On May 15, 2025, 43 Sisters from 17 different religious congregations in the Warsaw archdiocese participated in a pilgrimage to Gietrzwald. Our pilgrimage was accompanied by Fr. Wieslaw Kulisz SJ, who is the referent of male religious congregations in the archdiocese.
In 1877, in a small village in Warmia, two young visionaries—13-year-old Justyna Szafryńska and 12-year-old Barbara Samulowska—experienced the grace of seeing the Mother of God. It is significant that the girls heard Mary, who spoke to them in Polish. During that time, Poland was under partition, and the use of the native language was prohibited.
Mary appeared a total of 160 times on a maple tree located near the church. During these appearances, she delivered messages and answered questions. She emphasized the importance of fervent prayer, particularly the rosary, and called for acts of penance. Additionally, she spoke of the Mass as the most important prayer of the Church, identifying herself as being Immaculate Conception.
One of the visionaries, Barbara Samulowska, entered the Company of the Daughters of Charity of St. Vincent de Paulo. After her formation at the postulancy in Chelmno in 1884, she was sent to the Mother House in Paris, at 140 Rue du Bac, where she held her novitiate – seminary. Then, after taking her holy vows in 1895, she went on a missionary journey to Guatemala, where she remained until the end of her earthly life, i.e. December 6, 1950.
On February 2, 2005, her beatification process began, and Sr. Barbara Samulowska is entitled Servant of God.
Sr Elżbieta Kowalewska
