Winter Pilgrimage To Mariazell Shrine In Austria - Photos

Continuing with my recovery program after the surgery on January 13 this year, I am deeply grateful to my classmate and best friend - Fr. Wiesław, pastor of Ulmerfeld-Hausmenning-Neufurth parish in St. Pölten diocese in Austria, for his invitation to come for one week to his place to rest and visit our common friends, especially from the Mission Team. Yesterday I had opportunity to see Linz and the area with our dear friends - Maria, Herbert, Maria and Brigitte. Today another dear friend - Franz - took me to Mariazell for prayer and Holy Mass. I am so happy and grateful to him personally, to his wife Brigitte for a lovely welcome at their house, for breakfast and lunch and good chat, same as I was grateful to Fantastic Four yesterday on the way from Linz and in Maria's house. Here are some images I took on my mobile on the way, in and back from Mariazell. Austria is magnificent in winter! It is such a blessed time here in Ulmerfeld. Deo gratias! Thank you, Wiesiek! Thank you, Mission Team! God bless you much!

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...

Schengen

Sitting at the table with my laptop, fresh after a quick three days holidays in Austria. I just realized that the distance from Ulmerfeld in Austria to Kraków is more or less the same as the distance from Kraków to the Baltic Sea - approx. 580 kilometers. And yet, throughout all these past years, it seemed as if Ulmerfeld was on a different planet! Actually, it took us less time to get from there to Kraków, and the journey was pleasant and seamless, contrary to the arduous trip to northern tip of Poland, taking the condition of our roads into consideration.

Simple Elegance

I love the parochial church of my friend, Fr. Wieslaw. Its simple elegance is stunning and I feel very much at home in this House of God. Nothing is too much in there, everything is simple, elegant, balanced and 'user friendly'. I enjoy every moment spent on prayer in this holy place or just sitting in there or admiring its well-appointed interior and a pleasant architecture.

Eat Me

Yesterday we arrived to Father Wieslaw parish at Ulmerfeld-Hausmening-Neufurthin in early afternoon and after a short rest, we celebrated a solemn Mass in a parochial church with a brass band and a parochial choir Audite Nova. I was deeply moved by their warm welcome, love and joy. I had an opportunity at the end of the liturgy to offer my heartfelt thanks to Father Wieslaw, my classmate and best friend of more than 28 years now, and to the parochial community which has been with me for a few years now and helping as best as they can, under circumstances, with mission projects in Kiabakari and my personal upkeep.

Rosa Mystica

Visiting my best friend in Austria in Ulmerfeld-Hausmening-Neufurth parish. Today we (our host, Marek I came with from Krakow, and myself) set off in the morning to make our personal, private pilgrimage to the most famous pilgrimage site in Austria, the shrine of Our Lady in Mariazell (Wikipedia - here). It was a great spiritual, cultural, geographical and environmental experience. I loved the shrine, loved the place, loved the countryside, loved the picturesque road leading to Mariazell from our base in my friend's parish. But apart from the spiritual main reason for going there - which was to pray to Our Lady for my beloved ones and friends, for the intentions of their hearts, for myself and Kiabakari and for all heavy stuff in my heart, apart from the beauty of the prayer in a beautiful shrine, I left Mariazell mesmerized by another experience of beauty...

Cheerful Giver

These two words are the keywords for today's Gospel of St. Lawrence, the Martyr, liturgical feast. But. Where to find exactly that type of person in this world? Hmmmm.... A cheerful giver? Give me a break! Rather in my life I tend to bump into a tearful giver, moaning, bitching, complaining, finding-any-excuse giver, and  to the contrary - I am easily found by a cheerful receiver, demanding and skillful claimer... Anyway... Yawn... I guess I had a fraction of sleep and woke up too early this morning getting ready for a long haul to Austria with my classmate to visit another classmate working there, to be in a generously positive mood. Coffee did not help either... Anyway, have a nice day, and we - let's have a safe journey... Yawn...