TO OUR QUEEN AND BELOVED MOTHER – TO TRAKELI

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Every year in July Sanctuary of Mother of God Queen of our families in Trakeli gathers hundreds of believers from different parts of Belarus as well as from  abroad. Pilgrims come here to worship the Virgin Mary and give their families under her patronage. This year didn’t become an exception. And even more people came. It is not a surprise. This year Catholic Church in Trakeli celebrates an anniversary. Three dates are marked: the 25th anniversary of declaration  Sanctuary of Diocese in Trakeli Paraphy, the 10th anniversary of coronation of the miraculous image of Trakeli Mother of God , and also the 210th anniversary of the building of the local Catholic Church. A sincere request “Mary, protect our families!” became the slogan of this holiday.

The square around the church became the place for common prayer for two days, the 12th and the 13th of July. Queen of our families, beloved Mother was praised with a song and a word for her great gift of marriage, children and that great love which she gave to every person.

The first pilgrims were welcomed with an open heart and a smile at 14. Mary’s songs were heard everywhere. New and new believers were coming. Soon the square around the church became full of people. Then all together the people prayed for the opportunity to come to the Virgin Mary, that they had this blessed time , which helped to learn themselves, their strength on the way to God, a miracle of the meeting the Virgin Mary. It is a saint source where you can take blessings of God.

The most beautiful part of the holiday was, probably, a procession with candles. At half past eleven the believers moved along the streets of the village in full silence as to make requests to the Virgin Mary. The procession was finished with a saint worship service headed by Tadevush Kandrusevich, archbishop and Minsk-Magilyoy Metropolitan. He said it was wonderful that Sanctuary of Mother of God Queen marked a number of anniversaries in the Year of the family declared by Catholic Church.  He encouraged believers to be careful about the sacrament of marriage. “Let Belarusian families be a real hope of our country!”, — said Tadevush Kandrusevich.

    Everybody knows the phrase: “One who sings prays twice’. That is why the pilgrims not only listened to the concert of the musical group AVE of Higher Theological Seminary in Grodno, but also devoted their songs to God the Father, God the Son and the Holy Spirit and Mother of God. The songs were young, bright and sincere.

    Prayers near the walls of the Catholic Church were heard all night. Sleep couldn’t overwhelm the believers, who overcame a great distance to bring their secrets to the Virgin Mary, to worship the image of Queen of our families and ask her necessary blessings for our relatives, all the families of our country, to praise the name of That One, Who dedicated all her life to serving the Lord.

    The morning of the 13th July began with hours about Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary. After some time many families who celebrated anniversaries renewed their marriage promises before the miraculous image that they would go through life hand in hand together in love and loyalty to each other.

    The culmination of the holiday became a honorable worship service headed by Apostolic nuncio in Belarus archbishop Gabar Pinter. Tadevush Kandrusevich , archbishop, Minsk-Magilyoy Metropolitan, Apostolic visitor for Greek-Catholics in Belarus archimandrite Sergey Gaek, bishops of Belarus, priests including those who had worked in Trakeli Sanctuary before took part in the service. Representatives of local authorities headed by Mikalay Rosum, chairman of the district executive committee, general consul of the Republic of Poland in Grodno Yaraslay Ksyonzhek prayed together with the believers.

  Even the weather was fine during the common prayer. The sun warmed the visitors generously. Filled with faith to God, love to the nearest they thanked the Virgin Mary for the miracle in Trakeli, which had been uniting the believers into one catholic family for many years.

The prayer sounds in Trakeli for centuries, — noted Mikalay Rozum. It is generous and spiritual. Because it is devoted to our Fatherland, Voranava land and wealth of our people.

At the end of the service rector of Traceli Sanctuary Yuri Byaganski addressed to the pilgrims:

Carry to your homes, villages and towns, to your dearest and nearest hope for holiness. Let them learn it, let their hearts fill with the hope that God and Mother of God will help them and their dreams will come true, anxiety will leave them. Those who are single will create families and the married will become parents. Go home with God in your souls. And don’t lose the hope for holiness in everyday life.

Maryna Kandratovich

Translated by Zinaida Tsyarpitskaya