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Cure For Exhaustion (Burn-Out)

You cannot serve God and mammon.  Therefore, I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat [or drink], or about your body, what you will wear.  Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing?  Look at the birds in the sky; they do not sow or reap, they gather nothing into barns, yet your Heavenly Father feeds them.  Are you not more important than they?

— Matthew 6:24-26

Dzien Dobry:

Ground hog day again, I’m starting to hate that movie.

We were up, showered, packed, had breakfast and were on the road at 7:30 off to our next shrine…… a little over 2 hours away and it’s in the mountains. Yeah!  Even though they are small, it’s a change from farm land and rolling valleys.

The drive was only 55 miles and 15 miles of that was on a super highway and Jag purred all that way at 140 KPH.  I understood why it would take over 2 hours to get there half way thru the drive.  There mountain roads leave something to be desired.  Actually going up and over and down a small peak of about 7 miles Susan didn’t speak, she only groaned, grunted and did several ooh’s and ahh’s. I did a few grunts myself as it took almost a half an hour and we only saw 4 cars the whole time.

We arrived at the Basilica of Wambierzychkie (say that fast 3 times) after several detours around road construction that seems to be everywhere in Poland.  We had a ½ hour to spare to make the Pilgrims mass at 11.  We explored a little before and were seated. There were only five of us in the when the priest arrived.  I felt sorry for him since there were so few of us in the main sanctuary and he answered the first few response himself not knowing if anyone would respond, so the 5 of us spoke louder, us in English, and he looked relieved.

After the mass, before the final blessing, he stopped and asked where we were from; we didn’t understand a word he said. He then managed some English and we said Stanow (states) and Florida and he responded Stanow! WOW! Welcome!

After the final blessing we then went to the main altar behind the one were Mass was offered and knelt and prayed before the Miraculous Statue of Our Lady.  It’s small and reminded us of the one in Saragozza, Spain where The Mother of God went to help St. James and to tell him to come back to Jerusalem to be martyred, that was in 42 A.D. and was Her first apparition.

There is the story of the Shrine here as well as a FEW pictures so I won’t bore you with all the things we saw and did except for the way of Kalwaria(Stations of the Cross) which was across the street and up the mountain. It was cold and the wind made it colder so both of us put on another layer of clothing (we had 4 shirts on and a jacket) and I put on my sneakers before going and that was trip.

We made our way across the street and Kidron River, as it is called, and found the entrance to the stations.  It was a little confusing and after the first station we got lost and started to climb some stairs and found the 6^th station so we backtracked and found the other 4 we missed.  We stood at crest of the hill and prayed those stations.  After the 7^th station we made another wrong turn and ended climbing up this steep path with lots of rugged stairs.  By time we got to the hill of Calvary we were exhausted, so we sat on a bench and prayed the rest of the stations we missed before attempting to make our way down.

We took the station path but going down was harder than going up.  Baby steps all the way and helping each other down steep drops.  At one point Susan cracked up and started laughing because we seemed so old and feeble and we felt it. When we finally got to town I had to get my sneakers off because my feet were pounding.   We rewarded ourselves with a cold beer and met a few people from Australia and Germany at the restaurant.  They were really nice and could speak English.

It was 2 and we decided to get going to our hotel about a ½ hour away.  We would spend the night here in Bardo Slaskie, Poland, the home to another Miraculous Statue of Our Mother.  Finding our hotel was no picnic since the roads in this very small town were torn up and the one to the hotel looked washed out and was all stones.  We turned around and ended going back up the same way because we asked someone and they said it was ok.  This is a nice hotel and spa and we look forward to some relaxing time in the pool, hot tub and steam room.  We will see.

It was early so we went down to the town and the basilica and looked for more information since there is another Calvary across the street up the mountain, which has the spring of Mary, known for its healing power and footprints of Our Lady imbedded in a rock.  We will see how we feel in the AM.

We went into the Basilica to pray our rosary and did some exploring and prayed before Her Miraculous Statue, another small figure of Mother and Child.

The mass began with a procession with Our Lady and the Ave Maria.  We left when mass began.

When we got back to the hotel, there was no electricity and we found out it was out all over the mountain.  The lights came on at 8 and we went to dinner at the hotel.  Another non-meat day (Wed) so we ordered soup and potato & cheese pierogies and a salad.  I liked the soup–Susan didn’t–but the rest was good.

Back in the room we caught up on the things we needed to since there was no internet with the electric off and watched TV for a few minutes.  Tomorrow we planned to sleep in, but there were no blackout shades and the parking lot light was shining in……I thought, how stupid in a luxury hotel.

That’s all I remember.

God bless all of you

Love

Susan & Tom

Cure For Exhaustion (Burn-Out)

Dzien Dobry:

Well it was ground hog day again.  Bed around 8:30, woke up at 4:30 with the light of day, covers over head and slept until 6, Susan a little later.  I think she waits for the smell of coffee.

