Day 3 began with me waking up at a normal time, Praise the Lamb! We boarded the bus in Warsaw to begin our journey towards Krakow. We would make multiple stops on the way there, part of our Days in the Diocese, and part of our pilgrimage to the City of Mercy.
We began the day by stopping by the church of Blessed Jerzy Popieluszko. (The man that the movie on the bus was about yesterday.) There, we saw the beautiful church he presided at, and we learned more about his mission of Solidarity, against Communism, as he fought for workers' rights and man's dignity. One of his main sayings was "Overcome evil with good." Honestly, this is so simple, yet so profound. Especially in today's society, where so many people try to fight evil with evil. Pope John Paul II also furthered the Catholic Teaching on Solidarity, where the church is all equal to each other. whether poor or rich members, we are all sons and daughters of the Father, and we should work to achieve that unity, no matter our nationality, race, or gender. It is a beautiful teaching that comes to play later in the day.
Under the church lies a museum, where the life of Blessed Jerzy Popieluszko is portrayed and reenacted with various scenes and monuments. The most moving part was the room where they had the rocks used to drown him and some water from the river he was drowned in. There was also a room of rosaries, both regular and some peculiar ones. One of them was made from military hats, as part of the Solidarity movement that Jerzy pushed for while he was in the military. Outside the church, there lied his grave, peacefully under a tree, in the shape of a cross. Surrounding the grass was a rosary made up of huge rocks, which was hauntingly beautiful.
**I am hoping to add pictures to this blog soon; I'm new to this. Bear with me.**
"The cross has become a gate for us." Another quote by Blessed Jerzy. A gate to heaven, to our home, just as any huge house with protection from evil would have a gate, the cross is our gate to heaven.
Next, we boarded the bus, with Conrad, of course. We drove a ways down the road to Niepokalanow, a town that Saint Maximilian Kolbe built while on Earth.
For those of you who do not know, St. Maximilian Kolbe was captured and brought to Auschwitz I, where he underwent many sufferings. But he also converted many people while at Auschwitz, heard many confessions, and said mass where and when he could, so that others may see the light of Christ in that dark, wretched place. When the SSS decided to kill a group of men, Maximilian took the place of one man so that he (the man) may be with his wife and children. Kolbe died at Auschwitz.
As our tour bus arrived, we walked inside the Basilica for mass. Mass had already started, and they were just about to sing "Alleluia!" for the Gospel. (That is my word to describe this day, Alleluia.) The mass was in English, but all sorts of nationalities were present. Whenever we got to the Our Father, the celebrant asked everyone to pray the Lord's Prayer in their native languages. W O W. That was incredibly powerful, and I suddenly got a sense that World Youth Day is bigger than me. World Youth Day is bigger than my group of 34 (and Conrad). World Youth Day is something bigger than any of us could imagine. We then gave each other the sign of peace. I'm getting goosebumps as I write this. Americans, Spanish, French, Syrians, English, Portugese, Arabians; everyone gave each other the sign of peace,
THIS is what the Catholic Church is about. THIS is what we need to work towards. OVERCOME EVIL WITH GOOD. Peace is good. We say "My peace be with you. I hold nothing against you and I love you. I give you my respect, my love, my peace." What happened in that Basilica for just a few short moments spoke volumes. Countries at war with each other shook hands and said "Peace be with you," because we are all here for one reason, and that is to get to heaven. We are all here because of one person: Jesus Christ. And we were all united with Him through the church. The Church that is ONE, holy, Catholic, and Apostolic. Catholic means universal. And I definitely saw the true meaning of universal, which is Catholic. Being united as one brought peace to my heart, and was another wake up call that this event is more than anyone can fathom. It is a glimpse of Heaven itself. Praise the Lamb.
After mass, we got to tour the town by our individual selves, and I went around the Basilica to all of the different altars and praised Jesus for letting me worship and receive him in new places this summer. Following my prayer, I walked around the grounds and began to meet people from different countries. I met people from Brazil, Spain, and Portugal that day. The church is universal.
