Poland

Poland was a very emotional weekend!

We went to -- are you ready -- Czestochowa first. Here there is a picture of Our Lady of Czestochowa through which many miracles have happened. It is very dark, almost black, is supposed to have been painted by St. Luke on the table top that was in Jesus' home. We had Mass there and then left for Auschwitz.

Beforehand, saw a museum with drawings by a survivor of the camp. He couldn't talk about being a prisoner in Auschwitz, so eventually he used art as an outlet. It was the most emotionally intense museum I have ever been in.

As we were on our way to the museum, I noticed how odd it was that all these houses in Poland looked very new and were just rebuilt on this ground that had been bombed and attacked so many times. I was just trying to wrap my mind around the reality of Poland's history as we drove through it. As I pondered this while looking at a small neighborhood, a concentration camp suddenly appeared on the right-hand side of the bus. Everyone immediately fell silent because we all knew what it was, and for a good solid minute we drove by rows and rows of barracks and barbed wire fence. Then I REALLY couldn't figure out how these houses were literally across the street from the camp, where thousands upon thousands of their ancestors were exterminated. We got to the museum, had lunch, and then finally left for the actual Auschwitz camp. It was so eerie when we got there, and the whole place had been made into a museum. We entered the front gate of the camp, with a sign overhead that read "Arbeitet macht frei," meaning, roughly, "Work makes you free." Creepy, huh? We saw rooms full of shoes, hairbrushes, suitcases, hair...anything and everything that was left of these people from decades ago. We saw the cell where St. Maximilian Kolbe was starved and died, the wall where they shot prisoners (which is still stained), and the crematoria and gas chambers. We walked through them and looked into the ovens. Overall, it was just a very difficult experience.

The next day we visited John Paul II's hometown of Wadowice. We saw his house, his home parish, and ate "Pope cakes." Then we left for the Divine Mercy Shrine!

I got to play and sing at Mass in the Divine Mercy Shrine, which was an awesome experience. We had prayed the Divine Mercy Chaplet at 3pm in the chapel and then listened to a talk given by one of the sisters from the Shrine. She spoke about the history and meaning of Jesus and his Divine Mercy. If you want a great prayer tool, PRAY THE DIVINE MERCY CHAPLET. It is amazing, and Jesus said that whoever prays this faithfully, nothing will be denied him if he asks. Sounds like a pretty sweet promise to me...

As I was practicing for Mass outside of the shrine, I hear "Hey Emma." I turn around to find one of my friends from HOME, sitting on the steps behind me! We started freaking out, along with everyone else who was completely perplexed by the situation. Everyone kept asking, "Wait, you know each other??" It was by far the most random event ever. What are the chances of finding someone you know in the Divine Mercy Shrine in Poland?! Apparently she is studying in Florence, Italy. She was even at Auschwitz the night we were, but we probably didn't see each other because it was too dark haha. Crazy. We always find each other in the most random places. The last time we ran into each other was this summer in Tuscon, Arizona!