In 1987, about eight years after he came to the United States from Poland, Marek Predki and six other people decided to bring a Polish tradition to their new country by embarking on a pilgrimage from Chicago to Northwest Indiana. They were upholding a deeply Catholic tradition in Poland: Where people from across the country walk from their villages, towns and cities to visit the Black Madonna of Czestochowa in Czestochowa, Poland, said Predki’s daughter Evita Szklarz, of Tinley Park. Depending on where people start walking from, Szklarz said the pilgrimages in Poland can last from a few days to a few weeks.
The goal, she said, is to make it to Czestochowa by Aug. 15, which is the Assumption of the Virgin Mary in the Catholic Church. Kyle Telechan / Post-Tribune Polish faithful carry a portrait of Jesus and spin blue and yellow bandanas above their heads as they near the end of their pilgrimage from Chicago to Our Lady of Czestochowa in Merrillville on Sunday, August 14, 2022.
(Kyle Telechan for the Post-Tribune) Thousands of Polish people will walk 30 miles this Saturday and Sunday from Immaculate Conception St. Michael Catholic Church in Chicago to the Our Lady of Czestochowa Shrine in Merrillville, building on the tradition Predki started nearly 40 years ago. Some of the walkers will camp Saturday night at the Carmelite Fathers in Munster.
“The most important thing we can pass on to our children is our faith as well as our Polish traditions,” Szklarz said. “This bei.