Mark Yancey Photo

Seeing Beauty in the Everyday World

mfyancey

February 16, 2026
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Read time:
6–9 minutes
Pilgrimage to Poland – Day 8 – Sanctuary of Saint Pope John Paul II
Travel
The Sanctuary of St. John Paul II near Kraków, is a modern pilgrimage site dedicated to the Polish Pope. Completed around 2016, the complex features a two-level church with many colorful mosaics and more. The Upper Church is a modern space with a large…
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February 9, 2026
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Read time:
7–11 minutes
Pilgrimage to Poland – Day 8 – Wadowice
Travel
Karol Józef Wojtyła, the future Pope and Saint John Paul II, was born in Wadowice, Poland. In 1919 Wojtyła’s family rented two rooms with a kitchen on the first floor of an apartment building adjacent to the Minor Basilica of the…
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February 2, 2026
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Read time:
8–12 minutes
Pilgrimage to Poland – Day 8 – Our Lady of the Angels Basilica
Travel
The shrine of Our Lady of the Angels is part of a large complex, Kalwaria Zebrzydowska, that includes a Franciscan monastery and 42 chapels spread across about 1500 acres. The shrine of Kalwaria Zebrzydowska is one of the most often…
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January 26, 2026
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Read time:
9–14 minutes
Pilgrimage to Poland – Day 7 – Krakow
Travel
We continue to explore Krakow. As I mentioned in the previous post, Krakow has a long history and its Old-Town is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Although St. Mary’s Basilica is a dominant feature in Old-Town, there is…
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January 22, 2026
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Read time:
5–8 minutes
Pilgrimage to Poland – Day 7 – St. Mary’s Basilica in Krakow
Travel
Old-town, Krakow, is another UNESCO World Heritage site. Krakow the center of Poland’s political life from 1038 until King Sigismund III Vasa relocated his court to Warsaw in 1596. The Main Market Square, one of the biggest squares in Europe, which came into existence in…
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January 12, 2026
mfyancey
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Read time:
9–14 minutes
Pilgrimage to Poland – Day 7 – Wieliczka Salt Mine
Travel
Its Day 7, and our first stop is the Wieliczka Salt Mine in the town of Wieliczka, near Kraków in southern Poland. I previous posts I’ve shown many sculptures, but in this post, all the sculptures are carved from salt.…
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January 5, 2026
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Read time:
9–13 minutes
Pilgrimage to Poland – Day 6 – Auschwitz
Travel
The name Auschwitz calls to mind death and a darkness of the human soul. These concentration camps were set up to house Polish Jews and other “objectionable persons” when local prisons were filled to overflowing. The Auschwitz camps were established…
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December 29, 2025
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Read time:
8–11 minutes
Pilgrimage to Poland – Day 6 – Our Lady of Czestochowa
Travel
The Black Madonna, or Our Lady of Czestochowa, is an icon of the Blessed Virgin Mary holding the baby Jesus. All information on Our Lady of Czestochowa comes from the following references. [REFERENCE 1, REFERENCE 2, REFERENCE 3, REFERENCE 4]…
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December 19, 2025
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Read time:
6–10 minutes
Pilgrimage to Poland – Day 5 – St. Faustina
Travel
St. Faustina is known as the Apostle of Divine Mercy. Jesus revealed a vision of Himself to Faustina and commanded her to paint the image and spread the word of His Divine Mercy. All biographical information of St. Faustina comes…
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December 13, 2025
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Read time:
10–14 minutes
Pilgrimage to Poland – Day 5 – Old-Town Torun
Travel
We begin our 5th day in Torun. Old-Town Torun is another UNESCO World Heritage site. But, more on that in an other post. As with some previous posts, some of the places shown were identified using Gemini and translations were…
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