I also walked into a museum for Maximilian Kolbe, where we saw the outfit he wore at Auschwitz, paintings, his original cell at his monastery rebuilt, and his priestly vestments and mass chalices and other objects. I also had the chance to venerate a first class relic of his.
At this point I ran into Conrad, who had a bag with a ladybug on it and food in hand. Every time I saw Conrad, he had food. Anyway, he explained that in Poland, there were stores called Biedronka, which were similar to (Dollar General), and they had the symbol of a ladybug on front. (Fun fact: Ladybugs get their name "Lady" from the Blessed Virgin Mary. And Maximilian Kolbe had a devout devotion to Our Lady.
Walking back to the main square in Niepokalanow, I heard music, and got curious. There were drums, guitars and singing in a different language. I got there, and I saw a huge circle of about 200 people doing a native Indian dance while they sang Psalms. As they finished each Psalm, they went into a chorus of "Alleluia"s. I, being myself, decided to join the circle. The dance was simple, right foot forward, left foot back, right foot to the right, and repeat. We went in a counter clockwise direction ot the beat of the drum. This was yet another way of saying that the Church is one and universal. It definitely got me excited for WYD.
Leaving the town, we got back on the bus and headed to our next stop, Lodz. When we got their, our hotel was literally a 5 million star hotel, totally not what I was expecting with the word "Pilgrimage." Anyway, we had 3 hours to tour the city, and me and my Alexandria friends walked down the second largest Boardwalk in Europe. My feet were unhappy with me by the end of the day, but they really enjoyed the bed that evening. A few of us guys (me, Luke J., Grant J., Pier and Joseph Z.) turned on the TV that evening and discovered the German version of PBS. Their mascot was really something. Named Bernd das Brot, their mascot is a depressed, barotonic monotoned load of bread. Before this information came to light via Google, we were leeft dumbfounded by the outlandish nature of German television. Do other people think about this when they come to America? Blues Clues?! A blue dog? Or even worse.. Dog With A Blog or The Walking Dead. Random, but memorable.
Thus ends day 3.
Nicholas Scalfano
We began the day by stopping by the church of Blessed Jerzy Popieluszko. (The man that the movie on the bus was about yesterday.) There, we saw the beautiful church he presided at, and we learned more about his mission of Solidarity, against Communism, as he fought for workers' rights and man's dignity. One of his main sayings was "Overcome evil with good." Honestly, this is so simple, yet so profound. Especially in today's society, where so many people try to fight evil with evil. Pope John Paul II also furthered the Catholic Teaching on Solidarity, where the church is all equal to each other. whether poor or rich members, we are all sons and daughters of the Father, and we should work to achieve that unity, no matter our nationality, race, or gender. It is a beautiful teaching that comes to play later in the day.
Under the church lies a museum, where the life of Blessed Jerzy Popieluszko is portrayed and reenacted with various scenes and monuments. The most moving part was the room where they had the rocks used to drown him and some water from the river he was drowned in. There was also a room of rosaries, both regular and some peculiar ones. One of them was made from military hats, as part of the Solidarity movement that Jerzy pushed for while he was in the military. Outside the church, there lied his grave, peacefully under a tree, in the shape of a cross. Surrounding the grass was a rosary made up of huge rocks, which was hauntingly beautiful.
**I am hoping to add pictures to this blog soon; I'm new to this. Bear with me.**
"The cross has become a gate for us." Another quote by Blessed Jerzy. A gate to heaven, to our home, just as any huge house with protection from evil would have a gate, the cross is our gate to heaven.
Next, we boarded the bus, with Conrad, of course. We drove a ways down the road to Niepokalanow, a town that Saint Maximilian Kolbe built while on Earth.
For those of you who do not know, St. Maximilian Kolbe was captured and brought to Auschwitz I, where he underwent many sufferings. But he also converted many people while at Auschwitz, heard many confessions, and said mass where and when he could, so that others may see the light of Christ in that dark, wretched place. When the SSS decided to kill a group of men, Maximilian took the place of one man so that he (the man) may be with his wife and children. Kolbe died at Auschwitz.
