Visiting Our Heavenly Mum

I am very happy and grateful to Black Madonna, Our Lady of Jasna Góra National Shrine in Częstochowa, The Main Patroness of Poland, for today's personal pilgrimage and the special grace of celebrating the Holy Mass at noon in the Sacred Image Chapel. I offered the Holy Sacrifice to Our Lady for all your and mine intentions, my dear readers. May Our Most Holy Mother intercede for us, protect us and lead us to Her Son, Our Lord Jesus Christ.

Into The Sacred Reality

Tomorrow is the day I will go on my personal pilgrimage to St. Wojciech (Adalbert) parish in Mucharz (my Patron Saint). This is the centuries old parish, one of the first in this area, with amazing history. Here it is believed my Patron Saint stayed and preached Good News on two separate occasions in tenth century. It would not be possible to omit this sacred place in my road map of shrines and holy places important to my faith and spirituality which I need to visit and pray there in my time of holidays in Europe this year.

From this parish Wadowice parish was born (the home parish of Saint John Paul II). Mucharz was the very first parish visited pastorally by Karol Wojtyła right after he became the bishop of Kraków. This is the parish and the sacred place which - according to words of Saint John Paul II spoken in 1994 in Vatican during the celebrations of 16th anniversary of his pontificate - had great influence on his faith and his life. 

Time to immerse myself in the sacredness of this holy place and its venerable history full of the presence of the Holy Spirit and of my Patron Saint. The added value of this spiritual journey is the fact that the parish priest of the parish is my classmate from our ordination class, Rev. Fr. Krzysztof Strzelichowski, one of my closest friends in our class. So good to reunite with him again, to celebrate Holy Mass together and have a nice late evening chat over a piece of world renowned cottage bread, a glass of fine wine and our favorite cheese.

Back Home

Landed in Kraków airport close to midnight last night, then a taxi to St. Kazimierz parish where I stay. It took a while to get some sleep, things to do first, laundry and so forth, but managed to wake up on time and go to Sisters' convent a few hundred meters away from the parish for the 6.45am Holy Mass.

Now waiting for the funeral Mass of Sr. Aniela, one of my favorite sisters, who suffered immensely in her long illness, whom I have always knows as jovial, full of life and energy person. May Lord grant her eternal peace.

I still feel a bit dizzy having covered yesterday a distance from Fatima by bus to Lisbon, visiting St. Anthony church built on his birthplace in Lisbon there, long wait at the airport and four hours flight to Warsaw, another wait for the connection to Krakow, and from the Balice airport to my ghetto.

My personal pilgrimage to Fatima was a must for me this time when I am in Europe. Long due after the last one I did my my fellow missionary, Fr. Piotr, back in 2001. I had a truckload of reasons to go there - to praise the Lord with Our Lady, to thank Merciful God, Our Lady, St. Joseph, Fatima seers, to ask for forgiveness for our sins and failures, to commit myself and ourselves in Kiabakari, family, foundation and friends anew to Our Lady and her maternal protection and intercession. So many intentions to present to Our Lady - my personal and others.

I feel in peace now and happy, hopeful and focused, totally surrendered to God and His Will under protection of Our Lady of Fatima.

May Lord's Will be done. Amen.

It's Been Too Long

Yes, it has been so long since I last made my personal pilgrimage to the Shrine of Our Lady of Rosary in Fatima. The first time I went alone in 1997 to thank Our Lady personally for the dedication of the parochial church in Kiabakari.

The second time I went to Fatima with my fellow missionary and friend, Fr. Piotr Pawlus, in 2001, to thank for the Year of the Great Jubilee and all graces we received during that holy time; and prepare spiritually before the elevation of the parochial church of Kiabakari to become the diocesan shrine of Divine Mercy.

It has been thirteen years now since that time. Way too long.

Tomorrow I will set off from Kraków to Fatima for my third personal pilgrimage to Our Lady of Fatima. So many reasons to be grateful for and praise the Lord with Our Lady. So many reasons to be grateful to Our Lady - for her incessant protection and intercession especially in difficult times and situations. So many reasons to be sorry, personally and as a parochial community. So many things to ask for Our Lady, Merciful Mother of Jesus - my own intentions, worries, problems, challenges, dreams and passions, in particular the fulfillment of the vision of Divine Mercy in Kiabakari; but also so many intentions of so many people asking for prayers and intercessions.

Fatima is my favorite Marian shrine. It draws my heart and mind with powerful mystical force. I feel at home there, yet extremely shy and respectful.

Cova da Iria - the place in Fatima
where the Apparitions of Our Lady occurred in 1917

The Chapel of Apparitions

The Chapel of Apparitions from outside

Jacinta, Lucia and Francisco - the Seers of Fatima

I am very happy to be given this opportunity to visit Our Lady of Fatima for the third time. I am very happy also and grateful to the Rectorate of the Shrine for allowing me to celebrate a private Mass in the Chapel of Apparitions on Wednesday morning at 6.00 A.M. before the official program of the day starts. I will celebrate the Holy Mass not only in my intentions but also in all intentions dear to the hearts of all my readers, relatives and friends.

