Thousands of pilgrims in Czestochowa before the Feast of the Assumption
The Czestochowa municipal authorities estimate that in August Jasna Gora will be visited by approx. 111,000 pilgrims in about 170 organized walking pilgrimages. Other groups and individuals will be arriving by coach, cars and train.
The traditional peak pilgrimage period includes the days preceding the Feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary (August 15) and those before the Feast of Our Lady of Czestochowa (August 26).
Most pilgrimages will reach Jasna Gora on August 13 and 14. The largest one, from Warsaw, numbering several thousand people, will arrive on August 14, as will the soldiers’, firefighters’ and Warsaw universities’ pilgrimages.
Every year, the celebration of the Feast of the Assumption draws thousands of faithful – it’s one of the largest religious events at Jasna Gora.
The City Hall spokesman Wlodzimierz Tutaj said that this will be the second time this year, after Pope Francis’ recent visit, during which thousands of pilgrims will visit Czestochowa. The city has prepared a plan to secure the pilgrimages’ access routes and organise the transportation, medical, and sanitary infrastructure.
The history of walking pilgrimages to Czestochowa began soon after the beginning of the veneration of the miraculous image of the Black Madonna. The oldest documented pilgrimage left for Jasna Gora in September 1626 from Gliwice.
According to the Jasna Gora press office, last year the shrine was visited by approx. 3.7 million pilgrims. 267 walking pilgrimages with a total of more than 122,000 participants arrived there. (PAP)
