Czestochowa

Poland: The same road,
the same Goal
... And in the meantime, the historic pilgrimage from Krakow to Jasna Gora saw an extraodinary  participation of young people.

by Matteo Forte

Whoever was there at Milan’s Garibaldi railway station on Monday, August 3rd, could not have failed to notice an extraordinary gathering of young people departing for Poland. Freshmen, new graduates, and doctoral students, along with priests and even some married couples (some married for just two weeks, others for 30 years ) were loading their backpacks onto a special train for Krakow–1,300 people in all. Not all of them knew each other, and not all of them had a passion for camping. “I am sure you have all come to ask me for some advice on what work to do, on what faculty to choose, or about your vocation,” Fr. Barbero says during his introductory lesson on August 5th. “These are all legitimate questions, but beneath there is only one, a deeper one…”
That secret question moves them; it makes them wait for the Mass with the Archbishop listening to pieces of classical music; it makes them line up in orderly fashion for confession while all those around stand watching them. The silent flood then enters the church for Mass with Cardinal Stanislaw Dziwisz. He tells them, “You are the realization of those words of John Paul II: ‘Don’t be afraid… open wide the doors to Christ!’” Perhaps this lack of fear, shown by the interruption of the vacation time in order to come on pilgrimage to Our Lady of Czestochowa, speaks of that question that each person’s heart conceals beneath life’s worries–university, exams, family, work. In a word, life itself. Now it’s time to pack and leave. Thursday, August 6th, off we go! Along with the population of Krakow, the rain is there to send off the pilgrims as they leave. Dziwisz dries a tear as the CL youngsters pass beneath the walls of Wawel Castle, the ancient seat of the Polish kings. One by one, the 1,300 people kneel to kiss the Cardinal’s ring, then move on, singing, praying the psalms, and reciting the rosary. It goes on like this until August 12th, but the impression is that not even a note, a verse, or a Hail Mary are said in order to fill the time. Everything is for the pilgrim, to accompany him, for his fulfillment.
There are those who take ill and those who take care of them; those who find the going hard and those who help them along. No one gives up or turns back; they all hold together, the sportsman as well as the infirm. They begin to grasp Fr. Barbero’s words one evening: “A pilgrim is someone who has the goal in his heart.” “Along the way, you have left a good example”–with these words, Dziwisz greeted the CLers on arrival at Jasna Gora. That the goal is in the hearts of this part of the Christian people is evident from the “example” of the happy faces that go into the tents every evening, thankful for the beauty, the gratuitousness, the attention, and the joy lived throughout the day. The desire to arrive has been simply amplified. Is it not like that in life, too?