Day #50: ROME, Day 3

My friend Colin praying in front of the Arch of Constantine

For our third day in Rome, we had a tour of Ancient Rome in the morning, some free time during which I went on the Scavi Tour, which takes you beneath St. Peter's Basilica to see the original tomb of St. Peter and the remains of an ancient cemetery over which St. Peter's was built according to the orders of Emperor Constantine, and to complete the day we had Mass at St. Paul's Outside the Wall's.

For our tour of Ancient Rome, we began with the Colosseum, the Arch of Constantine, and the Roman Forum, then made our way to St. Clement's, this ancient church which has been the site of three churches, each built on the top of the other. We could go under the church where excavations have been done to see the original structure of the first and second churches. Both of these churches were discovered by Dominican archaeologists, so there was a little side altar to the Dominicans. The actual church currently standing (above ground, anyway) was a Roman church. It was neat to see how it was built, with the altar and the choir stalls completely separate from the faithful, on a walled platform reached by a gate. There was a canopy over the altar. There were two ambos, one facing out and the other facing towards the priest. The first was for the epistle and the second was for the Gospel. The apse was decorated with a beautiful mosaic. One of the people depicted in the mosaic had a square behind his head instead of a halo - this indicated that he was still alive when the apse was made.

The chains of St. Peter

We then made our way to the Church of Peter In Chains, which houses the chains of St. Peter, just as the title indicates (amazing, huh? ;-) ). This church also contains the tomb built by Michelangelo and commissioned by Pope Julius II. This tomb includes the famous statue of Moses. Apparently when Michelangelo finished carving the statue, he brought his hammer down on Moses' knee and told him to speak, he was so pleased with his work.

The Moses of Michelangelo

Our next destination was St. Mary Major's Basilica, which I remembered from my last visit to Rome. The church was built there after a miraculous snow fall in the middle of August at the spot where our Blessed Lady desired that a church be built in her honor. She had announced this desire in a dream to the pope and to the donors of the basilica. St. Mary Major's is one of the four major basilicas in Rome: St. Peter's Basilica, St. Paul's Outside the Walls, St. Mary Major's and St. John Lateran. St. Mary Major's Basilica is a Roman church and contains somewhere within its walls (nobody knows where) the remains of St. Jerome, which is my grandfather's patron and my younger brother's middle name. Also located here are the remains of St. Matthew.  I didn't remember seeing the manger of the Infant Jesus there, which is housed in a crypt beneath the main altar, so I was glad to return and see that. Fr. Thomas, a Franciscan friar who teaches at Cambridge, came and gave a lecture on our Rome and Assisi pilgrimage. During the lecture he spoke of the contradictions of Rome and St. Francis, and among them he spoke of St. Mary Major's: how a couple pieces of worm-eaten wood are enshrined in a beautiful gold container: a paradox. He told us not to wonder whether or not this was the real wood upon which the divine infant was laid. It doesn't matter. It is the manger. He also spoke of the ceiling of the church, which is gilt with gold from the Indians of South America enslaved by the Spaniards. This gold was purchased at the price of blood, and yet it adorns a church. Another paradox. Rome itself is a paradox, full of noise, congested streets, dirty, smelly, yet it is the heart of the Catholic Church. Peace and unity amidst chaos.

Wood from the Manger of the Infant Jesus

A statue of Our Lady from St. Mary Major's

The tour finished with the Basilica of St. Prassede, which houses a piece of the column to which Christ was tied during the scourging. This was another site I was familiar with from my previous visit. It was good to see it again and to pray before the pillar. Part of the church which I had not seen before that I did appreciate this time around was a Dominican side chapel with an image of Our Lady of the Rosary, handing the rosary to St.s Dominic and Catherine.

