Hard Day's Night

I last checked in when we were in Kraków, Poland. Our group had been split into three smaller groups and we had been left behind to catch a flight out on Friday. Things looked promising as we set out and checked in for our flight to Frankfurt, Germany. We then find out that our flight is delayed 20 minutes (no big deal) and that 4 out of the 8 in our group had standby tickets out of Frankfurt (bigger deal). Then we had to sit in the plane for 25 more minutes before we could take off - air traffic control issues and weather. We missed our connection in Frankfurt. The next flight out was at 6:30 - OK, great. Wait-what? It's going by way of Amsterdam (or as Mike Landis was calling it - Amsterdammit). We got that flight and then went from Amsterdam into Florence. Didn't get to the hotel until after midnight. Hence- no update yesterday. I handled the whole thing pretty well- was texting Fr. off and on all day to keep him updated.
Today we drove to Assisi and saw the tomb of St. Clare and St. Francis. Ed was in heaven because St. Francis is his favorite Saint. To say that the view up here is breathtaking doesn't do it justice. I could sit out on the terrace and look at the view for hours. Here are some of the pictures we took.

Pilgrims' Lack of Progress

 

Today has been an interesting day.  We woke up at 4 am to make sure we were ready to catch our 7:35 am flight to Vienna.  We boarded the bus and as we headed for the airport, Father Bateman asked us to start with a prayer and then launched into a mini-homily about bearing wrongs patiently.  And then he broke the news that the flight we were supposed to catch from Vienna to Florence had been canceled.  In order to get us to Florence, Austria Airways broke the group into three smaller groups.  One group was supposed to fly to Stuttgart after a 10-hour lay-over in Vienna, and then go to Florence.  One group was supposed to fly to Rome after a 9-hour lay-over in Vienna, and then go to Florence.  The third group had to stay in Krakow until tomorrow afternoon and then fly to Florence.  This group would not land until tomorrow evening which meant missing the things we were supposed to see there.  Ed and I were in the third group.  At first, the idea of missing Florence was distressing, but blessing often come in disguise.  These were the blessings of this delay:

1. We were with a great group of people - Mike and Suzanne Landis, Perpetua Staub, John and Nancy Newbold, and Cathy from another parish.  The airline had chosen people from our larger group at random but all of us except for Ed are on the RCIA teams at our respective parishes. 
2. We were able to go back and see many things that we had missed in the rush of the last two days.  Half of us chose to go see the Oskar Schindler Museum and the Jewish Quarter. (More on that later.)
3. Several in our group just took the opportunity to rest and recollect.
4. The other two groups had to deal with yet another complication - both of the connecting flights they were to take from Vienna were canceled yet again.  For some reason - WE ARE NOT TO GO TO FLORENCE.  Who knows from what God in His providence has shielded us?!
5. Ed and I had a chance to revisit Krakow's Old Town and just enjoy an afternoon together.  (Also more on that later.)
6. We have a lovely room in the Hilton Garden Inn right next to the airport.  We received vouchers for a breakfast, lunch, and dinner at the hotel restaurant. 

After we got straightened out this morning, our Polish guide who had been with us for the past

three days found out that we wanted to go to the Jewish Quarter.  She gave us a ride there and made sure we knew where to go and how to get there.  We grabbed bagels at a place called Bagel Mama (staffed by a native New Yorker) and went to see some of the sights described in our tour book by Rick Steves (Thanks, Sue, for that wonderful birthday present - it was used quite hard today!).  Here are some of the sights we saw in the Jewish Quarter.


A monument to those Krakow Jews who were killed during the Nazi occupation

The sign behind us honors a family that was in this building for hundreds of years - wiped out in the holocaust.

As we were walking, we ran into our guide again and she offered to take us to the Oskar Schindler Museum across the Vistula River.  I'm sure many of you have seen the Steven Spielberg's movie Schindler's List.  How fascinating to learn more about this man who did so much good and to stand where he had once saved countless lives from deportation. On our way to the museum, we stopped in Heroes Square which is located where the square of the ghetto once was and from which many Jews were deported to the death camps.  The square is filled with 68 very large empty chairs to symbolize the 68,000 Jews deported from there.  All but one face east toward Jerusalem. 

This chair does not face east.  It is the site upon which many Jews were executed.

Ed, Perpetua, Suzanne, Cheryl in Schindler's Factory

The Hall of Choices records how people chose to act or not to act in the face of injustice.



A close-up of the pillars and walls
Note the many acts of mercy, some large and some small, that made a difference in lives of fellow human beings. These acts are recorded in many different languages.

After lunch in the Film Cafe of the museum, I, of course, had to buy more books (if our suitcases weigh too much for the airlines, we're leaving Ed's clothing behind).  Two of our group decided to head back to the hotel which left Ed and I to find a taxi and head for Old Town. 
We bought some trinkets at an outdoor market and then headed into Market Square.  We stopped at St. Mary's Cathedral to look for the trumpeter of Krakow.  The old legend is that the bugler would open the window in the steeple and play the bugle to alert the town to the approach of any enemies.  The tune comes to an abrupt end to symbolize the death of the bugler as he is hit by an arrow.
We then went to Cloth Hall and did a little more shopping.  Amber is a very important product of Poland and there were many stands selling amber jewelry.  We then took a taxi back to the hotel, rested a bit, and then met the rest of our group for dinner in the hotel restaurant. 

Cloth Hall in Market Square

 

 

 

That's all for this evening.  I have many more pictures but am still getting the hang of working on public computers when I can find them and getting photos from all my different devices.  Who knows what tomorrow will bring.  We are trying to be patient and grateful for the good things that come from His hand.  He has a reason for everything.  

