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Join Fr. Bob Knippenberg on a pilgrimage to Poland. This trip with visit Krakow, Zakopane, Czestochowa, Auschwitz, Wadowice, and more!
Fr. Bob Knippenberg, Ceci Triska, and a Christian guide will meet your party at the airport and accompany you every step of the way as you visit the holy sites of Poland, including Zakopane, Krakow, Czestochowa, Auschwitz, and more.
Fr. Bob Knippenberg is a Catholic priest and pilgrimage leader with Select International Tours. He has accompanied pilgrims through Poland and on Marian journeys to Lourdes and Fatima, bringing pastoral guidance and sacramental life to each group.
Tipping /Gratuities for the guide(s), driver, and wait staff (please refer to the suggestions we will provide for you with your final documents) Suggested budget $200- $220.00.
We depart Houston on an overnight flight to Krakow. Dinner and breakfast will be served on the plane.
Welcome to Poland. We are met by our tour director and transferred to the mountain area of Zakopane. We celebrate Mass and enjoy the rest of the day at leisure, hiking or exploring the town while we acclimate to a new time zone. Dinner and overnight at the hotel in Zakopane.
Following breakfast, we make our way to the Sanctuary of the Holy Virgin of Fatima, a chapel constructed in 1999 in gratitude for Pope John Paul II’s survival from an assassination attempt. Here we celebrate Mass. Lunch will be at a local restaurant. We continue our tour with a cable car ride to Gubalowla for a stunning view of the Tatra Mountains. Return to Zakopane for a folklore show and dinner accompanied by wine at a local restaurant. Overnight in Zakopane. (B, L, Welcome dinner)
After breakfast and a leisurely morning, we depart the mountainous area driving to central Poland and the town of Częstochowa. En route, we stop at Tyskie Brewery to taste local beer. Częstochowa is a place known worldwide, primarily due to the image of Our Lady of Częstochowa, the icon of the Black Madonna, located in the monastery of the Pauline Fathers at Jasna Góra. We visit the Shrine where Mass will be celebrated. Dinner and overnight in Czestochowa.
This holy site in central Poland houses Our Lady of Jasna Gora, also known as the Black Madonna. Tradition tells us that Saint Luke painted the icon on a tablet manufactured by Saint Joseph for the Holy Family that was taken from Jerusalem to Constantinople and given to Princess Anna, wife of Vladimir of Kyiv. After Prince Ladislaus founded the Jasna Gora Monastery in 1382, he entrusted the care of the Icon to the Hungarian Pauline monks who lived there. The icon is known as the Black Madonna because the faces and hands of the Virgin and Child are dark. The slash marks on Our Lady’s face were likely committed during a robbery and attack on the monastery by iconoclasts. The defense of Jasna Gora in 1655 during the Swedish invasion was a monumental point in Polish history. When King John Casimir made his vows in 1656, he crowned Our Lady of Jasna Gora as Queen of Poland. The Polish people love her, and St. John Paul II entrusted his pontificate to Mary as Our Lady of Czestochowa under the motto of Totus Tuus. During our visit, we see the Treasury, the Knight’s Hall, the Refectory, the Basilica of the Holy Cross, and the Nativity of the Virgin Mary. We join in the Mass. Dinner and overnight in Krakow.
This morning, we visit Wadowice, the hometown of Pope St. John Paul II, and visit his childhood home, which is now a museum. We visit the Church of the Presentation of the Virgin Mary, where he was baptized, and where we celebrate Mass. Lunch is on our own. In the afternoon, we visit Kalwaria Zebrzydowska, a popular pilgrimage place for Pope St. John Paul II when he was a young man, and, in the 17th century, the Palatine of Krakow founded a Franciscan Monastery. On the slope of the hill and the valley is an architectural “Way of the Cross” of 40 chapels set on the surrounding hills. Return to Krakow for dinner and overnight. (B.D.).
This morning, we depart for Lagiewniki, the capital of the Divine Mercy, where we see St. Faustina’s convent chapel and her tomb. We enjoy a tour led by one of the sisters and meet with the Sisters of Divine Mercy who will gift our Parish a relic of St. Faustina. At the Shrine the message of the Divine Mercy originated, which Christ himself wished to pass on to our generation through the mediation of St. Faustina. The Sanctuary houses the grace-working image of the Merciful Jesus and the relics of St. Faustina. We have time to retrieve the St. Faustina relic. We visit the newly constructed Shrine of Divinity dedicated by Pope St. John Paul II on his last visit to Poland in 2002. We celebrate Mass at the Shrine. Next, we visit the St. John Paul II Have No Fear Center nearby. Lunch is on our own and we have some time for shopping before returning to Krakow.Tonight we have a festive dinner at a local brewery to celebrate Fr. Bob’s 25th anniversary of priesthood. Overnight Krakow. (B, Special dinner)
This morning, we visit Auschwitz. In this Nazi concentration camp, St. Teresa Benedicta (Edith Stein) faced martyrdom, and St. Maximilian Kolbe died in the Death Block from starvation after volunteering his life for that of a fellow prisoner. Following Mass, we return to Krakow for an afternoon of leisure. Dinner is at leisure to experience one of the many local restaurants in Krakow. Overnight in Krakow.
After the breakfast we drive to Wieliczka. We visit Europe’s oldest salt mine, which UNESCO has listed as a World Heritage Site. The mines are a unique place where many generations of Polish miners have created a world of underground chambers and decorated chapels carved out of salt, including the famous Chapel of St. Kinga. Mass will be celebrated at the Salt Mines. After lunch, we tour Krakow, including Wawel Royal Castle (exterior view) and the Wawel Cathedral, one of central Europe’s most beautiful Renaissance residences. We continue to Krakow’s Old Town to see the main Market Square, St. Mary’s Church, Cloth Hall, and City Hall Tower. Tonight we enjoy a festive farewell dinner with a show in a local restaurant. Overnight in Krakow. (B, Special dinner)
After breakfast at the hotel, we check out and transfer to the airport for our flight home.
Land and Air. Main trip package.
Land Only. Main trip package.
Single Room Supplement. Additional supplement.
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