Invitation to Poland's Catholic youth festival: Lednica 2000

Bird's eye view of Lednica festival

Preparations are underway for Poland's annual Catholic youth festival: Lednica 2000, which gathers hundreds of thousands of young people on the banks of Lake Lednica near Poznan.

University Chaplain Fr Jan Gora OP, writes: "This is the place where Poland's first king Mieszko I, was baptised and received Christianity on behalf of the entire nation. For fourteen years young Poles have gathered here to choose Christ for themselves and make Him the cornerstone of their lives. For the second year running we extend our invitation to this event to our friends living outside Poland to join us in entrusting their lives to Christ.

"This year's Lednica will take place on 5 June. The morning will start with singing and dancing as well as the opportunity for prayer and confessions. The event will formally begin in the afternoon with a procession that carries the relics of St Adelbert (Wojciech) one of Poland's patron saints. This will be followed by Mass, a special Papal address live by video-link, praise and worship as well as adoration of the Blessed Sacrament. The event culminates with a recitation of the I Choose Christ Prayer and a solemn procession of all participants through the Ictus of Lednica the symbolic fish-shaped gate.

"The subject of this year's Lednica is Womanhood: gift and mystery. We desire to deepen our understanding of the mystery of womanhood and enliven our awareness of the importance of women. In learning about our first mother Eve and the mission of Mary, we hope to discover the mission of every woman, of our mothers', sisters' and finally to understand the mission of the Church herself. Women and motherhood have always been an integral part of Polish culture, as evidenced by our oldest hymn 'Bogurodzica'. This hymn, dedicated to the Mother of God, was composed somewhere between the 10th and 13th centuries and has been sung in Poland ever since.

"We remember also that Adam, the first man, only awakes in the Garden of Eden at the sight of Eve. It is her ability to awaken him that makes her a precious gift. Women enrich us and give themselves to us. They make us more sensitive and delicate.

"This year's Lednica is an opportunity for us all to be mutually enriched. To that end we ask that you to bring and share with us an image of Our Lady that is venerated in your homeland. We would also ask that a representative from your group make the following statements in English during the ceremony:

We come from....
We bring greetings from...
We join with you in choosing Christ as our Lord and Saviour Amen. Amen. Alleluia, Alleluia.

"We eagerly await you at Lednica. May your voices resound with ours as together we bear witness to Christ!"

If you would like to join or find out more, get in touch with Maria Kato on lednica2010uk@googlemail.com