Mary Visits Gietrzwald, Poland in 1877

Join John Carpenter, Don Hartley, and the Deeper Truth research team as they review another Marian apparition.

Cardinal Karol Wojtyła presided over the formal approval of the apparition in 1977, shortly before he became Pope John Paul II.

Considered the Ermland Lourdes (Diocese of Warmia) already in the past century, Gietrzwald goes back to the Middle Ages (founded in 5/19/1352). The patronal feast since 1500 is of Mary's birth (September 8). The miraculous image revered in Gietrzwald, mentioned first in 1505, shows Mother and Child, surrounded by angels holding a transparent with the following inscription: Ave regina coelorum, ave domina angelorum, hailing thus the queen of angels. The image was crowned in 1717.

The oldest witness to Marian devotion in Gietrzwald is a pieta dated 1425. Our Lady appeared there in the period of June 27 to September 16, 1877 to two children, Justina Schaffrinski and Barbara Samulowski. Mary's message stressed the importance of the rosary.

On September 8, Mary blessed a spring and said, “Now, the sick people can take this water for their healing.” A few days later she appeared again, blessing her own image in the small chapel and blessing those who asked for it. At the end of this apparition she said, “Pray the rosary zealously!”