We were packed and on the road by 8 AM.  We had 2 stops today and weren’t sure what to expect. Our first was in Gostyn, about 1 ½ hours away to Swieta Gora or the Sanctuary of the Holy Virgin also known as the ” The Holy Mountain” ( and also known as “The Rosa Mystica of Poland”) where there is a Miraculous Image of Our Lady known for many reported miracles.  The local Bishop, in 1512, wrote that he found that he found the following in this location:  the dead were brought back to life, the sick and the crippled regained their health and strength and many other miracles occurred which would be hard to count …”

He issued a decree that allowed for the building of the Church and for the spread of devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary. Click here to read the story of Swieta Gora.

The central element of the Sanctuary is the Image of the Virgin Mary with Child, a rose in her hand.  The Mother and Child are sitting in a place resembling a balcony with a view towards two different landscapes … the colors are of the rising sun.

Pope John XXIII recognized Swieta Gora to be the second most important site for the Marian devotion in Poland, preceded only by Czestochowa.  Pope Paul VI granted the Sanctuary the status of “Basilica Minor”.

When we arrived there were 5 buses and we at first thought they were tour buses, but they were from different parishes in the region and full of children receiving their First Holy Communion.  There had to be at least 100.  The parents of most were with them and a much younger group of children, who I assume were studying for theirs.

We were very happy since we didn’t know where we would go to mass today; our only hope had been to go to Mass in the town where our hotel was, and if they had a church with a 5 or 6 PM mass.  Our Mother never fails us.

They were organizing the children outside so Susan and I went into the Basilica to say a prayer before Our Lady’s Miraculous Image and to explore some.  The Basilica is under renovations but the pictures I took show a depiction of what is to be.

In a few moments the children came in and we stood in the back to let the parents get a good seat before sitting down.  We ended up behind a pillar.  We couldn’t see anything but we could hear the children answering the Priest questions during the looooong homily. As communion started we went to the back to see the children, but over here no one waits, and everyone was in line to receive. After the mass ended we left, since the priest had everyone sit and began to talk.

We were going to wait until all had left and would go back to pray. We were hungry so we went to the car and had a picnic on the hood of the trunk.  A hardboiled egg and tomato and some left over dumplings with ham and sauerkraut.  Not exactly the breakfast of champions but when you are in the sticks and hungry everything taste good.

We finished this mighty good breakfast and went back to the Sanctuary as everyone was leaving and we ended up alone in front of Our Mother praying the Rosary.  One of the priests came out to put back the benches he moved earlier and when we finished praying and got up he came over to say hello.(Not in English).  He did understand that we were from the States and Florida and asked in universal language if we were alone.  He was amazed since they don’t see many Americans, not only here, but in many of the shrines we have been to this week.

Editors note: Poland is one of the most Catholic countries in Europe, especially since so many other countries have seem to abandon the faith.  Perhaps this is due to the persecution the Church endured under Communism that made it stronger here than in many other European countries.  In fact, the son of Poland’s Prime Minister is a Catholic priest.  We encourage Americans…or anyone else….to visit these great shrines.

Busloads of children showing up for First Holy Communion

Entering the gates of the Basilica

Web-Filing-in-to-the-Church

Close up of the image

Signing the registry

Picnic on the trunk of the car

He took us past the cordoned off area behind the barrier to show us a part of the new façade and it was stunning.  It will take one more year to finish. We thanked him in Polish and bid farewell as we went down to the crypt below.  It was full of dead people, lots of them.  Of the many beatified Blessed, there was one separate crypt with a more well known saint-to-be. Sorry the picture with his name didn’t come out.

Editor’s note:  We believe this to be Fr. Lawrence Kuśniaka (1788-1866), but would love to hear from someone if that is…or is not…. correct.

We headed for our hotel in Legnica and there in the city is the church of Saint Hyacinth which holds the most recent Eucharistic Miracle in the world, I think.  We decided to go there first since it was close to 3 Pm and the Divine Mercy Hour.  We parked right in front of the Church and went in, not knowing what to expect.  The church is lovely, but pales in comparison to the Shrine of the Miracle (Click here to read the story of the Eucharistic Miracle).

We knelt before Our Lord and there was no question in our minds that this was real. We have seen the Miracle in Lanciano, Italy and Santarem, Portugal and always have the same thought: “It is You“.  The Lord continues to give signs to the world and so many ignore Him…….how sad. (You must look at the photos).

We were again overwhelmed to be here alone just the 3 of us, Susan and I and Jesus.  We knelt on the closest kneelers and began The Divine Mercy chaplet and the church bells rang just after we started.  After we finished we placed another copy of our intentions in the box close to our Lord and prayed that they would all be answered.

