During the pandemic, there was an interest in Poland to organize a joint meeting of coordinators and missionaries of the Pilgrim Mother Apostolate, in which as many Polish dioceses as possible could participate.
So, a meeting was organized from August 9-11, 2024 in St. Annaberg, which opened the Jubilee Year 2025 of the Pilgrim Mother Apostolate in Poland. It has been 75 years since the Servant of God John Pozzobon began the pilgrimage of the first Pilgrim Mother image among the families of Santa Maria in Brazil.
The meeting, which took place in Saint Anne’s Basilica, in the care of the Franciscan Fathers, was attended by about 270 missionaries from the western, southern and southeastern districts of Poland.
Always a little more
For this year the motto chosen was: Together in the Covenant of Love for the Church, which we, as a pilgrims’ movement, which is part of the Schoenstatt Movement, want to carry out in our daily life by taking Mary to the families in the parishes.
One of John Pozzobon’s motivations was: always a little more. This can also be understood as “a little more than usual”.
The meeting in Annaberg was a time of grace, common prayer and thanksgiving to the Lord. It was also a time of encounter with delegates from many Polish dioceses. And finally, it was also a time to experience the presence of many people who want to do something extra for their fellow men and women and for the Church.
It gave me a lot to think about
The meeting began at 3 p.m. in the basilica with the Rosary of Mercy, followed by the Eucharistic celebration before the image of St. Anne, in which the Schoenstatt Fathers participated: Fr. Romuald Kszuk, national advisor of the Pilgrim Mother Apostolate, Fr. Przemysław Skąpski – national director of the Schoenstatt Movement and the parish priest, Prelate Zbigniew Samociak. Schoenstatt Sisters of Mary also actively participated in the meeting: Sr. M. Damiana Czogała, working in the dioceses of southern Poland; Sr. M. Celestyna Krasoń and Sr. M. Renata Kurc, who work in northern Poland, and Sr. M. Michaela Blachut, who helped with childcare during the event.
On the afternoon of the first day there was a rosary procession, enriched with rosary meditations and life testimonies presented and lived in the light of the mysteries of the rosary.
One of the participants expressed with deep emotion: “Schoenstatt – I emphasize it again and again – is a treasure for me. The talks I listened to, especially the key points such as Marian piety, independent work, personal initiative, the free individual, that is precisely what I will take with me. I am glad for the inspiration and for John Pozzobon’s words about always doing more, a little bit more, a little bit above the average. That gave me a lot to think about…”.
They are a sign of hope and committed evangelization for the Church
Saturday’s Mass was celebrated by Auxiliary Bishop Waldemar Musioł of the Diocese of Opole, where we were visiting guests. He addressed the following words of encouragement to the participants in the Eucharist: “You are a sign of hope and committed evangelization for the Church!”
And he continued, “I would like to invite you to spend a moment at Ain Karem’s threshold and let us meditate first on Elizabeth’s attitude upon receiving Mary and Jesus, and then on how to bring Jesus, together with Mary, to others based on Mary’s own attitude. I believe that the missionary’s task, in the symbol of the Pilgrim Mother, is to receive Jesus and Mary, just like Elizabeth; perhaps with more enthusiasm than others, and then – like Mary – to take Jesus with us,” Auxiliary Bishop Waldemar Musioł shared in his homily.
The bishop also explained that we can learn from Elizabeth’s attitude to be open to the action of the Holy Spirit, as well as to prayer and humility, for without these, effective evangelization would not be possible at all. He also shared that we should let Mary and Jesus into our hearts and into our homes, thus expressing our consent for them to become part of us.
A play about Pozzobon
We spent Saturday afternoon with Izabella Drobotowicz-Orkisz, an actress from the Hagiograf Theater in Krakow. She performed a play for us: Servant of Mary for the salvation of souls – The person and mission of the Servant of God John Pozzobon – Mission for our time.
“An incredible voice, the ambiance and what I heard about the life of John Pozzobon had a very positive impression on me and made me want to work on myself,” said one of the participants of the meeting.
Ms. Jadwiga Ptak adds: “The play allowed us to get to know the person of John Pozzobon better and to discover how he lived with the words: Always a little more…. We would really like to be able to draw inspiration from these words for future actions ourselves and in our circles.
The crowning of Mary as Queen of the New Evangelization
The Schoenstatt Pilgrim Mother Apostolate in Poland has prepared a crown on which a rosary and covenants will be placed. In this way we have begun the preparations for the crowning of Mary as Queen of the New Evangelization of the Families. Mary is crowned in the Auxiliary image of Poland. The prepared crown was displayed at the meeting.
Photos: Jerzy Dominiak
Translation: Maribel Acaron
