Beth and the Great World: Over the river and through the woods . . . to Poland

I haven't written - or rather, I haven't posted, which is rather a different thing - for a while and I am rather ashamed. Suffice it to say that when it rains it pours . . . I don't think any more details are needed than that. One of my goals in this blog is to only talk about the good and the universal concrete of things. Basically, this means that I only want to put up things that folks might find interesting or enriching and that are personal insofar as everything that has a living, breathing, loving human source must be personal. This is in no way meant to be a place to pour out my feelings or angst, discuss the somewhat confused details of my personal life, or seek solace in the readership of the unnamed and largely imaginary crowd. St. Paul's words in Phillipians 4:8 sum it up nicely:

Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable--if anything is excellent or praiseworthy--think about such things.

Right, so on to the grand thinking!

This past weekend I went to Poland. Why? That is the only consistent response I've gotten from the folks I work or interact with when I mention my trip. Why Poland out of all the available spots in Europe? Now if you, like my former self, tend to think "cold," "gray," "Auschwitz," and "iron curtain" when you think of Poland, then yes, I can see the reasoning behind the instantaneous why. Good news, though! Poland - or at least the city of Krakow - is so very much more than all of the above associations and was one of the best European sidetrips I've taken.

A couple of the things that struck me were the following. Poland is ardently and steadfastly Catholic. In fact, it was Catholic in a way I've never seen in Europe before. There was Adoration in lots of the little churches around Krakow and the people attending were of all ages brackets: children, elderly, students, young mothers, working men. There was real devotion as well. I didn't see sloppy genuflections or people popping in to take a picture and then leaving. One of the most touching occurrences was when a school group touring a church was trying to sneak out the back during Mass. The Consecration began and instead of continuing to file out, they all dropped in one floppy, back-pack laden movement to their knees and froze. When the Consecration was over, they scuttled out as quietly as a herd of 30 second-graders with all their lunch boxes and school gear can. No one told them to do this; the teacher had already left the church. It was just plain adorable.

Also, the churches were just lovely. After all the baroque and paleo-Christian art and architecture of Italy, Poland's colorful, candle-filled, and gold flecked interiors were a huge relief. And while they are meant to impress you with their grandeur, they are made for prayer. In fact, woe to the tourist that tries to come in and snap some photos indiscreetly! A couple of favorite churches: St. Mary's (of course) which I will talk about further in another post, the Dominican church, the Franciscan church, the Wawel cathedral, St. Florian's, and St. Barbara's. And were these churches empty? No. Were confession lines wrapping around the church on a regular Thursday, Friday, and Saturday? Were they lovingly protected from thoughtless photo-happy tourists? Were they beautiful places of prayer? Yes, yes, yes.

God bless Poland. Alright, well, I've tarried long enough and must go staunch the tide, but I have lots of lovely Poland photos below. I will do my best to write a bit more later in the week.