It is always important to connect our faith to a history so as to understand how people have lived their faith in the past. This journey undertaken by many people to holy places (pilgrimage) has a lot of religious significance.
As pilgrims visit scenes of events with spiritual attachment, it helps as a way of increasing their faith and keeping in touch with a practical Christian history. It offers the occasion of repentance and renewal and visiting the scenes of events can help one to feel the presence of God even more.
As priests coming from Africa, studying at UKSW, this identity of a Christian journey was witnessed from the 16th -17th October 2021 as a group of eight African priests coming from, Uganda, Cameroon, Nigeria, and Rwanda with the guidance of Fr Prof Kluj Wojciech, took on a pilgrimage of faith to Kalisz, and specifically at the sanctuary of St Joseph.
The choice of this site was based on the relationship built with one foster parent to the African priests, Mrs. Karmila. But above all, considering the fact that Pope Francis declared the year of St Joseph ( 8th December 2020- 8th December 2021), it was providential that the choice of our pilgrimage was the sanctuary of St Joseph in Kalisz.
Kalisz has a spiritual history which is worth learning from and since the beginning of the 17th century, Kalisz has been one of the main places of worship of St. Joseph in Poland. This was closely tied to a picture of the Holy Family. According to tradition, St. Joseph’s Shrine in Kalisz can be traced back to the year 1670, when an inhabitant of Szulec village was healed through St. Joseph’s intercession (https://www.swietyjozef.kalisz.pl/Sanktuarium/21,en.html).
The pilgrimage helped us to associate in practice with the year of St. Joseph, but also helped us to pray and reflect on virtues evident in the life of this great saint. We participated in Holy Mass at different occasions, took part in the rosary-procession, and made a tour of Kalisz, experiencing the beauty and warmth of the historic city. Indeed, it was a pilgrimage of faith!
Great thanks to the office of Aid to the Church in Need, ACN – Poland; the Rector of the Sanctuary of St. Joseph in Kalisz; our mother Mrs. Karmila for her great charity and for having a big heart; Fr. Prof. Kluj Wojciech for leading the team; and to the African priests who took on this journey of faith.
May St. Joseph keep interceding for us.
Fr. Polycarp Opio.