The Dominican side chapel

At the conclusion of the tour, I went back to St. Peter's Square for another tour: the Scavi Tour. The Scavi Tour took us beneath St. Peter's Basilica. You see, St. Peter's was originally built outside of Rome over a Roman cemetery - during the ancient Roman Empire, the dead (rich and poor, noble and common) were all buried outside of the city. St. Peter's grave was among the dead. When Constantine came into power he wished to build a basilica above his tomb, and so he filled in the gaps between the mausoleums and the tombs to make it level, made a special place for St. Peter's tomb, and built St. Peter's over it. The tour took us down underneath to see some of the pagan tombs and the tomb of St. Peter's. There were also a private chapel underneath near St. Peter's grave. Apparently Fr. Corapi said his first Mass in this chapel.
Then it was onward to St. Paul's Outside the Walls for Mass, yet another site I had visited during my pilgrimage in 2003. This church, like St. Mary Major's, is built in the Roman style. It houses the tomb of St. Paul and St. Paul's chains. This church was subject to several disasters over the years, so what we say today although it maintains the original design is not the original material. For example, there was an explosion at one point which destroyed all of the windows, so the Egyptians donated alabaster to the church for the windows - a translucent material that allows light partially into the church. I had noticed something odd about the windows when I had first walked in, so it was fascinating to learn that tidbit of history about them. Another cool fact was that the two side altars were made of a precious green stone donated from Russia. These altars were lovely! This church has around the perimeter above the columns portraits of all of the popes that have ever been. It is said that when all of the portraits are filled, the world will end. ;-) Pope Benedict XVI's portrait is up there now - he wasn't there the last time I was here. :-)

The apse of St. Paul's Outside the Walls

St. Paul's at sunset

The apse was one of my favorite parts this time around - a beautiful mosaic. Another favorite part was the front of the church at sunset. I happened to be outside just at the opportune moment and Sister Joan Paul beckoned me to come see the facade bathed in the golden light. So beautiful! Beneath the giant statue of St. Paul were the words Praedicatori Veritas, Doctori Gentium: Preacher of the Truth, Teacher of the Gentiles. St. Paul and St. Peter were all over that church, which made Joey Walsh very happy as St. Peter is one of his patrons. We celebrated Mass at the basilica and had time to look around. There was a Mass being celebrated in a side chapel soon afterwards - there were little boys with beautiful surplices and cassocks, and the priest was saying the Mass ad orientum - facing the altar vs. the people. It looked very beautiful to my eyes. Later as we wandered through the church a group of Benedictine monks came and took their places at the choir stalls around the sanctuary to chant the Divine Office. Hannah was with me when they began; I was glad to have someone with whom to share my appreciation for their chant - a small musical gift from God for the day. It was neat to have prayed at the tombs and seen the chains of two of the greatest pillars of the foundation of the hierarchy of the Catholic Church, St. Peter and St. Paul, both in the same day. One certainly feels a new sense of respect and devotion towards these saints as you visit where their remains rest and reflect on their sacrifices for Christ and Mother Church.

Days #47-48: Siena, Italy

This past Monday night I returned from my ten-day break traveling around Italy. The school sponsored a trip to Rome and Assisi, and gave us a little bit of time before and after to do some traveling, so I went to Siena, Venice, and Padua as well. There is so much to say about all of these places, and so little time, so I will attempt to limit myself to just some of the highlights of the trip.

I went to Siena with my household sisters as our traditional household pilgrimage, as St. Catherine of Siena is one of our patron saints. Siena I must say is one of the most beautiful cities to which I have been over this entire semester. The winding cobblestone streets, the terra cotta brick buildings, the beautiful Tuscan countryside. The hostel we stayed at was next door to the house where she grew up and lived. The hostel was one of the nicest ones I have stayed in - albeit it was not cheap - but it was full of images of St. Catherine! It was as if we had fallen into her sweet embrace, she was leading us and guiding us through her earthly home. The hostel smelled like my paternal grandmother’s house - my grandmother died this past summer - this also gave it a very comforting feel. 

In her house we saw the cell where she had lived and prayed, a chapel which contained the crucifix that had given her the stigmata. The chapel was my favorite part. There was a little Italian Dominican sister doing a holy hour in the church when we arrived. As we were praying I caught her eye and she smiled at me. I cherished that smile. We also went to St. Dominic’s church where she would have gone to Mass and been exposed to the Dominican spirituality. There was a painting of her saying the Liturgy of the Hours with Christ walking next to her. There was also a side chapel where her head is venerated. The chapel was covered with beautiful frescos of her life, including one of Bl. Raymond of Capua, a Dominican and one of her confessors and close friends. We had a good day there as a household, had dinner together, exchanged stories, browsed the little shops, finished the night with Lord’s Day and leaving a voice mail for our sisters back in the U.S. The next day we spent the morning wandering the streets of Siena. We wanted to check out the cathedral but it didn’t open until later when we had to be heading to the bus to catch our train. That was a shame, as I had read that the cathedral has four organs and I would have appreciated seeing them here in Siena. But it wasn’t meant to be. We also returned to St. Dominic’s, where we met up with some other Franciscan students who had also gone to Bologna, the burial place of St. Dominic. I didn’t get to speak to them, but we prayed in front of the side chapel. I was glad for the chance to pray a rosary and pray Morning Prayer in the church, two distinctly Dominican prayers : St. Dominic promoted the praying of the Rosary, and St. Catherine was a devout prayer of the Divine Office. Later though, we met up in Rome and my friend Hannah, who was in the group who went to Bologna, came up to me. I had been praying my rosary next to her in St. Dominic’s. She said that she had felt like we had had an entire conversation even though we had not said a word to each other. We left later in the morning to make our way to Rome to join up with the rest of the school.