We went into the adoration chapel for a few moments to pray as some woman showed us the room.  She was kind and knew we were not from Poland.  We prayed for awhile and bought some things at the book store as we left.

Our next stop was the hotel about a mile away and we checked in.  We had a great view of the Town and Cathedral from our oversized balcony (it was bigger than the room).  We worked a little and then ventured out for dinner.  We had to pass the Cathedral so we decided to go in.  The offertory was going on and we went into a pew and prayed until mass was over. We had time to light candles for all the intentions we carry and actually lit 3, one for each Shrine, since they didn’t have candles to light, and one for a special intention we just received from a special friend.  I took one close up photo of the main altar and the lights went out.  They move quick here.

It was raining lightly and we had our umbrellas but we were tired so we went back to the hotel and ate in their restaurant and it was very good.  Polish potato pancakes, one with goulash and I had pork tender with mine in a mushroom sauce.  We ate it all and went to the room to take care of some real estate at home.  That’s all I remember.

God Bless you all

Love

Susan & Tom

Prayer
 

Here I am, Spiritual Mother and queen of Angels.  I place my hand in yours now.  Please present me to Jesus as His Loving Disciple forever.

Here I am, Lord.  I come to do Your Holy Will.  You, alone, are the Lord.  You, alone, are the Most High.  I am all Yours.  Please accept my heart, Lord, offered to You in the pure hands of Your Blessed Mother, Queen of my Heart.  Lord, Jesus, I believe You, I Trust In You, I adore You and I Love You Forever.  Keep me always as Your own.

Thank you, Queen of Angels, for bringing me to Jesus in this most treasured familial intimacy.  Thank you, Jesus, my Brother, for Your Mother and Mine.

Dzien Dobry:

8:30 PM to bed, and it was lights out until the sun started to come up at 4:30. Pulled the covers over my head and we slept to 6:30. We had coffee but forgot to get milk so the instant wasn’t so good but it worked and we were out the door by 7:30.

It looked beautiful as there wasn’t a cloud in the sky and seemed warm until we went outside……and returned to the room to get our jackets. (Mine gets retired this year, after 10 years of unfailing service, any one need a jacket? Jim)

Today was going to be different, since we had mapped out the old city and the historic and Miraculous Shrines, Churches and Basilicas we were walking to. Our last stop became our first stop, the Basilica of St. Peter and St. Paul (on an island) and the Sanctuary of the Miraculous Cross of Christ, since we were in time for mass.

Mass was in the Chapel of the Blessed Sacrament, the only chapel with a tabernacle. After the mass, with no homily and what we call a drive-thru mass, we sat in the main area of the Basilica and prayed our morning prayers as we waited for the opportunity to go in the basement and reverence the Miraculous Cross.

The basement was an historic trip for this 900+ year old Cathedral. It was interesting but we hungered to reverence Jesus and His Cross. That didn’t happen since an Iron Gate kept us out of this sacred room, which was also a burial place for many of Poland’s great spiritual leaders. We could see it but couldn’t touch it but we did pray before it for all of you.

On to the next stop……..we got a little confused with our direction and Susan asked this gentleman on the street if he knew this place. We had everything typed out in Polish so we figured this was a slam dunk. Wrong, as he took Susan’s hand and arm he began to lead her to the corner and point in the direction we should go. Then the fumes of alcohol whiffed thru the air and we weren’t sure if he was coherent enough to guide us. There was a Church right there and Susan said we are going there and he said no and pointed in the direction he wanted us to go. So we shook hands, thanked him and departed and went in that direction and found the next stop. He could have been an Angel for all we know………..for after 10 years of doing this, nothing surprises us.

The Sanctuary of Our Lady of the Rosary and the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus known for miraculous healings was right where he told us to go. Hmmmm! The Sanctuary is under renovation and the chapel with the Miraculous image of Our Lady had the usual Iron Gate so we couldn’t get in. Paintings of St. Dominic and St. Catherine were prevalent on the side altars and the frescoes on the wall were being redone. Disappointed we didn’t get to Our Lady, we headed for our next stop, but hunger took over and we stopped in the Old Town Market Square for a bite to eat. The waiter spoke perfect English and not only served us a great breakfast but guided us to the next 2 stops on the list.

The first was the Sanctuary of the Most Precious Blood of Jesus and is the place of Poland’s oldest Eucharist Miracle and there is a Sacred Well in the basement where the story tells that someone tried to drown 3 Sacred Host but they survived. The well is known for its Miraculous powers and especially for the healing of eye ailments. We know  of a you few who need help and are praying for you. Unfortunately we couldn’t get down to the well and we went back an hour later with the same results but have no fear we will try again tonight at 6 on our way to dinner.

