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Some teens spend the summer training for an upcoming sports season. Lilianna Matala didn't have to: For an entire week in August, she walked more than 18.5 miles every day.

Lilianna, a junior at Notre Dame-Bishop Gibbons School in Schenectady, was participating in a walking pilgrimage to Czestochowa, Poland. In that city is the Jasna Gora monastery, which houses the Black Madonna of Czestochowa, a famous icon of the Virgin Mary.

Lilianna, who lived in Poland during the third grade with her family, found out about the pilgrimage througha friend who lives in the country.

"I'm very patriotic about Poland," remarked the 16-year-old, who attends St. Adalbert's parish in Schenectady.

Lilianna's family still travels to Poland just about every summer; the pilgrimage happened to startd Aug. 1, when the Matalas would be visiting. Lilianna's friend, Zuzia Kmiec, also planned to participate along with the thousands of people from all over Poland who gather every summer to walk to Jasna Gora.

Go for it
"I was like, 'Whoa, that sounds like a lot of work, but I want to do it anyway,'" Lilianna told The Evangelist.

She said she wanted to try the pilgrimage to be open to new experiences. She hoped she would become more spiritual as a result, but she didn't go into the trek with many expectations.

Leaving her parents was harder than she expected: "I'd never been away from my family for that long."

Lilianna started the walk in Chelm, Poland, with a backpack, lots of water, a hat, snacks and a booklet of prayers that included an itinerary for the pilgrimage. The group would pray the Rosary before they began walking each morning, and again at night before bed.

Each day's walk started at around 5 a.m. because of the heat; the hottest part of the day would reach about 95 degrees. After morning walks of about eight kilometers, or almost five miles, the pilgrims would rest for about half an hour.

Some people would take a quick nap; others would play cards. "Some people brought guitars, so [we] could sing during the breaks," Lilianna said.

The group would then keep walking, stopping after another few kilometers for a "cafeteria-style" lunch. Whenever the pilgrims reached a city, local people "would sing, 'We welcome you,' and we would sing it back," said Lilianna.

Helping hands
When the group left, the residents would walk with them to the city's border, cheering them on.

At night, the pilgrims would sleep in the homes of volunteers or on gymnasium floors in schools. That "was awkward for me at first," Lilianna said, but the people alleviated that with their friendliness and willingness to share food.

Lilianna was unable to speak the language of her fellow pilgrims, having to rely on a few basic words and hand gestures. At one point during the trip, she met two English teachers from Poland; she was thankful to be able to speak English for a minute.

As the week progressed, Lilianna began to pick up words, songs and prayers. "It was fun," she recalled. Although she already knew the "Our Father" in Polish, she learned the "Hail Mary" on the pilgrimage: "It took a while, but I got it."

While walking, "you're reflecting the whole day," said Lilianna. "You're so hungry, but you know God is there to protect you. I accepted that He knows what's going to happen."

Heading home
After a week, Lilianna parted from the pilgrims to head back to the United States with her family, while the rest of the group continued on for another week to reach Jasna Gora. Aside from photos, one souvenir of her pilgrimage was the Polish prayer cards she brought home.

Although she's glad to have participated in part of the pilgrimage, Lilianna admitted that "it was just so scary to walk all day." She'd often been worried that she wouldn't be able to complete the day's trek or wouldn't have a house to sleep in at night.

Since she has been back home, Lilianna believes she's been "a better person" and "kinder to people." She also has a new appreciation for cars. She said she'll never take luxuries for granted again.

"It's fun to do different things every once in a while," she concluded.[[In-content Ad]]

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