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Experience a 12-day pilgrimage to Poland and Lithuania

The Hill of the Crosses in Šiauliai, Lithuania

ALLOUEZ — Visit to sites of saints, miracles and apparitions will be among the highlights of a 12-day pilgrimage to Poland and Lithuania, sponsored by On Mission, Oct. 13-24, 2025.

Fr. John Girotti, vicar general and moderator of the Curia for the Diocese of Green Bay, will serve as spiritual director for the On Mission trip, in cooperation with Mater Dei Tours. 

Pilgrims will depart from Chicago for Krakow, Poland, on Monday, Oct. 13. 

The following day, the group will travel to the Lagiewniki Shrine of Divine Mercy with St. Faustina’s Convent Chapel and her tomb. 

A visit will follow to the St. John Paul II Center, built on the site of the quarry where Karol Wojtyla worked during the time Poland was occupied by Nazi Germany.

A visit to Wawel Cathedral, where Karol Wojtyla was ordained as Cardinal Archbishop of Krakow, will be among the highlights on Wednesday, Oct. 15. 

The group will also visit the Royal Castle, witness the Bugler from St. Mary’s Tower, visit St. Mary’s Basilica, the Cloth Hall and Burgher’s House. The day will also feature a trip to the Salt Mines of Wieliczka.

The group will travel to Wadowice, the birthplace of St. John Paul II, on Thursday, Oct. 16. Holy Mass is requested at Wadowice’s Basilica of the Presentation of Mary. A guided tour of the St. John Paul II Museum will follow Mass. 

The group will travel in the afternoon to the former Nazi concentration camp in Auschwitz. 

On Friday, Oct. 17, pilgrims will travel south towards Slovakia to the Zakopane Mountains to visit the Church of Our Lady of Fatima, built in thanksgiving to Our Lady of Fatima for saving Pope John Paul II from the assassin’s bullet on May 13, 1981. 

The day will also include views of the Tatra Mountains, a cable car ride to Gubalowka, and lunch and shopping at a local bazaar.  

Pilgrims will depart Krakow on Saturday, Oct. 18, for CzÄ™stochowa in southern Poland. Mass will be celebrated at Jasna Góra, home of the Black Madonna, which has served as the symbol of the Polish people’s love and devotion to Mary for 600 years. 

The group will explore the life of Sr. Faustina Kowalska on Sunday, Oct. 19. The first stop will be in Swinice, Warckie and Glogowiec at the Kowalska family’s parish church, St. Casimir. 

Travel to Plock will follow to see the convent of Holy Mother of God’s Mercy where Sr. Faustina had her first vision of Jesus of the Divine Mercy on Feb. 22, 1931.

A tour of Warsaw, Poland’s capital city, will be among the highlights on Monday, Oct. 20. Sites on the tour will include Old Town Market Square, the Jewish quarter in Wausau, the Monument to the Ghetto Heroes and the tomb of Fr. Jerzy Popieluszko. Following lunch, pilgrims will travel to the City of the Immaculate Niepokalanów.

Pilgrims will depart Warsaw on Tuesday, Oct. 21, to travel to Vilnius, Lithuania. On the way, the group will stop at SokóÅ‚ka, site of the Eucharistic Miracle of SokóÅ‚ka.

On Wednesday, Oct. 22, pilgrims will ride across Lithuania’s countryside. The group will visit Šiauliai to witness the Hill of the Crosses. A visit to Šiluva follows to learn about the Marian Apparition that occurred there in 1608.

A walking tour of Vilnius on Thursday, Oct. 23, will include a visit to the Church of the Holy Spirit to pray the Chaplet of Divine Mercy before the original painting of Jesus of the Divine Mercy. 

The day will also feature a visit to the Shrine of the Gate of Dawn for a rosary service and to the Convent of St. Faustina, site of additional apparitions and the place where Jesus taught the Chaplet of Divine Mercy to Sr. Faustina. 

The last visit of the day will be to the Cathedral of Vilnius to pray before St. Casimir’s Tomb and the celebration of Mass.  

Pilgrims will make their journey to Dubrovnik on Friday, Oct. 24. 

Important to note: All Masses are pending approval form local ecclesiastical authorities.

The 12-day trip includes round-trip air transportation from Chicago O’Hare to Poland and back from Lithuania; a private motorcoach with a professional driver in Poland and Lithuania; first-class lodging accommodations; 21 meals; admissions to tours and selected visits. The pilgrimage fee is $4,999 per person/double occupancy if registered by April 11. The fee is $5,099 after Friday, April 11.

The registration deadline is Friday, June 13, but all spaces may be filled before that date, so pilgrims are encouraged to register early.

To register or for more information, visit Poland2025_012125.pdf.

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