Nurzec-Stacja, Podlaskie Voivodeship, Poland, August 23, 2024
Photo: orthodox.pl
The Polish Orthodox Church is celebrating the 100th anniversary of its autocephaly throughout 2024. The main celebrations will be held in November.
During the annual pilgrimage to Grabarka, Poland’s holy mountain, for the feast of the Transfiguration, the Church marked the anniversary with the erection of 100 crosses. The names of all the Orthodox parishes in Poland are written on the crosses, reports the Polish Orthodox Church.
The Transfiguration pilgrimage to Grabarka dates to 1710, when a cholera epidemic raged in eastern Poland. Since then, thousands of believers have brought homemade crosses in procession to the mountain, erecting them as prayers for the living.
Photo: orthodox.pl
The holy mount of Grabarka, near the border with Belarus, is considered to be the holiest site in Poland for Orthodox Christians. It is home to the Church of the Transfiguration of the Lord and the Convent of Sts. Martha and Mary.
This year’s glorious celebrations for the feast of the Transfiguration were enhanced with prayers of thanksgiving and supplication in connection with the 100th anniversary of Polish Church autocephaly. The Polish primate, His Beatitude Metropolitan Sawa and other hierarchs and clergy led a moleben of thanksgiving that was attended by faithful from across Poland and abroad.
In his address to the participants of the celebration, Met. Sawa called on everyone to remain in unity and peace. In its message to the faithful children of the Church, the Council of Bishops expressed gratitude for their steadfastness in the faith and traditions of their ancestors.
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