After completing Her journey through most of the parishes of the Diocese of Santo Domingo, the Pilgrim Virgin of Czestochowa in Her Icon said goodbye to the city that hosted Her for 10 months.
The farewell was held in the parish of the Assumption, one of the first to which She came in March of last year and where Fr. Leon Juchniewicz is the parish priest; also the custodian of the Icon in the country. Bishop Bertram Wick, Ordinary of the Diocese of Santo Domingo, presided the last Mass on Sunday, January 21 at 10:00 am.
Participating in this celebration was also Fr. Bartolomeo Marciniak OSPPE, of the Monastic Order of St. Paul the Hermit. He is Polish and resides in Doylestown, Pennsylvania (USA), where there is a sanctuary dedicated to the Virgin of Czestochowa. Mons. Leon had been visiting there 10 years ago and now it was a revisit.
With joyful Marian songs the faithful said goodbye to the Icon of Our Lady of Czestochowa. Remembering that She came from Mexico in March of last year and Her first participation was in a pro-life march that took place on the 25th of that month, celebration of the Annunciation of the Lord also known as the Day of the Child to be Born.
Fr. Leon Juchniewicz apart from being the parish priest of the Church of the Assumption and being the custodian of the Icon in Ecuador, is also Chancellor of the Diocese of Santo Domingo. As a Polish missionary priest, he welcomed with great affection this initiative that the international committee From Ocean to Ocean proposed to him.
"For me it is an honor to have received the Pilgrim Icon of the Queen of Poland. We were able to travel along with Her a large part of our diocese, from the most populated areas to the areas of difficult access. Many looked at those sad eyes, but felt welcomed by Her maternal gaze. Mary is a Mother whose only desire is to bring us to her Son", said Fr. Leon.
At the end of the Eucharistic celebration, Fr. Leon Juchniewicz and Fr. Bartolomeo Marciniak took the Icon of Our Lady to Quito, but in a new Mama-Mobile. The previous one was made of not the best materials and welded to a pickup car. It was falling apart.A new one had to be made quickly. The local craftsmen managed to do it efficiently thanks to the instructions of Fr. Leon and the help of the Friends of Human Life from Poland. The new Mama Mobil design is very sturdy and made of durable materials as a portable "house of the Mother of God" it can be placed on different vehicles and is much better. In this region pickup cars are very popular.