I hope you will be able to participate in this celebration on Wednesday morning at 6.00 A.M. thanks to the internet camera live feed straight from the Chapel of Apparitions (not sure if the feed will be live at that early time of the day, though):

It will be very short pilgrimage, just one full day in Fatima, but it will be the day filled with prayer, medication and total homage and submission to Our Lady. Let Her Son's Will be done through her maternal intercession.

Pilgrimage to Patron Saints of Kiabakari Church

As promised, I would like to write a few words about the personal pilgrimage we undertook with Fr. Emil Furtak to Patron Saints of Kiabakari parochial church - Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati and Saint Gemma Galgani.

It was a daring and challenging journey. Fr. Emil was doing the driving and guiding us throughout the whole adventure. More than 3,500 kilometers covered in five days, one day we did more than 1,000 kilometers, the other - more than 900 kilometers.

Everything went smoothly and surprisingly without any problems. First day we traveled to one of our classmates parish in Austria, Fr. John. We spent the night over there. On Tuesday morning we set off at 4.30 a.m. towards Turin which we reached about 3.30 p.m. We found our accommodation at Casa Madre of Salesian congregation adjacent to Basilica of Our Lady Help of Christians built by Don Bosco himself whose tomb is in the basilica.

The same evening we went to the cathedral to pray at the tomb of Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati located at the left hand side chapel / altar. We were lucky to meet the parish priest of the cathedral, who permitted us to celebrate the Holy Mass praying in all intentions we came with in our hearts.

The following morning we celebrated the Holy Mass in the Basilica at the main altar in honor of Saint Don Bosco, praying through his intercession in particular for children and youth of the world, especially those under our pastoral care.

Then we took a metro and went to visit the Museum of Automobiles, which left us a bit disappointed. We expected something better and more interactive and displaying more of the Italian car history.

Anyway, we returned to the starting point in the city center and took the bus to Juventus new stadium where we spent quite some time, took a guided tour and took pictures in the museum and the stadium itself.

Rain suddenly came with hale, we were lucky to find shelter at the bus stop waiting for the bus taking us back home.

The next day at 6 a.m. we set off to Lucca, where we arrived around 10.30. We were lucky again to get permission to celebrate the Holy Mass at the main altar of the Shrine dedicated to St. Gemma Galgani. Her tomb is located below the main altar. We met mother general of Passionist sisters there who introduced us to two Tanzanian sisters, one from Dodoma and the other from Iringa, members of the congregation.

We were lucky again as one of the assisting priests in the shrine, Don Giuseppe, took us for lunch and nice talk about the shrine and the history of the area. We met another Passionist father there at the lunch as well.

Then we went to the house where Saint Gemma was born, in Camigliano, just outside of Lucca, some 8 kilometers from Lucca. One of the sisters showed us around, then we started our journey back home.

First, we arrived to Cella, to one of the Polish fathers living and working in Reggio d'Emillia diocese. He received us very well, the next morning we said Holy Mass at the chapel of the nursing home, adjacent to the parish.

Then we drove back, climbing Alps and negotiating millions of sharp turns as we climbed up to Passo Giovo, passing on the way some finest machinery the world has to offer - Bugatti Veyrons (eleven of them, we were counting!), Ferraris, Lamborghinis, motorcycles of all sizes and kinds. Wow. The views were breathtaking, hard to explain, you have to see it for yourself.

We went through Brenner Pass, stopped for a short walk in Innsbruck, then drove straight to Ulmerfeld, another classmate of ours' parish, Fr. Wiesiek. We had a nice chat and meal together and after Saturday morning Mass in the parochial church, visiting on the way Fr. John again, we arrived to Krakow shortly after 3 p.m.

It was an exhausting trip and very emotional. I am very very grateful to Merciful God for the grace of this special week when I was able to fulfill my dream of personal pilgrimage to holy shrines of Patron Saints of my parochial church in Kiabakari. I am very grateful to Fr. Emil as well. Without him, his driving skills, his expertise, his knowledge and character - this trip would remain just an unfulfilled dream.

Happiness...

On My Way

This morning together with my classmate, Fr. Emil Furtak, we will begin our week-long pilgrimage to the holy relics of Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati in Turin Cathedral and Saint Gemma Galgani in Lucca city.

We have been there already once in August 2005. This time I feel deep need to thank Pier Giorgio and Gemma for their intercession and protection over us in Kiabakari, surrendering my Sisters, parochial workers, staff of our institutions, the mission, our health center, pre-school, primary school and our dreams and challenges to their continuous protection and intercession.

I will pray also for all of my esteemed readers and all intentions dear to your hearts. Please, pray for our safe journey to Italy and back. God willing, we will be back on Saturday in Kraków. The detailed report will follow then.

God bless us all!

No Vacation

Looks like my blog has been quiet for some time, almost one month now. Whenever I want to sit down and type a few lines, things come up and I have to dive into deep water of current challenges and responsibilities. Luckily, I have started to seen the light at the end of the dark tunnel and soon will come back to more regular posting.

