Preparing for the Visitation of the Image of Jesus the Merciful (part I), Kamjen’ 2009. Візітацыя абразу Езуса Міласэрнага (частка І), Камень 2009 год.
Currently the relics of St. Thérèse of the Child Jesus are on a cycle of visitations to parishes throughout Belarus. Simultaneously, and in preparation for the upcoming 400th anniversary of the appearance of the original, a copy of the miraculous image of the Mother of God of Budslau is visiting parishes in the archdiocese of Minsk-Mahiljou. These visitations brought to mind the intensely spiritual experience of attending a similar visitation to Kamjen’ in early June 2009.
The village of Kamjen’ (“Stone”), named after a giant boulder carried there during one of the Ice Ages, lies on the edge of the Nalibaki Wilderness (Nalibotskaja pushcha – Налібоцкая пушча) about 45 miles west of Mjensk. Kamjen’ is a village one immediately and instinctively likes. Perhaps this reaction is created by the dignity of its inhabitants. They — like the inhabitants of other villages in the Nalibaki Wilderness — display a sense of rootedness, resilience in the face of what happened to their forefathers and to their village church under both Soviets and Germans, and quiet pride in their parish.
It is a transcendent moment to watch older generations in a village like Kamjen’ firmly and reverently pass on their traditions to their children and grandchildren. Here a grandmother instructs girls on how to strew flower petals during the procession to the church.
