Faith and Religion

Christmas Eve in Poland is more than just dinner: fasting, the wafer, the first star, an empty plate, and twelve dishes all combine to create a ritual that blends faith, ancient superstitions, and familial tenderness. Where do these customs come from, how do they differ from region to region, and why do they taste even more intense in exile?

Can faith be more than tradition and habit? Father Robert Skrzypczak leads the reader into the depths of Christianity, revealing the real presence of God, the power of the sacraments, and a hope capable of surviving the spiritual crisis of the modern world.

"Goose is best on Saint Martin's Day," goes the folk saying. But where did this custom, which is returning to our tables today, come from?

On the 342nd anniversary of the victorious Relief of Vienna, we received a lecture from Father Roman Krekora CR, Rector of the Polish National Sanctuary on Kahlenberg in Vienna. It was from this site that King John III Sobieski set out on September 12, 1683, to lead the Allied forces to the victorious Battle of Vienna.

John Paul II quickly won the hearts of people around the world. And just as quickly, he became the terror of communist apparatchiks, who saw him as a deadly threat to their power.

At the turn of August and September, farmers in Poland complete their grain harvest with a holiday known as the Harvest Festival. Over the centuries, the celebration's external features have changed, but its meaning remains constant. It is a thanksgiving for the harvest and a prayer for another successful year of work.

On August 12th, another Great March for Life and Freedom of Poles and the Polish diaspora took place at the former German extermination camp of Auschwitz-Birkenau in honor of the victims murdered there. The march ended on August 14th, the anniversary of the death of Saint Maximilian Maria Kolbe, a Polish Franciscan friar and martyr of World War II.

Although many old traditions have been forgotten or simplified, Easter remains a time of spiritual reflection, family gatherings, and joyful celebration. For some, it is primarily a religious event, for others — a cultural ritual of community, but for all — a time of hope, rebirth, and an encounter with the deepest values.

Religious practices related to Holy Week, as well as commonly accepted behaviors and traditions, show people paths leading to inner rebirth. The phenomenon of experiencing these special days in Poland is that we often combine seriousness and concentration with joyful and dynamic anticipation of Easter.

Thinking with John Paul II is the key to understanding the challenges of the modern world and the role that Poland and Poles have to play not only in constructing their own world, but also the broader one.

On April 2, 2005, at 9:37 p.m., Pope John Paul II died at the age of 84. Thus ended the pontificate of the 264th Pope, the successor of St. Peter, who held his office for 26 years.