Editors note:  Tom and Sue will be visiting many shrines between now and the end of their pilgrimage on June 22, so feel free to send them your prayer petitions and they will place at the various stops along the way.  email tsmelillo13@aol.com

We then found the Minor Basilica of Saint Stanislaus of Poland, the most famous Old Saint in Poland…..they now have St. John Paul II, but there is plenty of room and pride here for both. This is an old and beautiful Baroque style Basilica, so see the photos. There were many tourists here and it was noisy so we went to the Adoration Chapel and spent some quite time with Our Lord and after taking a few more pictures we left. This concluded our tour for now and just in time since the leg cramps we in full bloom.

On the way back to our Apt. we stopped again at the Sanctuary of the most Precious Blood hoping to get in but that didn’t happen so we continued on, and as we passed the Sanctuary of Our Lady of the Most Holy Rosary and the Sacred Heart of Jesus, something compelled us to go in again (If you are all confused don’t worry so were we). We went right to the Iron Gate and it was still there but some people came down from the stairwell on the other side and a priest with a key in hand. Were we going to get lucky, no, not till later, as he told us to come back at 3 or 6. We both said let’s pray our rosary here and we did right in front of a statue of Our Lady and the Iron Gates.

How we made it back to the apt. we don’t know how after walking for at least 6 hours. We went up to the apt to get on our shorts to relax and then to the parking garage to get our pain pills from the just in case bag. (Don’t leave home without it!!!!) We planned to have a drink and nap but here I am typing and Susan is running the business and answering e-mails (are we crazy?).

We went out for dinner and stopped on the way as we passed Our Lady of the Most Holy Rosary and the gate was open but mass had just started and we decided not to wait. I took a couple pic’s and we headed for the Market Square. We knew there was a mass at the Sanctuary of the Most Precious Blood and it was right near the square so we went in and prayed until mass was over. Susan went into the Sacristy to ask if we could go down to the well and the priest said no.

So we left and ended up back at the restaurant we ate at last night. We had returned the blankets and we craved some good food. We tried so different polishes and ordered 3 entrees. We were really hungry and nuts , we had trouble finishing 2 so we took a doggie bag, you never know when you will need something to eat!!

After dinner it was back to the apt. and I don’t know how we made it we were so tired. we stayed up to around 8:30 and that’s all I remember.

God Bless you

Love

Susan & Tom

Prayer

Spiritual Mother, today I seek the kindness of your hand in mine. Today, I desire the quiet firmness of your Faith, of your Trust in Resurrection that makes new creation. Comfort me in my doubts. Console me with awareness of the presence of Your Divine Child, who is the Word made Flesh, the Light of the World, the Object of my Desires, the Lord of My Life. Spiritual Mother, Bless His Holy Name for me forever. Jesus, please shine the light of Your Love into every inconvenience I ever encounter. Jesus, Son of God and Son of Mary, You are the Source of Peace, Jesus. You are my peace.

Poznań – Sanctuary of the Holy Cross in the Cathedral
The Cathedral of Saints Peter and Paul in Poznań for a few centuries was a place of veneration of the Holy Cross. Ac­cording to the visitation decrees by Bishop Wojciech Tolibowski dating from 1600 it was a wooden late-Gothic cross which from 1522 had been located on the Wrocławska city gate in Poznań. It was greatly revered by the population bestowed with numerous graces. Because it was exposed to insults, Bishop Florian Czartoryski had it removed to the cathedral – that took place on 7 May 1652. A legend says that on an occasion when a prisoner was led through the Wrocławska Gate, Jesus said from the crucifix: “Let him go, he is innocent”.
The cross was placed in the chapel of the Górka family (currently: Chapel of the Holy Cross), in an altar built of black artifi­cial marble. On its sides we can see figures of the Holy Mother and St. John.
Bishop Czartoryski recognized the crucifix for its miraculous powers. The present crucifix was made of gold-plated sil­ver, but the wooden figure of Christ is un­changed

Poznań – Sanctuary of the Most
Precious Blood of Jesus
The Church of the Most Precious Blood of Jesus is merged within the row of tenement houses at Żydowska Street. In fact it does resemble a regular tenement building. Its history goes back to the 1500s – when in­formation on an act of sacrilege, which had happened in the house of the Świda–Szamo­tulski family at Żydowska Street, spread around town.
The church has two floors. Dur­ing repair work, in its vaults a well was dis­covered – it was believed that communion bread had been drowned in it. To this day the water drawn from the well is considered to have miraculous powers. The upper part of the church represents the Régence style. Particularly noteworthy is the main altar­piece with representations of all persons of the Holy Trinity.

