On the border of the city of Toruń, a special delegation awaited Our Blessed Mother – the Pastor of the Catholic Cathedral of the two St. Johns, Monsignor Marek Rumiński, together with the Pastor of the Orthodox Parish of St. Nicholas, Father Protojerej Nicholas Hajduczenia.
While greeting Our Lady in the Icon of Czestochowa, they both emphasized that Mary and the Defense of Human Life have become a great motive for the two churches – Catholic and Orthodox – to join together in this effort. Our Lady, through Her peregrination in the Icon of Jasna Gora, reveals the fruits of this joined mission. This meeting at the foot of the Mother of God (Theotokos), peregrinating in Defense of Life, is the answer to the Act of Forgiveness and Reconciliation signed this day by the Orthodox Metropolitan Cyryl and the Archbishop Jozef Michalik, the head of the Polish Bishops Conference.
After the welcoming ceremony of the Icon at the Cathedral of Sts. Johns in Torun the Orthodox choir from the parish of St. Nicholas sang the Akathist, inspiring the great crowds of the faithful to join in this most ancient prayer of the Church of the first centuries ... praising the Mother of God. The Liturgy of the Word was being led together by the Protonotarius (Infulat in Polish), Father Andrzej Wawrzyniak and the Orthodox priest, Father Nicholas Hajduczenia.
At the beginning of the celebration of the Mass, Bishop Andrzej Suski, the ordinary of the Diocese of Bydgoszcz, stated that the war against the helpless is intensifying. Before the final blessing, Bishop A. Suski made the Act of Entrustment for the Protection of the Civilization of Life and Love into the hands of Mary, Most Holy, which was being recited together with the faithful gathered. After the celebration of the Holy Mass, those present heard testimonies of various individuals who are currently engaged in various pro-life activities. It ended with the Jasna Gora Appeal (which is sung at Jasna Gora daily). The concern for human life unites us Christians, who also become witnesses for others.
Maria-Emanuela Dziemian from Czestochowa also shared her testimony with those present at the Cathedral of Torun. She is a member of the Confraternity of the Most Blessed Virgin Mary, the Queen of the Polish Crown, and coordinates the entrustments to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, Queen of Poland, which take place in the Chapel of the Miraculous Image of Our Lady at Jasna Gora. Ms. Dziemian revealed how many, often very difficult, cases and human affairs pass through the hands of Mary, Our Blessed Mother.
Ewa and Sylvester Winiarski from the Domestic Church of the Oasis Movement (Fos-Zoe), founded by Fr. Franciszek Blachnicki, shared with those gathered the story of their active engagement in the Spiritual Adoption of the Unborn Child. The Spiritual Adoption works like this: the person adopting spiritually prays for 9 months for a child who is in danger of being aborted, declaring this spiritual adoption by making a solemn promise during the celebration of a Marian Solemnity (usually this is done on the Day of Life, March 25th).