Jabłeczna, Lublin Voivodeship, Poland, June 30, 2025
St. Onuphrius the Great Monastery in Jabłeczna. Photo: lubelskietravel.pl
Hierarchs, clergy, and faithful from across Poland gathered at St. Onuphrius the Great Monastery in Jabłeczna in eastern Poland last week to celebrate the monastery’s patronal feast.
Many of the participants undertook a true ascetic pilgrimage, walking 110 miles on foot to the monastery over the course of more than a week. Setting out on June 15, pilgrims from Białystok arrived at the monastery on June 23, spending nine days in “intensive prayer, silence, and drawing closer to God,” reports the Polish Orthodox Church.
Photo: orthodox.pl
Each day began with communal prayer and featured spiritual reflections from the accompanying clergy.
On June 24, the eve of the feast, a 4-mile walking pilgrimage from nearby Sławatycze also arrived at the monastery, and others came by bus from all over the country.
Unfortunately, due to poor health, His Beatitude Metropolitan Sawa of Warsaw and All Poland was unable to attend the feast. However, all the other Polish hierarchs were in attendance, with His Eminence Archbishop Abel of Lublin and Chełm presiding over the services, beginning with the All-Night Vigil.
Photo: orthodox.pl
At 11:00 PM, the Akathist to St. Onuphrius was read, presided over by His Eminence Archbishop Grzegorz of Bielsk. Fervent prayers were offered for the health of Met. Sawa.
The festive Divine Liturgy was celebrated by His Grace Bishop Warsonofiusz of Siemiatycze at 1:00 AM in the Dormition of the Theotokos Chapel. A second Liturgy was celebrated at 4:00 AM by His Grace Bishop Paweł of Hajnówka in the Chapel of the Holy Spirit in the “holy field,” where the miraculous icon of St. Onuphrius was found.
A third Liturgy was celebrated at 10:00 AM in the main monastery church, presided over by His Eminence Abp. Abel, assisted by Their Eminences Archbishop Jakub of Białystok and Gdańsk, Archbishop Jerzy of Wrocław and Szczecin, Archbishop Paisjusz of Przemyśl and Gorlice, Archbishop Grzegorz of Bielsk, and Their Graces Bishop Atanazy of Łódź and Poznań and Bishop Andrzej of Supraśl.
Photo: orthodox.pl
The celebrations concluded with a procession around the church.
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Over 500 years of history and uninterrupted monastic tradition, along with unwavering faithfulness to holy Orthodoxy, distinguishes the monastery in Jabłeczna among other monastic centers in Poland.
The Jabłeczna monastery is a testament to the indigenous Orthodox tradition in the republic, a reflection of its rich and complex history. A true treasure and monument to the history of the Orthodox Church in Poland.
On the feast day, numerous pilgrims arrive at the monastery, seeking, as in centuries past, the help of St. Onuphrius, who was and remains one of the most revered saints among Orthodox faithful.
The miraculous icon of St. Onuphrius, who went to the desert to seek God in solitude has for hundreds of years listened to requests and words of gratitude from people who turn to him. Everyone who comes to the monastery feels they are in a special place. This is a world surrounded by prayer, permeated with God’s grace, unique nature, centuries-old oaks, a wild river and meadows, which together with churches and icons create a sacred whole of this hermitage monastery.
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