Poznań – Sanctuary of Our Lady of
Miracles

The altarpiece was made of ebony, which highlights the image of the Holy Mother in a silver frame, placed in the altar niche. The image was painted with tempera on lime wood board. The figure of Madonna clad in blue robes is placed against a green background. The Child wearing a red dress is holding a book in his left hand; his right hand is raised in the gesture of blessing. Both faces glow with goodness. The painting is a copy of the image of Virgin Mary from Borek Wielkopolski. Painted in the 1600s, it has distinguishing features of artistic work­shops in Poznań.
According to a notice made by a monk who in his signature used the name Peccator, Friar Tomasz Dybowski, a Fran­ciscan, purchased the image in accordance with the will of his superiors, in 1666 from a burgher from Śródka. It was him who noticed tears on the painting, and soon af­terwards the news spread around the town that some people praying in the Franciscan church were miraculously healed.

May God Bless Each and Every One Of You!

Tom & Susan Melillo
Palm Beach Gardens, FL 33418 (USA)

E-Mail: TSMelillo13@aol.com

Mary is called the Temple of the Lord and the Sacred Resting Place of the Holy Spirit:  For by the operation of the Holy Spirit, She became the Mother of the Incarnate Word.

—  St. Thomas Aquinas

Dzien Dobry:

I was in bed at 8:30 last night and Susan caught up on e-mail and came to bed at 11.  The only reason I knew this was the terrible leg cramp that got me up at 10:30.  Boy did that hurt.  As soon as it subsided I was back in bed and fast asleep until 5:30 AM. (9 hours sleep, perfect).  I tried not to disturb Susan so I closed the bedroom door and quietly made a cup of coffee and got on the computer.  Before I read my e-mails, Susan was up and we had coffee together and planned our day.

With time to spare I made Polish sausage and eggs for breakfast.  It was going to be awhile before we had time to eat since we wanted to go back to the wooden church with the Miraculous Cross of Christ.  Almost all packed I got Jag and packed the car as Susan did the final check to make sure we didn’t leave anything behind.  Good to go we headed to Slipca, to the Church of St. Leonard that houses the Cross (click here to read the story of the Miraculous Crucifix in Slipca).

We were shocked when we got there with all the cars that almost filled 3 parking areas.  This church is small and we had no idea where they put the people.

Just as we crossed the street to the church let out and hordes of people came streaming out.  Perfect timing for us so we went in to see the beautiful little Shrine.

The first stop was Jesus of course and the Miraculous old Crucifix.  We knelt and prayed before it and then touched our hand to our lips and then to his feet.  I don’t know if we were supposed to do that, since the there were no worn-away areas of the cross from being touched by so many people as we have seen before.  Just another little treat for us from above.

We took some photos and met the pastor and then got thrown out.  Not really thrown out, but they put up the Iron Gate as it was yesterday to protect this humble and holy place.  When we came out there wasn’t a car anywhere.

Our next 2 stops were in Gniezno about 40 minutes away and we had mass planned, but things change.  The Churches are all crowded and they have 4 morning masses at each.  We wanted to go to mass at the Shrine of Our Lady of Consolation in the Sanctuary of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary.  We got lucky again and found a spot to park almost at the front door.

Mass was going on when we entered and it was at the homily.  We were going to leave and realized since we didn’t understand any of the words at the readings or homilies and we had brought our own printed out readings for each day, so we caught up as the Priest gave a very looooong sermon.

After the mass ended they did a Litany and many prayers before the Miraculous Icon of Our Lady.

Some people left and others started to come in for the next mass, so as soon as the prayers ended we went and took some photos and lit a candle for all your intentions and knelt at the altar and prayed to Our Mother for a few moments for all of you.  When we turned around we were shocked that the Shrine had filled up and there was standing room only.

Editors Note: You can still send your prayer intentions to Tom & Sue…they will be visiting many more shrines in Poland through June 21.  Email your intentions to tsmelillo13@aol.com

The main square is right there and I had to use the tolety so we stopped for a cappuccino.  We sat next to this couple that heard us speak English and he started a conversation.  It turned out that he was born here and moved to Vancouver in the early 80’s via a refugee camp for 6 months in Austria.  He was an interesting old salt and I found out why, when he said he worked for several years on the big fishing and processing ships around the world.  His girl friend didn’t speak English, and probably didn’t care, because he talked enough for the two of them.  He was funny and kind and gave us another great history lesson of the area.

We bid farewell since we needed to get to the Basilica before the next mass so we could see the tomb of Saint Wojciecha (Saint Adalbert) that a good friend of ours is named after, and he had recommended we go there.

We arrived too late so we stood in the back and I took some photos with the telescopic lens and left since we didn’t want to disturb anyone.

We went back to the car and drove to the Lords Tomb Church at the Monastery not far away but too many stairs to climb and too far to walk since I had another leg cramp at Mass.  Mass was going on and there was no place to park so I pulled on to the large side walk and we went in and stood in the back for the last blessing.  The people left and we took some picture as the lights started to go off.  We did meet the priest from there and he was very gracious but we could tell it was time to go.

