Wedding of the Weddings
2008 Wedding of the Weddings
2008
Tarnów was hosting Wedding of the Weddings in 2008. Tarnów is an exciting town in the south east of Poland.
The meeting in Tarnów was concentrated around the personality of the Blessed Karolina Kózkówna, who died while defending her virginity. The majority of spiritual and cultural events took place in Karolina Sanctuary and church in Tarnów. We also visited a sanctuary devoted to her in Zabawa parish where she lived and died.
The wedding anniversary Holy Mass was read by the local bishop in the Tarnów cathedral. Later we were invited by the city president and the provincional governor of Maloposka to the residence of the latter to a session devoted to the regional culture and economy.
The wedding reception of the meeting was preceded by the March of Sobriety, an annual local event, that was combined with the Wedding of the Weddings this year. The march started at the Karolina sanctuary in Tarnów and ended in nearby village of Skrzeszow. We were welcome there by the head of the village self-government accompanied by the firemen orchestra. The reception itself was prepared in the village school. Folk dance group and singers presented the local culture and Tarnów city band played hits of fifties to nineties.
We had also an occasion to taste the delicious local food, made after traditional recipes.
The reception started with the traditional Polish aristocratic dance of polonaise. The leading pairs were representative of provincional and local governments.
The meeting was ended on Sunday with presenting participation diplomas to the attendees.
Both the opening and the closing ceremonies were chaired by Father Zazel, who initiated the meetings.
During the opening ceremony all the couples had to present themselves together with their children and to tell about their nonalcoholic wedding reception. It turned out that in many cases it was Father Zazel who supported the young people in their debates with parents on the issue and then was giving them the sacrament of matrimony. Father Zazel was celebrating the Holy Masses for us each day.
We thank to bishops of Tarnów, local and regional authorities, lecturers, preachers, artists, governmental and non-governmental organisations and volunteers for support for this event.