Day 3- Always remember

It has been a profoundly moving day. After our Polish-style Hampton Inn breakfast buffet,we boarded the bus at 7:45. We headed to Oswiecim, or as it is more commonly known, Auschwitz. It seemed to be a long drive and I had to remind myself that we were sitting in a nice comfortable air-conditioned bus.  Many of the prisoners traveled to Auschwitz stuffed into cattle cars, standing with no water or food.  I found out later that some of these prisoners had a train ride of over 2,000 km to get there AND they had to buy their own tickets.  I truly never thought I would stand in that place and was very grateful for the chance to see it.

L

Auschwitz was actually three camps.  We began our tour in Auschwitz I which is entered through the famous gate - Arbeit Macht Frei.



The sanitary conditions in the barricks were very bad.  Often the floors were covered with straw.

These are shoes and suitcases taken from prisoners upon their arrival.

Death Wall: This is where many prisoners were executed.

Father Richards leads us in a prayer outside Maximilian Kolbe's cell.  Saint Maximilian Kolbe was a priest who chose to go to his death in the place of another prisoner.  This man did survive the war and spent his life living in a manner that would honor the sacrifice Kolbe made.

The commandant of the camp, Rudolph Hess, was hanged here after the war for crimes against humanity.

I have many other pictures that I took today.  We also went to Auschwitz-Birkenau (Auschwitz II) and saw the famous gate with the train tracks.  This was the main extermination camp.  Those pictures are on my phone which is not with me at the moment and will be added later. 

It was very sobering to see this place that was the scene of so much cruelty and torture that also had countering elements of mercy and self-sacrifice.  Some in our group could not help but see the parallels in our world today with what is going on in the Middle East.  What will it take before we stand up and do something?  Will our descendants look back and ask - how could they let that happen?

 

Our afternoon was spent in Wadewice, the birthplace of John Paul II.  We celebrated Mass in the church where he was baptized and then went to see the museum.  This is a relatively new museum and was incredibly designed to tell the story of this truly great man.  No pictures were allowed in the museum but I will add pictures of the church. 

 

I will be adding to this page but now must go to bed.   We must be on the bus at 5:30 am to catch a 7:35 flight to Vienna and then Florence. 

Enjoying this trip greatly.  Thanks for your prayers as ours are with you. 

Not one but two death marches

I did not get into my room until after 11 last evening and was unable to share the details of an interesting but tiring day touring Old Town Krakow, Wawel Castle, and the Salt Mines.  If you would like details now, please visit Father Bateman's blog.

Greetings from Krakow, Poland!  It has been a LONG two days and it's taking me a little while to adjust to being in a time zone six hours ahead of home.  Sorry that there are no pictures tonight - I took plenty but cannot login to Google Drive from the hotel here - the browser is out of date and I don't have permission to download a new version.  I will figure out a way to get them in but not tonight after being awake for the better part of 36 hours. 

On Monday, June 13, we met at Xavier Center in Gettysburg, PA, at 11:00 to begin our pilgrimage.  Our group was split in two - half went from Harrisburg to Dulles to Munich to Krakow.  The other half went from Harrisburg to Detroit to Amsterdam to Krakow.  Our flights were good and mostly on time but the overnight trans-Atlantic flight did not provide the best atmosphere for sleep.  I was in the first group and we arrived here in Krakow at 12:30.  Fr. Bateman was there to meet our plane - he even beat the tour guide.  We boarded the bus and made a brief stop at our hotel and then went to see the Sanctuary of the Divine Mercy.  Originally, before we realized our flights were split, the plan had been to see Auschwitz on the day of our arrival and then go to see the Sanctuary on Thursday.  Because our second group would not arrive until late in the afternoon today, the plans were switched.  Our first group was able to spend the afternoon at the Sanctuary.  What a perfect way to begin a pilgrimage for the Jubilee Year of Divine Mercy!

We arrived in time for the 3 pm recitation of the Chaplet of Divine Mercy, which was said in 5 different languages in the Convent Chapel.  This was the chapel where Sister Faustina often talked with Jesus about the need to trust in His Divine Mercy.  It was also here that He instructed her to commission a painting of the Divine Mercy image. After the recitation of the Chaplet we were free to roam the grounds until 5:30.  We went through the Holy Door at the Basilica while Mass was being celebrated.  All around the edge of the sanctuary there were confessionals set up so that visitors could celebrate the sacrament of penance.  We were also able to take the elevator almost to the top of the tower next to the Basilica and were treated to a great view of the city of Krakow. 

At 5:30, one of the sisters met us and showed us a replica of the cell in which Sr. Faustina wrote her diary, Divine Mercy in My Soul. The sister then took us to one of the chapels in the lower level of the Basilica and talked to us about Sr. Faustina and the Divine Mercy image. She spoke eloquently and passionately about our need to trust in the mercy of God; we often say we trust in God but then we want to tell Him what WE want Him to do.  She also spoke about how God's mercy comes to us through confession and Holy Eucharist.
After the talk, we went to another chapel and Fr. Bateman and Fr. Richards concelebrated Mass for our group.  What a joy to have the two of them together on the altar and to hear a homily from Fr. Bateman after three months.

At about 7 pm, we went for a nice dinner in the restaurant located next to the Sanctuary and then returned to the hotel.  Sorry if this doesn't make sense - I'm a little bleary-eyed and the pictures I was going to include are stuck on my camera.  Hopefully, I will make more sense tomorrow and will have some photos to go with my ramblings. 
Thanks for your prayers.  Tomorrow, we will be visiting Old Town in Krakow, Wawel Castle, the Salt Mines, and three different churches.  Sleep tight.