Earlier this week, Bishop Edward Malesic and Father Dan Schlegel, secretary and vicar for clergy and religious, joined about 60 faithful from the Diocese of Cleveland on a pilgrimage to Poland, the Czech Republic and Germany.
The trip was organized by the Catholic Community Foundation, which fosters faith-based stewardship in the community for the spiritual, educational and charitable needs of all. The foundation helps donors continue Jesus’ mission to transform the world by connecting their support to ministries and services of the diocese. Patrick Grace, executive director of the foundation, also made the pilgrimage.
Highlights of the first few days are featured in the photo gallery above and in the story below.
After landing in Warsaw, Poland, the pilgrims met with the tour managers, checked into their hotel and enjoyed a get-acquainted dinner at the hotel. The first course featured a traditional pumpkin soup and some hearty bread.
The group started the first full day of the pilgrimage in Warsaw. Some pilgrims visited part of the Warsaw Jewish Ghetto where so many lost their lives in World War II. According to Deacon Dennis Conrad, one of the pilgrims, “It was a fitting way to start for our pilgrimage to remember the hundreds of thousands martyred for their religion that we so often take for granted.”
The next stop was the Monastery of Jasna Gora in Częstochowa, Poland, the largest Pauline monastery in the world with more than 100 monks living there. This monastery is very important to the Polish people as the icon of the Black Madonna, also known as Our Lady of Częstochowa, is housed there here. The famous icon has been a part of the faith lives of the Polish people for more than 600 years. Shortly after its arrival in Poland, the icon was slashed with a sword and damaged in a siege of the monastery. Although it was repaired, the “scar” from that attack still can still be seen.
Deacon Conrad said as people meditate upon the icon, they are reminded that they also have scars and blemishes from their past. “However, it is not these, but what we hold in the quiet of our hearts and demonstrate with our thoughts, words and actions that define us as the daughters and sons of God,” he added.
Before heading to Krakow for the evening, Bishop Malesic celebrated Mass for the group at another site important to the faith of the Polish people: the Pope St. John Paul II chapel. The late pope was a native of Wadowice, Poland and served as archbishop of Krakow before his election as pope in 1978.
The group also toured the monastery, which is one of the most significant places of religious worship to Polish Catholics.
(Photos and information provided by Father Dan Schlegel and Deacon Dennis Conrad.)