Development projects are in the final stage which demands my presence daily at construction sites as the finishing works depend heavily on the esthetic taste of the project client. Registration process of our pre- and primary schools has to begin anew after mistakes done by the people responsible for preparing the report for the ministry. This takes time and resources. Hopefully, in the couple of weeks the brand new report will be submitted again in the Ministry of Education. Today we made another good step towards the completion of the report.

Visitation of the statue of Our Lady which travels around the diocese in each parish in the Year of Faith has reached us in Kiabakari on Wednesday. Tomorrow is the day to hand it over to our neighbors in Mugango Parish. It has been a time of grace and intense prayer with the pinnacle which was the diocesan pilgrimage of Catholic women of the diocese on Saturday and Sunday with night vigil. Today the statue is at Sisters' convent and after evening Mass there, I will be the last one to welcome the statue in my house chapel, where it will stay with us till tomorrow morning.

Health center equipment for the project has started to come by road transport from Dar. The last part of the shipment we expect to receive soon if not this week then the next.

The parish after the visitation is turning its attention to the next point in the celebrations of the Year of Faith. This will be my silver jubilee of priesthood on November 21, with the consecutive official opening of the completed projects - done by the District Commissioner of Butiama District with the representative of the Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The preparations to both events are well underway. This will be a summit of all my personal efforts of the entire year. Please. keep us all in your prayers, so we succeed!

I guess, this will be all for today. Praying for you always, dear readers of my blog. Stay blessed and happy!

Divine Mercy Sunday Preparations

Less than three weeks left till the annual pilgrimage to the Diocesan Shrine of Divine Mercy in Kiabakari. From Friday, April 5th, till Sunday, April 7th, the pilgrims from near and far together with the faithful from Kiabakari will celebrate their living faith and hope in Divine Mercy, praying, meditating, reflecting, experiencing God's Infinite Mercy and Love and learning how to live it and share with their neighbors.

I have begun preparations for this important event in the life of the Shrine long time ago. Today I ironed out the program for the three day long celebrations. Working on spiritual talks, services, liturgy and so forth. Logistics and catering comes in as well, as we continue with meetings to make sure everything is ready for the influx of hundreds of pilgrims, some of them coming from Kenya, Uganda, some from distant destinations in Tanzania.

I have created also an event on Facebook for those of you who are no strangers to this social network. Find the details of the event, relevant pictures and videos here.

But I will be more happy if you could come in person to Kiabakari to join us in the celebration of God's Goodness, Love and Mercy embracing us and transforming in a very special and powerful manner during those three holy days on top of Divine Mercy Hill in Kiabakari. Welcome!

No Job For Old Men

I'm getting old. It feels and shows clearly in particular in times like these, when we receive pilgrims for long and rich program in Kiabakari. A busload of pilgrims set off yesterday morning from Dodoma. They were supposed to reach Kiabakari by 8-9pm last night. We waited and waited. They arrived finally at 1am this morning! My people were really tired and disenchanted by this long wait...

Fatima

Ninety five years ago, on this very calendar day, May 13th, 1917, three little children had their very first encounter with the Lady from Heaven. Our Lady of Fatima, the Queen of Peace, the Queen of the Holy Rosary, continued to meet with the children every month on the same day, the thirteenth of each month, except August when children were in jail (read the history of apparitions here). The Fatima Message and the personal devotion to Our Lady of Fatima is one of two major pillars of my personal spirituality. The other is the Divine Mercy message. I wish I was there in Cova da Iria valley today. I will have to wait one more year though, as I plan to go on my third personal pilgrimage to Fatima (the first two in 1997 and 2001) next year when I will be celebrating the Silver Jubilee of my ordination to priesthood. This pilgrimage will have enormous importance to me in the whole scheme of the jubilee year. Today I am traveling in spirit to that sacred place joining pilgrims present there at the feet of the statue of Our Lady in the Apparition Chapel...

Big And Small

Jubilees, big and small, coming in thick and fast this year. Apart from the main celebration of the Centenary of Christianity in the territory now called Diocese of Musoma, we get invitation now and then for other jubilee events - be it a Golden or Silver Jubilee of a certain parish in the diocese, be it a Golden or Silver Jubilee of priesthood or religious vows of certain servants of God in the diocese, be it a Golden or Silver Jubilee of the marriage or baptism or the birth of our parishioners. Envelopes with invitation card come thick and fast this year! But today there will be a small exception.

Divine Mercy Sunday In Kiabakari

I'm too tired to write in-depth report of today's celebration of Divine Mercy Sunday in Kiabakari. Hopefully, tomorrow when I go to Musoma and find a couple of hours to sit down and focus, I will post a report. But for now just a few pictures from today's celebrations...

Challenge

Challenging time for my community and myself, ahead of Divine Mercy Sunday coming up just in a few couple of days. Fighting malaria and flu bothering me big time these days, I have no time to rest in bed to recover fully. Big numbers of pilgrims coming for the annual pilgrimage to Kiabakari, for Divine Mercy Sunday celebrations pose a logistic nightmare to us especially in the current circumstances of lack of running water and power cuts that have become a routine in Tanzania this year...