Dzień dobry!

Had a great Sunday at the 46th annual Slavic Heritage Festival at Our Lady of Czestochowa! The fest celebrated 4 Eastern European cultures/ nationalities: Polish, Czech, Ukranian and Croatian. Things like that..little festivals.. make me remember the things I enjoyed about the CZ and remind me that I'd still like to do more exploring. One day.

Went to Catholic mass before the festival- Was said in all 4 of the representative languages.

This is a replica of the religious icon whose permanent home is in Częstochowa, Poland and has a really interesting & ancient history (that I just learned about 10 minutes ago).

"According to tradition, the icon of Jasna Góra was painted by Luke the Evangelist on a tabletop built by Jesus himself, and the icon was discovered by St. Helen, mother of Emperor Constantine and collector of Christian relics in the Holy Land. The icon was then enshrined in the imperial city of Constantinople, according to the legend, where it remained for the next 500 years. "

"The focus of pilgrims to Jasna Góra is not the monastery, but the icon of Our Lady of Częstochowa, which is displayed in a altar in the Chapel of the Black Madonna. The icon shows a serious Mary holding the infant Jesus on her left arm and gesturing towards him with her right hand. The Virgin's gaze is intense —pilgrims are moved by the way she seems to look right at them" Read more at this site.

Lunch! Croatian cevapcici, which is served as a sandwich with little sausages stuffed into warm, crispy pita pocket with lightly grilled onions and a roasted-pepper sauce. Apparently it's traditional "street" food... it was messy but amazing. Mom got the Kabob and I had a Czech Pilser Urquell (it had been two years since my last!)

Kids from the Polish school.

This little girl also sang at the Polish mass before the festival- this big voice out of such a tiny person. She was so good.