Saint Faustina is, alongside John Paul II, one of the most prominent figures of the 20th century in the Catholic world. She was born in 1905 and felt a calling to the religious life at the early age of 7. After joining the convent, she started having visions of Jesus, who chose her to share with the world the depth of the Divine Mercy. Her journal, in which she described her visions, was translated into many languages.
This pilgrimage aims to follow the life of Helena Kowalska, future Sister Faustina, starting with the visit to her family home in Głogowiec and other places important to her biography. During this journey, the participants will have the opportunity to travel across Poland and discover some of the most important places of worship in the world, such as the Jasna Góra Monastery in Częstochowa, the heart of Catholic Poland. The highlight of this programme is a visit to the Divine Mercy Sanctuary in Krakow.
Duration: 7 days
Itinerary: Warsaw – Walendów – Derdy – Głogowiec – Świnice Warckie – Aleksandrów Łódzki – Łódź – Płock – Częstochowa – Krakow
Morning: Arrival at the Warsaw Airport. Transfer to the accommodation and check-in.
Evening: Dinner. Overnight in Warsaw.
Morning: Departure with our guide to the Sanctuary of the Birth and Baptism of Saint Faustina in Świnice Warckie, where Faustina Kowalska was born, baptised and has spent her adolescence. She has lived there for 16 years, which turned out to be half of her life on Earth.
On the way, stop in Derdy and Glogowiec. Visit to Walendów where Faustina was sent by her superiors for a stay of 8 days in order to complete her third probation, which is the preparation time leading up to the perpetual vows. When her stay came to an end, Faustina left Walendów. However, she has come back one more time for a couple of weeks at the end of March 1936.
Afternoon: Aleksandrów Łódzki – Helena Kowalska arrived in this village in 1921 and worked there for the Bryszewski family.
Arrival in Łodź. Check-in at the accommodation.
Evening: Dinner. Overnight in Łódź.
Morning: Visit to Łódź, a city to which Helena Kowalska came in 1922 with the plan to make some money and help her parents at the same time. Today, Helena Kowalska, known as Saint Faustina, has become the patron saint of Łódź.
Afternoon: Departure to Płock where Saint Faustina lived in a religious house since 1930, known today as the Divine Mercy Sanctuary. In this very place, on 22 February 1931, Faustina has had her first vision of the Merciful Jesus, who asked her to paint the image bearing the inscription “Jesus, I trust in you”.
Return to Warsaw. Check-in at the accommodation.
Evening: Dinner. Overnight in Warsaw.
Morning: Visit to the capital city of Poland – the Old Town rebuilt in its entirety after the Second World War, featuring the Royal Castle and St John’s Cathedral. Sister Faustina stayed in Warsaw for a short period in her life.
Visit to St James the Apostle church – the first church Sister Faustina visited when she arrived in Warsaw in 1924.
Visit to the Congregation of the Sisters of Our Lady of Mercy on Żytnia Street. Entrance to the chapel, which is accessed from Żytnia Street. Saint Faustina has prayed there at least one time, in 1932, when she came to Warsaw to begin her third probation, leading up to the perpetual vows.
Afternoon: Visit to Grochów – a neighbourhood in Warsaw where Sister Faustina was transferred to another convent of the Congregation in 1929. Her stay there was rather short but she has managed to steal the hearts of her students, who have promised to accompany her to the next stage.
Visit to Skolimów – a small village near Warsaw where Sister Faustina has stayed during her time as a postulant. She was sent there by her superiors for a treatment alongside two other sisters at the beginning of her time in the Congregation, in late August 1925.
Return to the accommodation.
Evening: Dinner. Overnight in Warsaw.
Morning: Departure to Krakow. On the way, a visit to Częstochowa or “Polish Lourdes”, the most important pilgrimage destination in Poland and one of the main places of worship in the Christian world. The Black Madonna of Częstochowa icon.
Afternoon: Visit to the Jasna Góra Monastery. Each year, 5 million of Catholics come to pray and worship the Black Madonna.
Guided tour to the Pauline fortified monastery which includes Knight’s Hall, the Treasury, the Armoury and a museum where Lech Wałęsa’s Nobel Peace Prize is displayed.
Saint Faustina travelled through Częstochowa two times on her way from Krakow to Vilnius.
Transfer to Krakow. Check-in at the accommodation.
Evening Dinner. Overnight in Krakow.
Morning: Guided tour of Krakow. In the programme: the Old Town with the biggest Main Square in Europe where, every hour, the St. Mary's Trumpet Call is played from the church’s tower in the direction of the four corners of the world; St. Mary’s Church (with one of the biggest gothic altars in Europe), Cloth Hall (Sukiennice). Gothic tower, the only remaining part of the old Town Hall, and the Church of St. Adalbert which is said to be in the same spot where Saint Adalbert delivered his sermons.
Visit to the Basilica of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. The Jesuits served as confessors and led retreats in the convents of the Congregation of the Sisters of Our Lady of Mercy. Spiritual life of Saint Faustina was particularly influenced by two of them: Edmund Elter and Józef Andrasz.
Afternoon: The world needs God’s mercy – a visit to the Divine Mercy Sanctuary in Krakow-Łagiewniki, known for the image of the Divine Mercy with the phrase “Jesus I trust in you”. The Sanctuary was proclaimed a Centre of World Mercy by the Pope during his visit to Poland in August 2002. Next to the old church where Sister Faustina Kowalska, who preached Divine Mercy, lies, stands the new basilica. Close to it, the highest view point of Krakow, an 80 meters tall tower. The biggest Holy Mass takes place on the second Sunday after Easter, on the Divine Mercy Sunday.
The pilgrimage following the life story of Saint Faustina concludes with a visit to the Chapel of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, a regular place of prayer of Sister Faustina, located next to the John Paul II Specialist Hospital. Between 1936 and 1938, the Saint was hospitalised there for a total period of more than 8 months.
Evening: Dinner. Overnight in Krakow.
Morning: Transfer to the Krakow Airport. Departure.
Services included in the price:
Favourites
ENQUIRY FORM
The pilgrimage begins in Prague, where pilgrims explore this charming city and visit the most important religious sites ...
