Young Polish Catholic festival in Northamptonshire

Laxton Hall near Corby in Northamptonshire, was the venue for a truly wonderful spiritual gathering on Saturday.

Each year from the start of this millennium, young Poles have been invited to a mini 'World Youth Day' type of gathering at the shores of Lake Lednica in Poland.

At Lake Lednica, as many as 150,000 at a time gather for prayer, reflection and Mass under the Spiritual guidance of Father Jan Góra.

This year, as part of its campaign to reach out to the youth of the Polish Community in Britain, the Polish Catholic Mission in England & Wales asked Father Góra to lead an equivalent gathering in England.

The proceedings started with the Chaplet of Divine Mercy, and included hymns, witness, dancing in praise of God, prayers, Mass and Adoration, and throughout the day, six priests were kept busy hearing confessions non-stop.

Father Ciebien - who was responsible for co-ordinating the religious side of things - used to accompany various parish groups to Lednica while he was a priest ministering in Poland

"In these groups there were believers, doubters, non-believers and even people negative about the Faith." he told me.

"They always came back changed, because for them it may have been the first encounter with the living church."

"Father Jan Góra has the great gift of being able to explain complex theological concepts in a way which can be readily understood by young people," he added.

Logistics co-ordinator Jan Sikorski, who is Chairman of the Trustees of the Polish Catholic Mission continued, " We had over 500 mainly young Polish people at Laxton Hall expressing their Faith and re-affirming their commitment to Jesus Christ."

"In return He gave us a magnificent day and an opportunity to re-connect ourselves to Him."