Centuries-old pilgrimage still drawing Poles

Published: 2004-08-12

MERRILLVILLE, Ind. (CNS) -- A Polish tradition that dates back more than 600 years in Europe is very much alive in northwest Indiana, thanks to a local priest and the thousands of faithful who annually make a pilgrimage in honor of the Blessed Mother. The "Pielgrzymka," or pilgrimage, took place Aug. 7-8 -- 33 miles from St. Michael Church in Chicago to the Salvatorian Shrine in Merrillville in the Diocese of Gary. At the shrine more than 5,000 people attended a Mass in Polish outside a church dedicated to Our Lady of Czestochowa. For Albertine Sister Donata Stachowiak, it was her third such pilgrimage in the United States after making seven in her native Poland. The first time she made the pilgrimage "it was exciting," she said, so "I had to be there" for subsequent marches. It's not just the walk, Sister Donata pointed out. "It's a witness to others of my faith," she told the Northwest Indiana Catholic, newspaper of the Gary Diocese. "I have so many intentions that, through my walking, I know the Blessed Mother will intercede." Salvatorian Father Jozef Zuziak, who started the local pilgrimage 22 years ago, said the tradition dates back 638 years in Poland.

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