Day 6 – Plock

We wake up an hour early having failed to adjust our watches for the time change. This gives us an opportunity to walk around a very modern looking medical university and do a few laps on an adjacent sports track.

On our way out of Bialystok, we stop at ‎St. Rocha church. Only 50 km from the Belarus border, Mary Queen of Poland faces the Soviet frontier, protecting the Poles.

‎At the Convent of the Sisters of Holy Mercy in Plock, we learn that St. Faustina worked in the kitchen here helping to bake bread. It was here in 1931 that this mystic had the first vision of the Divine Mercy image. The room she had this apparition in was in a building that the Communists destroyed during their 35 year tenure.

The Sisters are in the midst of restoring the facility originally built in 1896 including adding a new Chapel of the Divine Mercy.‎ They lack the money to set a fixed schedule but are confident the resources needed will come. They also want to minister to troubled youth who stay out all night drinking here.

After dinner, Mother Superior takes us on a walk around the town. There is a central square with outdoor cafes. The city hall faces and there are stalls for market day. They hold concerts and dances here. We continue and suddenly we find ourselves on a high bank overlooking the broad Vistula. It is almost sunset and groups of people gather to salute the sun. We pause for photos in an unbelievably beautiful place.

Tomorrow it’s off to Jasna Gora, home of the Black Madonna.