As our tour bus arrived, we walked inside the Basilica for mass. Mass had already started, and they were just about to sing "Alleluia!" for the Gospel. (That is my word to describe this day, Alleluia.) The mass was in English, but all sorts of nationalities were present. Whenever we got to the Our Father, the celebrant asked everyone to pray the Lord's Prayer in their native languages. W O W. That was incredibly powerful, and I suddenly got a sense that World Youth Day is bigger than me. World Youth Day is bigger than my group of 34 (and Conrad). World Youth Day is something bigger than any of us could imagine. We then gave each other the sign of peace. I'm getting goosebumps as I write this. Americans, Spanish, French, Syrians, English, Portugese, Arabians; everyone gave each other the sign of peace,
THIS is what the Catholic Church is about. THIS is what we need to work towards. OVERCOME EVIL WITH GOOD. Peace is good. We say "My peace be with you. I hold nothing against you and I love you. I give you my respect, my love, my peace." What happened in that Basilica for just a few short moments spoke volumes. Countries at war with each other shook hands and said "Peace be with you," because we are all here for one reason, and that is to get to heaven. We are all here because of one person: Jesus Christ. And we were all united with Him through the church. The Church that is ONE, holy, Catholic, and Apostolic. Catholic means universal. And I definitely saw the true meaning of universal, which is Catholic. Being united as one brought peace to my heart, and was another wake up call that this event is more than anyone can fathom. It is a glimpse of Heaven itself. Praise the Lamb.
After mass, we got to tour the town by our individual selves, and I went around the Basilica to all of the different altars and praised Jesus for letting me worship and receive him in new places this summer. Following my prayer, I walked around the grounds and began to meet people from different countries. I met people from Brazil, Spain, and Portugal that day. The church is universal.
I also walked into a museum for Maximilian Kolbe, where we saw the outfit he wore at Auschwitz, paintings, his original cell at his monastery rebuilt, and his priestly vestments and mass chalices and other objects. I also had the chance to venerate a first class relic of his.
At this point I ran into Conrad, who had a bag with a ladybug on it and food in hand. Every time I saw Conrad, he had food. Anyway, he explained that in Poland, there were stores called Biedronka, which were similar to (Dollar General), and they had the symbol of a ladybug on front. (Fun fact: Ladybugs get their name "Lady" from the Blessed Virgin Mary. And Maximilian Kolbe had a devout devotion to Our Lady.
Walking back to the main square in Niepokalanow, I heard music, and got curious. There were drums, guitars and singing in a different language. I got there, and I saw a huge circle of about 200 people doing a native Indian dance while they sang Psalms. As they finished each Psalm, they went into a chorus of "Alleluia"s. I, being myself, decided to join the circle. The dance was simple, right foot forward, left foot back, right foot to the right, and repeat. We went in a counter clockwise direction ot the beat of the drum. This was yet another way of saying that the Church is one and universal. It definitely got me excited for WYD.
Leaving the town, we got back on the bus and headed to our next stop, Lodz. When we got their, our hotel was literally a 5 million star hotel, totally not what I was expecting with the word "Pilgrimage." Anyway, we had 3 hours to tour the city, and me and my Alexandria friends walked down the second largest Boardwalk in Europe. My feet were unhappy with me by the end of the day, but they really enjoyed the bed that evening. A few of us guys (me, Luke J., Grant J., Pier and Joseph Z.) turned on the TV that evening and discovered the German version of PBS. Their mascot was really something. Named Bernd das Brot, their mascot is a depressed, barotonic monotoned load of bread. Before this information came to light via Google, we were leeft dumbfounded by the outlandish nature of German television. Do other people think about this when they come to America? Blues Clues?! A blue dog? Or even worse.. Dog With A Blog or The Walking Dead. Random, but memorable.
Thus ends day 3.
Nicholas Scalfano
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