Day #35: Poland, Krakow

Today we went on a tour of Krakow, went to Mass at the Dominican Church, and went to the Divine Mercy Shrine. Last night we went exploring around Krakow and got some Polish hot chocolate! So good! The whipped cream isn't sweet here in Europe. It was similar to the hot chocolate to that in Vienna, like drinking a melted chocolate bar.

Yum!

Part of Wawel Castle

This morning I learned that my friend Elisabeth Hofer was meeting her spiritual director, a Dominican sister, and going to Mass at the Dominican church here in Krakow. Elisabeth also mentioned something about Polish Dominican church. I immediately knew I had to try to find a way to get to this church for Mass. So at breakfast I enlisted Craig Brummer, one of the prethes, and Mark Daniel from our choir to come with me. We decided to go to the noon Mass after the morning tour of Krakow. 

More of Wawel Castle

Krakow is one of the greatest cities in Poland. It was the setting for the novel by Eric P. Kelly, The Trumpeter of Krakow, which is centered around the true story of the trumpeter in the tower of the Church of Our Lady Mary. According to the story, during the middle ages, the trumpeter was slain by an arrow from an enemy bow in the middle of warning the city of the enemy's arrival on his trumpet. He was in the middle of playing a note of the melody when he was slain by an arrow in his throat, so to this day the trumpeter of Krakow only plays the melody up to that note when he trumpets the hour, in honor of his predecessor.

The door to Wawel Cathedral. See the bones hanging on the left wall? Those are dragon bones!!! ;-)

Wawel Cathedral from a distance

The dragon by the river and Wawel Castle

Krakow is also the bishop's seat in Poland, or the seat of one of the bishops anyway. John Paul II lived here for several years, first with his father, studying at the university, then as a priest, and as bishop. The bishop's cathedral is called Wawel Cathedral and is part of the Wawel Castle, the royal castle. Our tour began with the Wawel Castle. By the castle walls bordering the river we could see the statue of a large dragon who ever so often would breath large tongues of fire. We saw a little bit of the castle's exterior, then we went inside the cathedral. The cathedral was the coronation site and the burial ground for many of the Polish royalty and saints. The chief saint for which the cathedral is named is St. Stanislaus, the first saint of Poland. They had tombs around the cathedral similar to that of King Elessar in the flash forward in The Two Towers, with the deceased's full body laid out on top as if asleep and arrayed in all his splendor. My favorite tomb was that of Queen St. Jadwiga, who was also a saint. She was so beautiful in her sleep of death - I wish I had had a drawing pad on me to sketch her. Josh and I both appreciated her tomb very much. It was intriguing to see the cathedral, since parts of it were familiar from watching the John Paul II movie on the bus, such as the big black crucifix donated by St. Jadwiga located at the back of the church. John Paul II is seen praying in front of the crucifix at one point in the movie. 

The park around Old Krakow

The Church of Our Lady Mary in Krakow's main square

After the cathedral we saw a little more of the castle, the university where Karol went to school until the Nazis came, the bishop's palace which was converted into a museum for John Paul II. We saw the window where he used to address the people of Krakow. We also saw the Franciscan church here in Krakow - we would see the Dominican one on our own time. There was also a church to St. Peter and Paul - apparently Krakow has a lot of churches, so many in fact that it is called the second Rome. Not because Krakow is that big, but I think the normal building to church ratio is similar perhaps. We finished in the main square of Krakow where the tour guide told us about St. Mary's and the trumpeter of Krakow. At the end of the tour I got to meet Elisabeth's friend the Polish Dominican sister. It turns out she studied at Franciscan so our TOR sisters knew her. 

