In the morning of October 28, an accident occurred in Fulda. The "Life Mobile," in which the Icon of Czestochowa was being transported, was seriously damaged. The organizers did not realize that the entrance gate was too low. Even though the speed was not high, the impact was very strong, which was caused just by the mere weight of the shrine on wheels. In effect, all the glass of the encasement was badly damaged. This was bullet-proof glass and type P4 glued. It is not easy to shatter this type of glass, which will not even scratch when a rock is thrown at it from a 2-meter distance.
Unfortunately, there is also damage to the left side of the Icon. Not only the feretory, but also the Icon itself has been damaged. Luckily, only the frame in the left upper corner is showing signs of damage. Thankfully, the main image of the Icon is unscathed.
Currently, the German pro-lifers are earnestly trying to fix everything. The shrine on wheels has remained in Fulda and experts are supposed to work on it, yet the Icon continued on to Kassel, according to the timetable. Hence, we have a serious problem on our hands, because the shrine on wheels has to be fixed as soon as possible. Already on November 2, the Icon will be entering Belgium and on November 5, Great Britain. There, the glass shrine on wheels will be absolutely indispensable.
We are urgently appealing for help!
We are asking you very kindly for help – by means of prayer, and financially. This shrine (altar) on wheels is a prototype and the repairs cannot be done in a routine type of fashion. The feretory also has to be checked and repaired. Additional funds are needed for communications, transportation, and repairs, but, unfortunately, those are unexpected expenses.
Explosion of the engine in the Skoda, which was pulling the "Life Mobile" in Poland
I will take the liberty here to write about the other adventures as well. On October 8, on the highway to Brno (Czech Republic), the engine in our Skoda fell apart. This was the same Skoda that was transporting Our Blessed Mother in Poland. It is hardly a three-year old car. This happened on the interstate, while the Skoda was towing the new trailer for the glass shrine encasing the Icon, since this was the easiest way, in order to end all the problems with the breaks. This was the best solution, because there is no time during the peregrination to perform repairs. The trailer without a load was light and there were no reasons for such a serious breakdown. Yet, the trailer block burst, and the hole in the engine was the size of a fist. Thank God, no one was injured and the temperatures were still above freezing, because the wait for assistance was quite long. The trailer was brought to Vienna by two Czech priests, and the Skoda had to be picked up by a Polish towing company. The cost of the towing and the replacement of the engine reached about 6 thousand Zloty – and that was outside of our budget.
Trouble on the route was not lacking
There were more problems along the way. The Russian minivan, which transported Our Blessed Mother on the Siberian roads, broke down only four times, and each time, it had to do with the suspension. In Krakow (Cracow), just about 4km before we reached Skalka, one of our wheels burned. This damage was unwarranted, since the parts of the suspension were solidly strengthened and should have handled the load of the glass shrine. We were making the repair at night - very frustrated, but in the morning everything went according to schedule. Then, in Slovakia, the wheel fell off completely, the rim broke, and a huge hole was left inside. While traveling through the countries that neighbor to the south of us, the driver could not fit through an old, medieval gate and the marker lights of the feretory sustained damage. Although the gates had been measured and were wide enough, yet a little detail was left out of the preparations. During the Medieval construction, large stones were placed on the sides of the gate, in order for the wheels of the carriages to drive through the center of the gateway. That fact was not taken into consideration when planning the entry with the trailer carrying the Icon. Unfortunately, the Life Mobile did not fit through the gateway. The lights looked deplorably, hence we had to buy new ones and replace them.
We performed additional checks and necessary repairs in Hungary and in Austria. This had everything to do with the necessary frequency of travel. It seemed that there would be no more problems …
But we have not given up…
Despite all of these difficulties, Our Lady in the Czestochowa Icon did not stop even once, but continues to visit the subsequent localities and countries in defense of life – "From Ocean to Ocean," according to schedule.