Several thousand pilgrims made it on foot to the Jasna Góra monastery — one of the most important centres of Catholic worship in Poland.

On Saturday, on the eve of the Assumption of Mary which falls on Sunday, August 15, Jasna Góra welcomes thousands of pilgrims who crossed the land on foot in order to participate in one of the most important Catholic celebrations observed in Poland. The most numerous group was the 310th Warsaw Foot Pilgrimage, also dubbed the mother of Polish pilgrimages. It consisted of 3,500 pilgrims who crossed the distance from the capital of Poland in nine days. The first remark about a pilgrimage that departed from Warsaw heading to Jasna Góra dates back to 1711. The goal of the pilgrims was to thank Our Lady of Częstochowa for the cessation of the epidemic typhus that plagued Warsaw in 1707.

The nine-day-long pilgrimage also served the purpose of spiritual preparation ahead of the beatification of the primate of Poland Cardinal Stefan Wyszyński — an event scheduled for September.

Worshipers from all over Poland descended on Jasna Góra. On Sunday they will participate in an indulgence feast celebrated by Archbishop Wacłąw Depo. The day-long celebrations will be wrapped up with the “Appeal of Jasna Góra”, which is a prayer addressed to Our Lady of Częstochowa. Field Bishop of the Polish Army Józef Guzdek, who is to be appointed Białostockie metropolitan on September 3, will hold a sermon during the evening.

The August 15 Feast of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary is also known as the Feast of Our Lady of the Herbs. Herbs, flowers, grasses and grains are traditionally blessed as a symbol of new crops.