Poland: pilgrimages to the Marian shrine of Jasna Góra in Czestochowa have been resumed. Young people and healthcare workers coming

After the long break due to Covid-19 pilgrims are coming back to the Marian shrine of Jasna Góra in Częstochowa. The first one arriving in front of the painting of the Black Madonna, in the wake of the traditional pilgrimages that have never stopped since 1656, come from the diocese of Łowicz. This year, as they walk, the devotees pray for the pandemic to end, but the organisers have also put a strong emphasis on the required spiritual preparation for the beatification of card. Stefan Wyszyński (1901-1981), due in Warsaw mid-September. In the past weekend, on the initiative of Radio Maryja, Toruń’s Catholic TV station, young people too came to the shrine of Częstochow, wishing – like Carlo Acutis, recently included among the blessed souls – to be “always joined to Jesus”. One of them, in summarising his feelings, revealed: “Częstochowa is a very special place for me, because I am my mother’s little miracle, happened through the intercession of Our Lady of Jasna Góra”.
The pilgrims that came to the shrine on the last few days include many groups of healthcare workers, led by father Arkadiusz Zawistowski, director of the pastoral service for healthcare professionals of the Polish Bishops’ Conference. The prelate wanted to commemorate the many doctors and paramedics who died of Covid-19 in the last months. A very special alabaster rose containing the urn with the ashes of the women massacred in the Nazi Ravensbrueck concentration camp, about one hundred kilometres north of Berlin, in 1939-1945, was donated to Our Lady of Częstochowa on Saturday 22nd May.
Valentina Bombelli