnight in Krakow
Morning: Krakow – Rome of Northern Europe (Old Town walk)
Krakow, the former capital of the Polish Kingdom is the city of old churches and Saints. During our tour we discover its unique cultural and religious heritage. We see Wawel Hill with the renaissance Royal Castle and Cathedral – the site of coronations of kings and the burial place of the patron saint of Poland – St. Stanislaw. It is here where Karol Wojtyla celebrated his first mass in 1946. Following the Royal Way we see the Main Market Square – the largest medieval square in Europe, the Cloth Hall and St. Mary’s Church, home to the largest medieval altar in Europe.
Afternoon: Free time. Optionally Wieliczka Salt Mine.
Day 6 Zakopane (Our Lady of Fatima Shrine) • overnight in Krakow
Take a relaxing and scenic trip in the Podhale region at the foot of the highest mountains in Poland – the Tatras. We visit Zakopane, known as a ski resort and winter capital of Poland . Tourists come to enjoy the views, traditional regional cuisine and admire the Highlanders lively folklore. We visit the Shrine of Our Lady of Fatima which was built ex –voto as thanksgiving for salvation of St. John Paul II after assassination attempt in 1981. On the way to Zakopane we also stop in Chocholow, a small village with perfectly preserved (and still inhabited) wooden cottages which are more than 100 years old.
Day 7 Kalwaria • Wadowice • Lagiewniki (St. S. Faustina) • free time • overnight in Krakow
We visit Wadowice, the birthplace of St. John Paul II. Visiting the Museum we get to know the most important aspects of pontificate of St. John Paull II, but also insights into his private life and passions. Afterwards we visit Kalwaria Zebrzydowska (UNESCO), a unique example of Baroque religiousness and worship and a home of the miraculous icon of Our Lady. It is a complex of more than 40 chapels and small churches built in the 17th – 18th centuries as a symbolic replica of Jerusalem for pilgrims who could not take a trip to the Holy Land. Our next stop is Lagiewniki – Divine Mercy Shrine, where St. Sister Faustina lived and died, today one of the largest places of worship in the world. Through her Lord Christ gave the message of the Divine Mercy to the whole world. Here we see the Chapel with the tomb and relics of St. Sister Faustina and the miraculous Divine Mercy image. Here we will have a Holy Mass finishing our pilgrimage to Poland.
Day 8 Departure