The piano in honor of Chopin! (I'm not sure if it was Chopin's actual piano...

I saw this along the walls outside of Old Krakow as we were walking through the park to the Dominican church!

Craig, Mark Daniel and I went to Mass at the Dominican church after shopping a little at the mall. On the way to the mall we went through the park that surrounds the old city of Krakow : the moat that surrounded Krakow was filled in and converted into a park. In the park was what appeared to be a smashed piano in a glass case, with Chopin's music coming from a couple of speakers nearby. There were advertisements for a Chopin concert around the square. The piece they were playing was the same one Cameron Carpenter the American organist plays on the organ with unbelievable skill on the pedal board. Demonstration: Chopin on the Organ

Polish Dominicans saying afternoon prayer!

This was my favorite part of the Dominican church: The Good Shepherd carved on one of the confessionals.

Mass at the Dominican Church was lovely! We did get to hear them chant, though I wouldn't call it full-scale. I got to hear them play the organ, which was lovely. I think the organist may have played a Bach chorale prelude, or some Baroque composer anyway. I'm so glad I've taken music history! After Mass we got to explore the church and watch the Dominican friars say afternoon prayer! That was so cool! They bowed at the Glory Be! There was a shrine to St. Dominic up a flight of stairs. Near the main entrance were two side chapels to St. Catherine of Siena, one of her holding the child Jesus, the other of her receiving the stigmata. I prayed my household prayer in front of the latter chapel.

When we finished in the church we did some souvenir shopping, then boarded the bus for the Divine Mercy Shrine. When we got to the shrine, it felt like being back on main campus to look at the architecture of the shrine itself. The church looked like a space station. I heard a rumor that it was built to look like a cruise ship. Why one would build a church with that in mind is beyond me. But regardless, the actual chapel for the sisters was very beautiful and much more traditional. We went into the chapel to pray the Divine Mercy Chaplet. The chaplet was prayed in Polish alternating with decades in English and French. After the chaplet I venerated the relics of St. Faustina, kept on a side altar in the church. There was perpetual adoration at the church so there were no photos allowed. We were given a talk on the life of St. Faustina and on devotion to the Divine Mercy by one of the sisters. After the talk we had a brief time to go make our purchases at the book store then we had Mass. 

The Divine Mercy Shrine

Inside the shrine

The Divine Mercy chapel for the convent. 

During the chaplet in the chapel, I kept getting musical ideas for a cantata or a song cycle for our Poland pilgrimage, centered around Psalms, Our Lady, and the Divine Mercy devotion. I hope to realize it one day!

Day #34: Poland

 Poland was definitely one of my favorite pilgrimages thus far. I knew it was going to be a difficult pilgrimage from the start. A week before our pilgrimage we were required to attend a talk by one of our professors, Professor Cassady, a native of Scotland, where he spoke about the importance of experiencing the Poland trip. I was in tears just listening to him speak about Poland. He said that if you squeeze the soil of Poland in your hand, the blood of the martyrs flows out between your fingers. He said, "Why Poland? Why should you go to Poland? Because you need to learn the lesson of Poland: the lesson of St. Maximilian Kolbe, St. Faustina, and John Paul II." He spoke about Auschwitz, and of the sign above the gate Work makes man free. "Rubbish! Garbage! Christ makes man free! Freedom is for love ... Execute it. You must decide how you are going to love. [You must face] the great battle to find out the truth about one's self."
I would not say I was excited to go to Poland, but I was drawn there nevertheless. I wanted to go. We left for Poland at 8 pm. We would drive through the night and arrive in Czestochowa around 6 in the morning. There were 3 buses traveling to Poland : I was on bus 3 along with my household sisters and the prethes. They were a good group with whom to travel. Our bus also had Fr. Brad, one of the Franciscan Friars, as one of the passengers, thus labeling it the Glory bus. What is the Glory bus? The bus with the guitar and the Gospel music, LOL. We sang for part of the trip, but we also watched a movie about John Paul II by Universal Pictures, Karol: A Man Who Became Pope, one of my favorite religious movies. It has so many great lines in it, and it definitely put us in the mood for the pilgrimage.

