First Thanksgiving - Poland

Poland's first Thanksgiving Day - June 1st... Promoted heavily on TV & Radio.

Poland's first national day of thanksgiving - a campaign for saying thank you to the people aroundus, and to God. A Church and lay committee involved in the creation of the Sanctuary of Divine Providence in Warsaw is launching this multimedia project encouraging Poles to show gratitude for all the good they receive daily from God and other people.

We are surrounded by people, by our families, and friends, and saying thank you can tell them that they are important, that they can really contribute to our life. And saying thank You to God, especially as a Pole, is very important.

We have gained our full independence only 19 years ago and our history is full of big events, wars, but also a lot of pain caused by armies which crossed the Polish country. Poland, in many places, is a big cemetery of people who died fighting for Polish independence. So we have to thank for the situation now, that Poland, in a miraculous way, is free. Independence was gained without war, without big fights. And, this is a sort of a miracle. "Now is the time to say thank you, also to God" says Piotr Gaweł of the Center of God's Providence.

The Polish day of thanksgiving coincides with International Children's Day and is planned as an annual celebration. The choice of the date was very conscious, says Warsaw metropolitan archbishop Kazimierz Nycz: June in Poland is connected so much to regaining independence in 1989, and also to papal pilgrimages to Poland, which took place almost always at the beginning of June, including the most important visit in 1979, when the Pope asked God to send forth the Holy Spirit and renew the face of this earth. We know now that the Spirit was sent and the face of this earth renewed. In addition to the media campaign, which includes also a special websitewww.dziekuje. pl <http://www.dziekuje.pl/> , concerts, prayers, games for children and other events will be organized in the open air.

The whole idea originated around the project of the Center of Divine Providence - a huge sanctuary and museum in one, which is being built in Warsaw. The center consists of three parts. The first part is a sanctuary to commemorate special events in Polish history and the link between God and Polish history. This is also a place where everyone can say thankyou for things which happen every day to all of us. The second part is a museum. This museum is for John Paul II and our Primate of the Millenium, Cardinal Wyszynski.

We want this to be an excellent place for young people and older people, to really feel and experience last century of Poland and of Europe, what happened then, and also to feel the spirit of the time. The third part is the pantheon. This is a place underground where the biggest Polish people will be buried and we want this to become really a very special place in the next centuries, according to Piotr Gaweł. The official celebrations of the Day of Thanksgiving start on the last day of May with an evening prayer vigil, and are proceeded by a several day long media campaign in Polish Radio and state television.

Source: Polskie Radio