Last Saturday, March 19, after a two-year break caused by restrictions related to the coronavirus pandemic, a Silent Procession was finally held through the streets of old Amsterdam. That is why, in Krakow, we went differently this time – we knew that our little Krakow procession was taking place in full communication with the official Amsterdam one.
This connection was even closer thanks to the fact that we had previously agreed with Bishop Jan Hendriks, the Haarlem-Amsterdam bishop, that we would pray for peace in Ukraine in a special way. Bishop Jan, also experiencing the tragedy of the Ukrainian nation, sent us a beautiful and touching letter to the participants of the Krakow procession. It was read at the end of the Holy Mass after which we set out.
The date of the procession, which always takes place on the Saturday after March 15 (the day of the Amsterdam Miracle), fell this year on the feast of St. Joseph, March 19. That is why the Dominican Basilica of the Holy Trinity was bursting at the seams at the conventual Mass at 12.00. Also, when after the Mass we gathered in front of the basilica to go on the procession route, it turned out that there were at least twice as many participants as a year ago.
While praying the rosary in silence, we walked around the Planty complex of the Franciscan Fathers and through the alleys of Poselska and Senacka streets we reached Kanonicza. We passed the church of St. Idzi, Wawel and Bernardynów, and from Stradom we turned into Święta Agnieszka to cross Dietla, then on Augustiańska, Skałeczna and Krakowska streets, reach Wolnica Square, and from there go to the Corpus Christi Basilica. It sounds complicated, but in Amsterdam, the route of the Silent Procession also wanders around narrow side streets, turning into strange alleys, and after circling the center of the Old Town in a wide arc, you finally reach the same place, near the Begijnhof.
In the Corpus Christi Basilica, we stopped for half an hour for adoration of the Blessed Sacrament. We prayed in silence broken by songs from the Dutch tradition (including the Occo Codex from the demolished chapel of the Miraculous Host Heilige Stede), Polish, Latin and Byzantine-Ukrainian. Our collaborator Andrij Szkrabjuk, a cantor and protopsalta of Byzantine-Armenian-Roman from Lviv, composed Byzantine music, based on manuscripts from the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra, to the favorite Latin prayer of St. Ignatius of Loyola “Christ’s Soul” and the early Christian Eucharistic Prayer from Didache (“Teachings of the Twelve Apostles”, 2nd century AD). Father Wojciech Sznyk, the conductor of the choir that sang these pieces, specially selected the repertoire to express our connection with the Dutch Church and the Ukrainian nation.
We came back, praying the rosary again, following a simpler route: along Bożego Ciała, Józefa, Krakowska, Stradom and Grodzka streets, and finally, at the Holy Trinity Basilica, Father Wojciech gave all participants a priestly blessing.
We already invite you to next year’s Silent Procession, which we hope to organize on March 18, 2023.
Photos above: Maria Fortuna-Sudor, “Niedziela Małopolska”