Our Lady of Czestochowa Church, Jasna Gora

Little sleep occurred on the bus, and by the time we had reached Czestochowa,  I was starting to come down with a sore throat. As soon as we arrived, we had to run to make it to the unveiling of the image of Our Lady of Czestochowa at 6 AM. Nothing like running through a snowy Polish morning with a sore throat to wake you up in the morning! The church is called Jasna Gora, which means Holy Hill. The church is surrounded by walls, so you have to go through several archways and gates to get to the actual church - it's like a castle protecting Our Lady within. Each archway was adorned with an image of the Madonna and child. As we walked through the darkness, we could hear a rooster crowing, probably owned by the monks who live there.
We passed through the huge dark doors of the church from the darkness of the wintry night into what seemed like a room of gold. The walls of the chapel nave were burgundy, but they were covered with little religious articles of gold, silver, and other precious stones and metals: mostly rosaries and medallions. The actual chapel of Our Lady of Czestochowa is a small chapel within the church itself, separated by an iron grate through which we could pass but it seated only a few people. The icon was covered by a gold curtain engraved with an image of the Garden of Eden, representing the old Eve, and Mary as the new Eve. We gathered outside the chapel, some of us in folding chairs and some of us kneeling outside the black grating. We waited in prayer for a few moments, then a trumpet blast sounded, accompanied by a drum roll as the curtain was slowly lifted. We knelt there for a few moments, but Mass started right after the unveiling, so we hurried out to get some breakfast at a nearby hostel. It was so wonderful to get some hot food and coffee and wash up - it honestly felt like the March for Life - driving all through the night like that, accompanied with the cold and snow outside.
After breakfast we were divided up to go on brief tours - which basically meant we learned about the history of the image as we walked back to the church again. The icon was painted by St. Luke using the wood of a table Christ had made. The icon was discovered by St. Helen, and enshrined in Constantinople for 500 years. It eventually came to Poland in 1382 when the Polish army was fleeing the Tartars, who had struck it with an arrow. The image was attacked again in 1430 by the Hussites (pre-Reformation reformers) who slashed the Virgin's face with a sword and left it desecrated in a puddle of mud and blood. When the monks pulled the icon from the mud, a miraculous fountain appeared , which was used to clean the painting. The icon was repainted, but the arrow mark and the gashes from the sword would not be painted over. Many other miracles have occurred through Our Lady. There are numerous crutches on one of the walls left by those who have been healed because of her intercession. She is known as the Queen of Poland.
As we made our way back to the church, we got a better look of the city of Czestochowa. There was a park located outside the walls of the monastery, blanketed in snow. Coming closer, we saw a huge statue outside the walls of a kneeling Polish cardinal (I don't remember his name at the moment, but he was the other Cardinal who was put in prison by the Communists. He was cardinal before and during the cardinal-ship of John Paul II. There were also several statues located around the walls of the monastery depicting what I think were the mysteries of the Rosary. These were relatively new but I liked them.

The Glorious Mystery of the Resurrection

The Cardinal

One of the archways leading to the monastery

The chapel to the Sacred Heart of Jesus

A painting of a Polish saint who was also a queen, I think she is buried in the Krakow Cathedral.

