Poland in Palestine

As every year for the last 175 years, Poles gathered on May the 3^rd on the feast of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Queen of Poland and the anniversary of the Constitution on May 3, at a solemn mass for the Beloved Motherland in the Basilica of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem. This time, in addition to the intentions of our Homeland, the faithful also prayed for our brave neighbour - a fighting Ukraine struggling with a brutal Russian aggression. Polish Franciscan Fathers, Dominicans, Sisters of the Congregation of St. Elizabeth, priests as well as Polish diplomats from Palestine and Israel, Poles living in Jerusalem and pilgrims were present there.

The tradition of solemn masses for the Motherland on May the 3^rd was initiated by Prince Roman Sanguszko, who in 1847 came on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land after serving his sentence - deportation to Siberia for participating in the November Uprising 1830. Prince Sanguszko, thanking for saving him, funded a chalice for the Basilica with the inscription "Votum exulum Polonoroum A.D. 1847 (Gift of Polish exiles of the Lord's Year 1847). Until now, this chalice is kept in the treasury of the Custody of the Holy Land. The prince also established a foundation under which the Franciscans celebrate the "Pro Polonia" mass in the Basilica of the Holy Sepulcher. For 175 years, the Jerusalem Basilica gathered on May the 3^rd Poles - exiles, pilgrims, soldiers and travellers. We are proud to continue this wonderful tradition.