On Saturday, March 8, the streets of old Cracow and its district Kazimierz will host the fifth edition of the “Silent Procession in Cracow”, the Polish (and only foreign) edition of the famous Stille Omgang in Amsterdam. This year, the event will be preceded by an illustrated lecture about the Procession, its history, and the most valuable religious buildings in the Netherlands.
Amsterdam’s Stille Omgang commemorates the Eucharistic Miracle that occurred there in March 1345, and at the same time is a testament to the vitality of Dutch Catholicism, which survived several centuries of persecution and the turbulent second half of the 20th century. The Procession always takes place on the Saturday after March 15, and is currently the largest regular public event of the Roman Catholic Church in the Netherlands.
The Polish edition of the Silent Procession has been organized by the Dominican Liturgical Center Foundation from the very beginning. The idea of transplanting this very Amsterdam event to Polish soil, several hundred kilometres from the sea, was suggested to the Dominicans in 2021 by Dr. Dominika Krupińska, author of the blog “Adopt a church in the Netherlands”, when the original Procession was cancelled due to Covid restrictions for the first time in history.
“Since I can’t go to the Silent Procession in Amsterdam, maybe the Silent Procession would come to me?”, says D. Krupińska about the beginnings of the idea. “After all, a Eucharistic miracle took place also in Cracow, almost at the same time as in Amsterdam, and there is a sanctuary of this miracle, to which one can make a pilgrimage through narrow, historic streets.”
The unusual idea was approved by the Ordinary of the Haarlem-Amsterdam Diocese, Bishop Jan Hendriks, who since then has written a letter to the participants of the Cracow Silent Procession every year, which is read during the opening Mass.
The “Silent Procession in Cracow” will set off from the Dominican Basilica of the Holy Trinity on Stolarska Street at around 12:45, after the end of the 12:00 Mass. As in Amsterdam, participants will walk in silence, without feretrons or banners, praying individually. This unusual form of procession, which also gave it its name, is a reminder of the ban on Catholic processions and other manifestations of the Catholic faith in public that was in force in the Netherlands for several hundred years – until 1983. Following the mediaeval route of the Amsterdam procession, the “Silent Procession in Cracow” will pass by the square where the All Saints Church once stood, associated with the Cracow Eucharistic miracle. From this church the stolen and desecrated Blessed Sacrament had originated, which was miraculously found in the swamps near today’s Kazimierz district. Then Procession will continue along Planty and next to the Wawel Castle to the Basilica of Corpus Christi, built on the orders of King Casimir the Great as a votive offering for the profanation that had been committed. After a half-hour of adoration of the Blessed Sacrament with songs from Amsterdam and Polish sources, participants will return along Grodzka Street to the Basilica of the Holy Trinity, where they will receive the final blessing.
This year, a short introductory lecture with slides entitled “Hollandia sacra. A Pilgrimage into the Sacred Heritage of the Netherlands” will be held before the opening Mass. It will be delivered by Dr. Dominika Krupińska. She will present the most valuable religious buildings in the Netherlands, as well as the history of the Amsterdam Eucharistic miracle and the Silent Procession. The lecture will take place at 11:00 a.m. in the “Skarbiec” room in the Monastery, entrance through the cloisters and Atrium, free admission.
Information about the procession can also be found on Facebook.
