Poland Fun

First of all, I forgot a very exciting incident from Friday: While talking with Sr. Monica we were discussing Poland and I was saying how much I love Poland and she asked me if I was Polish. When I responded no she was shocked and stated that I look Polish! This totally made my day because I love Poland and I wish I was Polish and I have decided that I am adopting Poland as my fifth nationality!

Anyways, on Saturday I woke up to Amy going "CLARE! IT'S 8:15!" Which I knew meant we had overslept and so I replied "What? When? Where?" What I meant to ask was where are we supposed to be right now. However, in my drowsy state my brain had a bit of a hard time formulating the question. I finally discerned that at that moment we were supposed to be with our groups on a tour of Krakow. So we quickly got dressed and called Vince, one of the R.D.'s. He told us that they would be at Wawel Cathedral for a little while and we could try to catch up with them there. So we grabbed our map and headed out. It was cold and wet and of course Wawel Cathedral ended up being on top of a rather steep and slippery hill. So we ran around Krakow for a little while then marched up the hill and finally met up with the group inside the cathedral. I think I would've enjoyed the tour a little more if I hadn't been in such a state but it was still pretty sweet. The Cathedral was beautiful!!!! I've decided I'm gonna get married there :-) And right outside the Cathedral was a beautiful statue of JPII!

After visiting the Cathedral our tour guide took us past the building where Pope John Paul lived when he was a priest in Krakow and then to Papa's Window! When Pope John Paul visited Krakow after he had become Pope crowds would always gather outside the building where he was staying. And he would come to the window of his apartment and wave to them. And so now they have a picture in that window of JPII waving. And it's called Papa's Window!

We got to go into the courtyard of the building where Pope John Paul stayed when he visited Krakow and they had a beautiful display of pictures of him from throughout his life. In the center of the courtyard was another statue of him. They also had a "pope vending machine." This was a machine from which you could purchase coins with pictures of JPII on them.

We then stopped at the University of Krakow. Our tour guide told us that one room of the university is dedicated to a number of professors who were arrested by the Nazis. The university had been closed by the Nazis when they first invaded. But they then sent word to all the professors of the university that they wanted to meet with them to discuss re-opening the university. The Nazis wanted to wipe Poland off the face of the earth. They hated Polish culture and they especially hated Polish intellectuals. At this meeting the professors were beaten, rounded up, and sent to concentration camps.

The last stop on our tour was another beautiful Cathedral. At this Cathedral it is tradition that every hour on the hour a bugle is blown from the top of the tower. I kind of missed the full story on why they do this so I'll have to ask around and get back to you on that. But while explaining the tradition our guide said one of the greatest quotes I've ever heard in referring to the Poles: "We are not a practical people, we are a traditional people." I want to be Polish!

I then joined up with my beautiful household sister Mandi and some of her friends and we went to a lovely little restaurant for pierogies! Pierogies are delicious! I am going to find a recipe for them so I can have them whenever I want! And we just hung out at the restaurant and ate our pierogies and had a lovely time!

We then headed back to our hotel so that we could meet the busses in time to get to the Divine Mercy Shrine. However, we had a little time so we stopped at a little bakery by our hotel and got some lovely chocolate cake.

We then headed to the Shrine of Divine Mercy. Divine Mercy is really important to me and my family because my Grandma, who passed away 4 1/2 years ago, was very devoted to Divine Mercy and when she died God gave us the incredible blessing of knowing that she died on St. Faustina's 100th birthday. So I was pretty excited for this pilgrimage. We arrived at the shrine and headed to the old chapel. We arrived early and so we had some time to pray in front of the Blessed Sacrament before saying the chaplet. In St. Faustina's visions Christ instructed that 3 o'clock p.m. was to be the hour of mercy because it is the time He died. And so the best time to say the chaplet is at 3 o'clock p.m. and of course they always say it at that time at the shrine. So 3 o'clock struck and we began the chaplet. The sisters made a point of welcoming the american pilgrims which just made me happy and then proceeded to say the chaplet . . . in POLISH!!!! Well, mostly in Polish, but they did two decades in english just for us which was so nice but I just loved hearing it in Polish - it's such a beautiful language and it's the language St. Faustina said it in!

