Mother Mary Visits Lichen, Poland

Join John Carpenter, Don Hartley, and the Deeper Truth research team as we examine the visits to Lichen, Poland.

Licheń is the second most frequently visited Marian shrine in Poland, after Czestochowa. The shrine, run by the Marian Fathers and opened in 2004, is the largest in Poland, seventh largest in Europe and 11th in the world. Approximately 1.5 million pilgrims visit the Licheń Shrine annually.

On July 2, the Feast of Our Lady of Licheń, the Sorrowful Queen of Poland, we recall the address of Pope St. John Paul II, when he visited the previous Licheń shrine on June 7, 1999:

“Blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfilment of what was spoken to her from the Lord” (Lk 1:45).

As a pilgrim I come today to the Shrine of Lichen and I greet Mary with the words of Elizabeth: “Blessed is she who believed”. From the text of the evangelist Luke we learn that the house of Elizabeth was filled with joy. Thanks to the light shining from on high, Elizabeth understands the greatness of Mary who is “full of grace” and who is therefore “blessed among women” (cf. Lk 1:42), since she carries in her womb Jesus, the Saviour of the world.

The scene of the Visitation is particularly near to our hearts here in this place so loved by Mary. Every shrine, in fact, is in some way the house of Elizabeth visited by the Mother of God’s Son, who comes so that she may be close to her beloved people. Brothers and Sisters, I give thanks to Divine Providence that this Shrine figures as part of my pilgrim journey in our homeland. . . .