Pilgrimage to the miraculous icon "Gate of Mercy"

Yaroslavl, founded by the Grand Prince of Kievan Rus, Yaroslav the Wise, has been an important center of religious and social life for Greek Catholics for centuries. In the 17th century, an icon appeared there that quickly became famous for its miracles. In 1747, a new church was built for its worship – the Transfiguration of the Lord. The icon became known worldwide on December 8, 2015, when, at the request of Pope Francis, it was taken to Rome to inaugurate the Year of Mercy.

The Jarosław sanctuary, whose parish priest is Fr. Paweł Szady, is the most important center of Marian devotion of the Greek Catholic Church in Poland. The miraculous icon of the Mother of God, the "Gate of Mercy", is venerated by both Eastern and Western Catholics.

After World War II, the Greek Catholics of Yaroslavl were forcibly relocated to the territories of Soviet Ukraine and to the regions of northern and western Poland. In the 1960s and 1970s, the abandoned church fell into disrepair. Its surviving furnishings were donated to museums in Yaroslavl, Przemyśl, and Łańcut. It was not until the late 1980s that the Greek Catholic community was able to undertake the renovation of the church and the task of restoring its religious functions...