Our next stop was Poznan where we rented a studio Apartment for 2 nights.  There is lots to see in Poznan and that will happen tomorrow.  We found the building, and after calling and getting thru to the owner, we had the door codes for the building, apartment and the parking garage.  The apartment was great and had everything you could think of and then some, she even had fresh lemons for the bottled water she left and candy for Susie, so we didn’t need to bring up our emergency supplies, only the 2 small suitcases and our computer bag (Did I tell how much I love the way Susan packs?).

Settled in we were hungry so we headed for Old Town just a 15 minute walk away in search of dinner.  We picked out one of the many street cafes and took a table in the corner but my back was to the street so we moved to another table where I could at least see.  The waiter had already taken the order and laughed when he saw us and then told us to move to a front table that was just vacated because our table was at the end of the umbrella.  We listened and we moved again and 2 minutes after our food came out the sky opened up and it poured. (Now we understood the move). Everyone went inside but we had the best table and the rain didn’t touch us but it did get cold until the waiter brought us a blanket and that how we enjoyed this fabulous meal.

I paid the bill and asked where I could buy an umbrella but they didn’t know so I saw a large plastic garbage bad pointed to it and he went and got me one, as well as to small green bags for our heads. (What a show we were going to be)  As we stood there and tried to open the large bag the waiter came out and handed me another blanket and told Susan to keep hers.  We promised to bring them back tomorrow but he wasn’t worried.

The blankets were a life saver and we made it back to our Apartment just as the rain stopped. We took hot showers to get the chill out and settled in and planned our next day.   That’s all I remember…

God bless you all

Love

Susan & Tom

My Spiritual Mother, please remain in my conscious awareness always.  Inspire me when I am weak, gently speak to me when I am stressed, sing me lullabies of the wonders of God’s Providence when I fall into fear, graciously cover me in the warmth of Jesus’ Divine Love for you and for me forever.  Spiritual Mother, please Pray for a new outpouring of the Holy Spirit of Love upon me.  Bring anew the Holy Spirit of Courage to my days and nights on Earth.  Pray fervently that I may be made worthy of the Promises of Christ.

May God Bless Each and Every One Of You!

Tom & Susan Melillo
Palm Beach Gardens, FL 33418 (USA)

E-Mail: TSMelillo13@aol.com

Jane Dobry;

We had a glorious sleep and didn’t get up until after 8.  We wore our PJ’s today to breakfast, this place felt like home, and enjoyed eggs, fresh veggie salads, meats and cheeses and array of other things we weren’t sure what they were. We finished with coffee on the patio and then we showered, packed and said go-bye.  We could have spent a couple days here it was so nice. Tonight we have a very different type of house to stay at……Susan will be surprised!!

Germany owned this part of Poland for 100 years until 1945, so there is a strong German influence and presence.  A lot of the people we met where here come searching their roots out.  The owner of the hotel and all the other guest were German.  That’s probably why I didn’t recognize some of the food on the table in those little jars.

Today we were going to Our Lady of Gietrzwald about 1 ½ hours away.  Traveling was pretty much the same as yesterday, good roads but plenty of small towns and the speed limit goes from 90 to 70 to 40 in 30 feet.  As much as I love the GPS, I had to shut off the voice speed warning.  If I was 5 km over the limit I would get yelled at and she never shut up, plus I was always over the limit……Jag wanted to run.

We parked right on the grounds at the shrine…….so close to everything we thought.  We went to the Sanctuary first.  Where the main apparitions happened is right in front of the Sanctuary.  We couldn’t go there first since the was a first Holy Communion group down there getting some last minute lessons.  In the Sanctuary the place was full mostly with old style nuns dressed in black habits that I remember as a kid.  I shuddered, since the arthritis in my knuckles came from them from all the ruler whacks I got. They were in the middle of the Rosary so we quietly snuck out. I didn’t want to take the chance.

The gift shop was right there so we went shopping for a memory for our curio cabinet.  I think we are going to have to get another after this trip. A few Zolty later we went back to the church and sat way in the back. They were still there!  During the mass though I must say they sang beautifully  and after the Liturgy was over the sisters stayed in their seats praying. Time for coffee we will get pictures after.

We had café across from the pilgrim hotel and then went in to use the toaleta and as we left I opened the door to go out and they were there all 100 of them. I stood back and held the door for them.  I gave my best smile, as I started to sweat.  A few gave me a scornful look but most of them smiled and calmed my nerves. Finally they all got in and I needed air.  We saw a sign that we thought would take us to the miraculous healing spring that Our Lady created some in 1877 for sick people.

