A pilgrimage is a journey that is made by a person for a specific purpose and to a specific place. In Catholic culture, there are many places where pilgrims go, go for tens and even hundreds of years. Jerusalem, Fatima, Lourdes, Rome… The list is endless. After all, in addition to the world-famous centers of pilgrimage, each country has its own local ones. Kazakhstan is no exception.
On July 15, our foundation once again organized a pilgrimage for patients and their families to the Sanctuary of Kazakhstan and Central Asia, the Queen of Peace in Ozernoye.
For pilgrims who live very far away, the trip started early in the morning – at 4 o’clock. In joint prayers and chants, the time on the road passed unnoticed. Over the course of a long journey, everyone got to know each other, told about themselves.
As always, Ozernoye greeted us with silence and calmness. Everything around here is filled with hope, faith and love for God.
We were cordially greeted by the rector of the parish Pr. Mariusz. In the chapel where the “Star of Kazakhstan” altar is located, in reverent silence, each of us prayed in our intentions.
And then the Holy Mass began, led by Archbishop Tomas Peta. Professor from Poland Tadeusz Stolz delivered a very beautiful sermon, the words of which sunk into the heart of every pilgrim. During the Service, the sick received the sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick.
There were many priests from different parishes, seminarians from Poland, who visited this holy place for the first time!
After a delicious hearty lunch, the pilgrims gathered for a conversation “The sick in the house – a cross or grace?” The illness of a loved one is a difficult test for each of us. This is a mental anguish not only for the patient, but also for all his relatives. How to behave? how to organize the necessary care? what words to choose to communicate with a sick person? These questions came up during the conversation. Pilgrims shared their personal experiences, gave advice to each other.
It often happens that an illness makes a person rethink the life he has lived before: ask for forgiveness from his relatives, from those to whom he was previously inattentive, whom he offended; spiritually change your life for the better. There are also cases when an illness causes a special manifestation of God’s love and mercy to the sick.
After an interesting and such an instructive conversation, the pilgrims went to the monastery of the Carmelite sisters, where they read the Rosary together with the sisters. Those who wish to fully devote themselves to the Blessed Virgin Mary and live like true children of the heavenly Mother, imitating Her virtues in order to unite even more closely with Jesus Christ through Her, received the holy Carmelite scapular.
A visit to holy places can make such an impression and impact on a person (especially an unbeliever) that a revolution takes place in his soul: the grace of God penetrates a person so strongly that he changes both the way of his life and the way of his thoughts. Leaving a holy place, a person feels that something has turned upside down in his soul. And then this event becomes a new and unexpected starting point in personal religious life.
Open your hearts to Jesus and Mary and your life will change!
