Well we made it safely to Poland. We met up with the group in Warsaw and headed to the small town of Niepokalanow on the outskirts, in our tour bus. The name of this town means Immaculate in Polish.
Niepokalanow has a large Franciscan seminary where St. Maximilian Kolbe was a Superior. St. Maximilian was a priest, a publisher of a Catholic magazine/newspaper, the founder of the Order of Knights of Mary, a missionary to Japan and a martyr.
He was arrested by the Nazis and sent to the Auschwitz concentration camp. One day a prisoner escaped. The Germans decided they would kill 10 prisoners in retaliation. One of the selected men to die cried out “My wife and children!” Hearing this Fr. Maximilian said “Take me instead.”
Maximilian was duly executed by injection of carbolic acid. He was canonized in the 1980s as a martyr. We had Mass in the Chapel where he and his fellow Brothers prayed and said Mass in. We visited his museum here containing many artifacts including the uniform he wore at Auschwitz.
It was a great start. Now off the sleep.
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mattersofthemoment 
Got your first on-site post. What a great experience! Closest I got to Poland was Berlin, apparently a short train ride to the border. Sleep well!
I actually head over to the Apple store shortly to beef up the rules, format etc., for WordPress as I leave for the Holy Land for 11 days June 1. I did write a blog on WP when I went for studies of 30 days in 2014 in the Holy Land. My memory needs a sharpening up to remove rust.
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Wow! what a wonderful way to kick start your pilgrimage. We have so much for which to be thankful. Galilee had it’s AGM on Saturday and you were thanked Dave for all you accomplished while on the board and especially as interim director. In your prayers please remember one of my nieces – Marjorie (Boucher) Cameron, 52 – who is losing her battle with cancer. My prayers are with you …
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