We walked down and around this beautiful Rosary path so we prayed our Rosary on the way stopping at each depiction. The spring was way down at the end and it was very peaceful as we went.  The last Glorious Mystery was at the end, and 200 ft from the spring, but there were sisters there and as I looked around more were coming, probably 100.  When we got to the spring, three Sisters were filling a dozen bottles, the others were coming fast and I wanted to get in and out.  Susan got to go down as the 3 left and I took a pic, my turn now but it was too late.  Three more got to the well and I froze and then motioned them to go saying please in my best Polish.  I held on to my only bottle hoping they could fill there 9 bottles before a line began. It didn’t happen and the lined formed but they insisted I go first. I filled my bottle and thanked them and Susan and I departed back up the path and as we passed the sisters still coming we would smile and say hello.  Most of them did the same. A little braver now I took a pic of this smiling sister on her cell phone.  When she saw me do it she looked guilty like I shouldn’t be doing this here.  I smiled and held out my hand and whacked it a few times and she burst out laughing.  No more fear, even though she was one of them.

There is a beautiful Way of the Cross here that we wanted to do, but the weather was iffy, cold and always threatening rain and doing so every so often.  So we went back to the church for some photos and to light a candle and spend some time enjoying the frescoes, painting and statues.  It is really a very beautiful church.  Before we left we went to the site of the apparition but only could stay for a few minutes as a group from the high school were there and the priest came to talk to them.  So we left.

We had spent 4 hours here and it was time to go.  We  couldn’t check-in to our Pensjonat (bed minus breakfast) for an hour so we went to the supermarket for food and supplies.  We got baked chicken, some salad, cheese, pate, fresh turkey breast and good bread.  We were getting hungry.  This 2 meals a day routine isn’t bad but don’t go past 10 hours.

We made our way to our lodgings and as we turned in the road Susan let out a little gasp. Quietly She took some photos as we made our way thru this not-so-lovely drive way.  When we pulled up to the house  she goes “this is quaint“.  It had to be a 200 year farm house but was very charming.  If you are hoity- toyti, this place isn’t for you.  It was an experience……..and the room was almost perfect for sleeping, plus we had the downstairs lounge, kitchen and dining room to use. We opened a bottle of wine and sat on the patio out in the middle of nowhere, totally quiet except for the horse in the paddock.  We then had dinner and as Susan cleaned up I began to write.

Finished by 10 we went up to bed.  Unfortunately Susan had to take the sleeper sofa and I was in the small double in the next room. I fell to sleep with the sound of the wind howling thru the trees and the house creaking.

Good Night

God Bless all of you

Love

Susan & Tom

Prayer

Spiritual Mother, I gladly give you my family, especially my body.  Teach me to guard my body, this temple in which I must dwell while I trod the paths of this Earth.  Spiritual Mother, Mother of Divine Wisdom, explain to me the mysteries of the Earth. How shall I work today?  How shall I dine today?  How shall I exercise today?  How shall I preserve relationships I treasure?  How shall I accomplish the drams and longings that fill my mind and body?  Impart your wisdom to me.  Thank you for taking care of me.  I have not yet developed eyes and ears that know Truth.  If, today, you hear His voice calling to me, please ask God to call and call until I hear and respond, “Speak Lord.  Your servant listens.”

The Memorial of Our Lady of Gietrzwald is celebrated on September 8.

Prayers

Hymn to the Blessed Virgin Mary of Gietrzwald
by Andrzej Samulowski

It was just the sunset,
When the wonderful brilliant star
Arose in the Warmian land
To shed light with its rays.
This news almost by a miracle
Was spread among the people,
Far and near, they would say:
In Warmia, there are new miracles.

Traditional Prayer

Mother of Our Lord, healer of human souls and bodies, Lady of Giettrzwald, you who blessed this place with your presence, please turn your loving eyes toward me and ask your son Jesus Christ for the favors I am in need of [mention request]. Compassionate and merciful Virgin Mother, I am forever yours

May God Bless Each and Every One Of You!

Tom & Susan Melillo

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Editor’s Note:  Tom & Sue Melillo have just spent 7 days in Spain and now will travel through Poland for over three weeks before ending their 2017 “personal Pilgrimage on June 22.  We hope you will follow along and enjoy.

Dzien dobry:

Our new venture starts today and we have no idea what to expect.  We got up at 3:45 AM and just made it down stairs for the 5 AM shuttle for our 7 AM flight.  We did manage to have a cup of espresso with the machine in the room.  This was a very nice hotel.

At the airport our check-in counter was around a corner and when we got around it there had to be 300 people in line to check-in.  Have no fear, I booked us business class and we had a separate check-in line with only one person in front of us. Even flying business class here is cheaper than flying at home.  With all the perks our 2 tickets for the 3 ½ hour flight was only $240.

Things were going well until we realized we were at the wrong gate, since no plane or people were there.  They had changed it right after we checked in.  I guess all the people in line knew where to go.  The plane was big and full but we had the front 3 seats with plenty of leg room.  The seat was another story since I had trouble getting my butt in it. I was so squeezed in I had trouble getting my seat belt across and buckled but managed.  Thank God for the seat because I could stand up at will and stretch my legs and my butt.