After the chaplet we headed over to the conference room for a talk by the beautiful Sr. Gaudia. She told us two stories - one about a boy who was going to commit suicide. He was waiting by the train tracks when his friend came by and asked what he was doing. When the boy said he was waiting for the train so he could commit suicide his friend said I can't stop you from doing this but before you do will you do one thing for me? Go to that chapel down the road (the Divine Mercy chapel) and look at the image of Divine Mercy. Look into Christ's eyes for 30 seconds. And then you can do whatever you want. So the boy went to the chapel and looked into Christ's eyes and then went home. He never committed suicide. The second story she told us was about a young Polish girl who was going to study in America for a semester. And before she left she went to the shrine to pray. And when she told the Sisters where she was going they gave her a bunch of Divine Mercy holy cards to take with her. A month or two into the semester the girl was in a terrible car crash - the car she was driving in was hit by a truck. The doctors weren't even going to operate because there was nothing they could do. Half of her brain had been crushed. The girl's mother was called. Before she left for America she too went to the shrine to pray for her daughter and the Sisters gave her Divine Mercy holy cards as well. When the mother arrived she hung one of the images over her daughter's bed and prayed. As she was praying the girl moved her fingers. Her mother didn't know any english to call the doctors so she just screamed. The doctors came in and saw what was happening and began discussing among themselves what was going on. The mother was terribly upset because she couldn't understand the doctors and didn't know if her daughter was getting better or was dying. And in the midst of this a voice said "Don't be afraid mother, I will translate." The side of the girl's brain that was crushed was that which controls speech. The girl's brain is just as damaged today as it was when she was brought into the hospital but she can speak and perform other functions just as well as anyone.

Sister went on to tell us a story about St. Maximilian Kolbe. On the day he was brought into the concentration camp several prisoners were executed by hanging. As he saw their bodies hanging there he screamed out "Where is God?" And a prisoner nearby turned to him and said "He's hanging over there" pointing to the dead prisoners.

Finally, Sister told us about the visions of Our Lady that St. Faustina had had. In one of these visions Our Lady told her that she (the Blessed Mother) had brought Christ into the world and that Faustina was to prepare the world for His return. It was so much more beautiful the way Sister said it but that's the basic idea.

Sister then showed us some Holy cards of the image of Divine Mercy. She said she wanted us to take them but that there was a task that came with them. These images are not to keep but to give to someone who needs to put their trust in Jesus.

After Sister's talk we headed to the three gift shops which were all very crowded. We also didn't have a lot of time before Mass and then we heard that the shops might be closed after Mass. So, in the spirit of Jesus, I trust in you, I entrusted my souvenire buying to Jesus before heading off to Mass in the Basilica. Mass was beautiful! I was able to squeeze out a few happy tears after Communion! And right after Mass we were able to receive a blessing from a short, rotund, wonderful Polish priest! And you know how when priests sprinkle Holy Water they usually use the little silver thing or a small branch or something? This priest used a miniature broom! I thought it was kind of hysterical.

Now, this next part of my story relates to a souvenire I bought for my dad, so dad - you're not allowed to read this part! Following Mass we went to see if the gift shops were still open. One of them was. I knew I wanted to get my dad something from the Shrine but I already gave him a poster of the Divine Mercy image last Christmas so I didn't want to give him another image. So I really had no idea what to get my dad. So I said "Jesus, just show me what dad would really love!" And right as I walked into the shop there was a lovely little poster of the image with Pope John Paul II. And I loved it, but, everything is ridiculously cheap in Poland so I didn't want to get my dad just a little poster when I could get him something really nice. So Jesus was like No problem! And then I saw a beautiful placque with the Divine Mercy image and JPII! And as I was standing on line to purchase it I could just hear my dad coming home from work and telling me how all the ladies in the office just loved this image and said that I was so sweet to get that for him all the way from Poland! Hahaha So I'm pretty psyched to give it to him when I get home!

We then headed back to the busses and back to the hotel. Amy and Sarah and I decided to go out for pierogies for dinner cuz Sarah and Amy hadn't had them yet and I just couldn't say no to pierogies! So we went to a lovely little restaurant and ate boiled pierogies!

And that was basically it for Saturday!