Our Lady of Gietrzwald

The Story

Our Lady of Gietrzwald refers to apparitions of the Blessed Virgin Mary reported in the Warmian village of Gietrzwald, in northern Poland, between June 27 and September 16, 1877. The visionaries were two girls, thirteen-year-old Justyna Szafrynska and twelve-year-old Barbara Samulowska. According to their accounts, Mary appeared above a maple tree near the parish church and, remarkably for a region then under Prussian rule where the Polish language was suppressed, spoke to the girls in Polish. Asked who she was, she replied, "I am the Most Holy Virgin Mary Immaculately Conceived," and to the question of what she desired, she answered, "I wish you to recite the Rosary every day." During the weeks of the apparitions Mary encouraged prayer, sobriety, and trust in God, and blessed a nearby spring, which remains a destination for pilgrims seeking healing. The events drew great crowds and strengthened both the faith and the spirit of the Polish population of Warmia. Devotion flourished under the Church's watchful care: the shrine church was raised to the rank of minor basilica by Pope St. Paul VI in 1970, and in 1977, on the centenary of the events, Bishop Jozef Drzazga of Warmia formally confirmed the apparitions as worthy of belief, making Gietrzwald the only Church-approved Marian apparition site in Poland. Barbara Samulowska later became a Daughter of Charity and missionary, and her cause for beatification has been opened. Today the Sanctuary of Gietrzwald draws large numbers of pilgrims each year, who venerate the image of Our Lady of Gietrzwald, pray at the apparition site and the blessed spring, and answer the simple request at the heart of the message: the daily Rosary.

Church Recognition

Recognized by the Church; devotion approved (approval affirmed in 1977 on the centenary).

Catholic Teaching

A call to the daily Rosary and to perseverance in faith.

Plan Your Visit

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Practical

1 Additional Information ▾

The Sanctuary of Gietrzwald is Poland's principal approved Marian apparition site.

Go Deeper

Visit the sanctuary's official website at https://sanktuariummaryjne.pl, and see the Catechism of the Catholic Church on private revelation (CCC 67) and Pope St. John Paul II's Rosarium Virginis Mariae on the Rosary.