Our Lady of Czestochowa, The Black Madonna

Th chapel next to the chapel of the Black Madonna

The actual chapel to the Black Madonna

Inside the church, they were doing some repair work so it was hard to make out the layout of the place. It seemed like a maze to me, with little side altars and chapels located here and there. There seemed to be two main chapels, one to our Lady of Czestochowa, and another one, which was where a lot of the construction was going on. I found up a flight of stairs a small chapel to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, with a stained glass window of St. Faustina. The next thing I found was the other main chapel, where a Mass was being said.
But I could hear the sultry tones of the Credo III wafting through the walls from the Black Madonna's chapel next door. My heart was tugging me in the direction of the music, so I followed. It turned out that there was another Mass being said in the little chapel to Our Lady, a Novus Ordo Mass in Latin with chant and polyphony. There was a walk around the sides of the chapel that went behind the wall enshrining the image which pilgrims could do on their knees. This walk took the pilgrim right next to the Black Madonn'as little chapel, separating them only by a marble rail. I went on my knees through part of the walk and paused when I had reached the tiny chapel. I stayed there until Communion (fortunately there was no one behind me, though they could have slipped past me), as our school Mass was to follow and I wanted to be able to be near the image. I was enchanted by the beauty of this Mass, the chapel, the music. I softly joined my voice with that of the singers when I knew the chant. You couldn't see the singers - they were either behind a screen or in the choir loft - making it seem as if it were wafting down from heaven itself. The organ was accompanying some of the music as well. The Mass was for a religious group or pilgrimage it seemed, as most of the people in the chapel were nuns or sisters. I leaned my head on the railing and looked at the image of Our Lady. Her garments were adorned with a mosaic of precious stones and metals, as were the Christ Child's - recalling to mind a play the university had put on last spring titled The Kitchen Madonna, which I still rank as one of the best plays I have seen. Both Madonna and Child wore golden crowns. Christ's right hand was raised in blessing. Mary's face radiated serenity, and kindness shone in her gentle gaze. I have never felt so close to heaven in my life, surrounded by such beauty, gazing at Beauty Himself and the most beautiful of His creation, His Mother. I thought to myself, "Every Mass should feel like this - feel as if heaven has come to earth and caught us up into the communion of love between Father, Son, and Spirit." I finished the walk, and waited for our Mass with the rest of the Franciscan students as the previous Mass ended. The last motet they sang was a Renaissance polyphonic setting of Ave Regina Caelorum.
For our Mass I was able to get up very close to the image, which I was glad of - one of the students, Justin, was kind enough to offer me his seat as he would be returning to Poland for ten-day. I prayed for the strength to meet the silent terrors of the day that awaited us in Auschwitz, for God to teach me what He desired me to learn through the lesson of Poland.
After Mass we were allowed to look around for a little while. The monastery had a couple museums, which we went through. The museums contained exquisite chalices and monstrances from the previous popes and saints, as well as articles owned by the monastery over the years. We then boarded the bus for Auschwitz.

A rose on the train tracks of Auschwitz

Auschwitz was, as my friend Joey said, the best part of the trip, as it was the most spiritually growing. There was a chill there that pierced through my layers of clothing to one's very bones. Ravens were perched in the trees outside the entrance. There was an intense stillness there, unlike anything I have ever experienced. We were separated into groups for tours of the place. We walked beneath the famous entrance, beneath the famous words, "Work makes you free." Near the entrance was a spot where a band of prisoners who were musicians were forced to play music as the soldiers checked and counted the prisoners to see if any had escaped. The musical band of prisoners reminded me of Olivier Messiaen, who wrote a quartet during his time in a concentration camp in France and performed it with a group of musicians in the camp. I think it's called The End of Time.We saw photos of so many of the prisoners on the walls, each of them with their own stories, families, their lives lost, brutally cut short. We saw their "beds," washrooms, cells, and one of the gas chambers. We saw the cells where prisoners were kept or executed. The entire place seemed flat, lifeless, dead.  The air was damp, cold, still and the weather overcast. There was no wind, no movement save for the tourists. It was as if a shroud had covered the place, a shroud of death. We saw the thousands of shoes, suitcases, pots and pans the Jews had brought with them when they had first come off the trains. They had thought they were coming to live and work there, but many of them were executed. When the Russians were coming, the Germans tried to burn the evidence of their crimes, mostly the clothes, suitcases, and shoes but they didn't have time. There was a pile of eyeglasses - a rat's nest of glass and wire. There were so many atrocities within that death camp, to look at it was sickening. How could people do this to one another? This work of satan? THey couldn't see these people as humans but saw them as animals, but in reality the Nazis were the animals and they the humans. I could see a person either losing all belief in God or being convicted of God's existence and strengthening their faith all the more, nothing in between. It shows the strength of the human will, of faith. It was so hard to imagine the horrors there, the millions of ghosts, the shots ringing from the machine guns at the execution wall. And even when the land had been desecrated with the blood of the innocents, God sanctified it with the sacrifice of his beloved saint, Maximilian Kolbe. The man signed with the cross of Christ went gaily in the dark, singing hymns with his fellow prisoners as they were starving to death in Cell 21. It was a great testimony to the power of God, how He could take the worst of men and bring out the best. To conclude the tour we went to Birkenau, known as Auschwitz II, an extension of the camp where most of the mass extermination occurred. There was a monument to the victims at the end of the railroad tracks where the trains came with the Jews and the other victims. There was a rose on the tracks at the gate house, a dark red rose. We prayed the Chaplet of Divine MErcy at the memorial, then drove to KRakow to check in to our hostel. Hopefully one day the abortion mills will be just like this place, a memory to a horror that is no more.