The Black Madonna pilgrimage left Budapest for Czestochowa in Poland on Monday morning. The three buses are joined by two more from Transylvania, so more than two hundred believers travel to the Pauline shrine.

"The pandemic and the war made people insecure. We go by bus instead of train, but this kind of pilgrimage is needed now more than ever. In addition to the spiritual goals, we must also do something for the revival of the centuries-old Polish-Hungarian friendship," said László Budai, managing director of the Misszió Tours Travel Agency, to MTI at the launch.

The spiritual leaders of the pilgrimage are retired auxiliary bishop József Tamás, the Pauline monk Bátor Botond, and the deacon Antal Michels from Józsefváros, parish priest. The latter blessed the faithful and the buses transporting them in the Keleti railway station parking lot.

Hungarians from the highlands also travel on the three buses; two additional buses depart from Transylvania, and on the way, they hold joint prayers and singing. On Tuesday, in the Hungarian chapel of the Basilica of Divine Mercy in Krakow, Bishop József Tamás and Archbishop Marek Jedraszewski of Krakow will present a joint mass, after which they will place a wreath on the statue of József Mindszenty.

On Wednesday, the pilgrims will spend the whole day in Czestochowa, where they will visit the Pauline monastery in Jasna Góra. The Saint II. In the chapel named after Pope János Pál, they participate in Holy Mass and in the afternoon the Stations of the Cross. They will be joined by Miklós Soltész, State Secretary for Church and Ethnic Relations, and Tibor Gerencsér, Hungarian Consul General in Krakow. The faithful lay wreaths at the memorial to the victims of Katyn and Smolensk, as well as at the Blessed Özséb fountain.

"Czestochowa is an old Hungarian-founded shrine, so we are almost going home. We bring a lot of prayer intentions with us, primarily for peace, since there is a war in neighboring Ukraine, and on the other hand, there is a need to discuss the differences that overshadow Polish-Hungarian friendship."

said Antal Michels, parish priest, at the start.

MTI

Photo: Black Madonna started a pilgrimage to Czestochowa. Photo: MTI/Zoltán Balogh