The flight wasn’t bad and we did sleep for awhile.  Getting off the plane was tough down a narrow flight of stairs and then we had to walk at least a ¼ mile to get in the terminal.  This is a small airport but that made it nice instead of all the hustle and bustle of a big one.

The car rental counter was right outside the luggage pick up which came fast since we were the only plane there.  I messed up when I booked the car, I had pick-up for 1 PM and it was only 11.  They don’t keep a lot of Mercedes around so they had to go to Warsaw to get our car and we had to wait. The agent said it would be there in 90 mins. or less. We were not upset or in a hurry and we were hungry so we went to a restaurant across from the terminal and had a bite to eat. I had another rental with another company for a VW Passat , which would have been comfortable for us, as a backup. I went to check with the agent and she said he was on his way.  I asked what kind of car and she said no Mercedes it was aJaguar.  I had trouble controlling my excitement!

The car came back a little late and he had to wash it and when he finished it I finally signed the contract and we got our car. For 4 weeks they charged me $760.  The Passat was $900. Did I ever tell you how much I love Poland?  They gave us a brand new Jaguar XE 2 F with only 40 miles on the speed odometer.  It wasn’t easy, but we figured we could live with it.

Neither of our 2 GPS’s were working, as Susan tried to fix them at lunch, since Poland maps were never loaded and we couldn’t do so.  But this car had its own and Susan quickly loaded our destination and I changed the language to English US and we were off but the GPS didn’t give us voice directions.  We got going anyway and once we got on a stretch of road with more than 5 miles Susan would try to fix it.  She even called Budget rental and when she got thru and she told the woman the problem she hung up on her.  Next she searched the web for fix it info and that didn’t work.  So finally I said don’t worry we just buy one since I was having trouble navigating this so called highway with miles and miles of construction.  The 2 lane road was a constant zig-zag and trucks were plentiful.

It was long and treacherous for most of the way so we prayed the Rosary for some peace and calm.  During the 4^th decade we were at a stop and I had a revelation……like where was the car made, stupid, and I began to laugh.  We continued to pray as Susan watched me play with the GPS, and when I went to language, she began to laugh as I changed it to English UK.  I think Our Blessed Mother was also laughing when all of a sudden this heavenly voice said in 300 meters keep left.  She should have added stupid.  The construction of the new 4 lane highway ended and the traffic cleared as we turned off the main road to Dobre Miastro.  It was winding roads and the Jag handled very nicely.  I was beginning to develop a relationship with this car. We will see where it goes.

35 minutes later we pulled into our hotel ( Hotel Kopezynski).  It looked pretty nice and it was first class.  The girl at the desk spoke English and gave us our room key.  They had a restaurant and were open for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Breakfast came with the room and dinner we weren’t sure until we thought of all we had to catch up on reorganizing ourselves for the next 25 days.

We went to the small market across the street and got some picnic food and fresh bread for later and then headed out for the reason we stopped here, the Eucharistic Miracle that took place in Glotowo, 5 kilometers away.  We made it to this small nondescript church 5 minutes before the 6 PM mass, which we planned to attend.  When we walked in we almost fell down.   The church was beautiful (see Photos) done in a Baroque style.

I had time to take a few pics and we went to our pew.  The Pastor came by and we said hello and he remembered he had e-mailed Susan when she wrote to him.  He said mass and after they had benediction.  It was beautiful.  There were only a few people there including 2 sisters so when mass was over they shut the lights and got ready to close.  We hadn’t seen the miracle and were a little disappointed but still energized.

We were outside looking around at the map for the Stations of the Cross path they have, the photos of them are magnificent.  Each Station has a separate building and is very detailed.  It got cold and we knew we couldn’t do them.  As we were talking the pastor came out and we talked for awhile before I asked him where the Miracle was.  That’s all it took, he opened up the church and took us to the altar we sat next to that was the exact spot where it happened.

(Click here for the story of the Eucharistic Miracle of Glotowo)

He then got a laser pointer and took us thru the whole church explaining the stained glass and all the frescoes.  It was great, we saw it all.

We thanked him for his kindness and we bid farewell to him and left for our hotel. Now we were truly elated what a wonderful experience and Susan decided that every day would be Day 1 in Poland.

When we got back I bought a bottle of wine at the bar for our room and got a couple plates and utensils from one of the girls ( this is a true family run business with at least 6 kids and mom and dad, and they all get along ).

We dined in the room and I finished Sunday’s Madrid report and sent it out while Susan again organized us.  I’m glad I lost that job.  Good night it’s bedtime.

God Bless all of you

Love

Susan & Tom

May the Blessed Virgin Mary and all the Saints plead for us with the Lord, that we may deserve to be helped and delivered by Him, who lives and reigns, world without end.  Amen.