1,700 kilometers on foot, ten weeks on the road, and one intention: prayer for vocations. Young pilgrims from the Diocese of Płock in Poland will set out from Vienna to Rome in the footsteps of St. Stanislaus Kostka, carrying the relics of the patron saint of youth and St. Carlo Acutis. They have received the blessing of Pope Leo XIV, and at the start of the pilgrimage, they will be blessed by Archbishop Josef Grünwidl of Vienna. The pilgrimage marks the 300th anniversary of the canonization of St. Stanislaus Kostka.
Relics and the Pope’s blessing
The initiative was presented to Pope Leo XIV at the end of May. During the meeting, the Holy Father blessed a reliquary in the form of an oak suitcase, containing the relics of St. Stanislaus Kostka and St. Carlo Acutis, which will accompany the pilgrims throughout the journey. He also launched a mobile application prepared especially for the pilgrimage.
From the place where the journey began
The pilgrimage will begin on 4 July in Vienna at the Chapel of St. Stanislaus Kostka, Kurrentgasse 2. The chapel is located in the building where Stanislaus lived in 1565–1567 while studying at the Jesuit college. It remains one of the most important places connected with the Polish saint outside Poland.
At 9:00 a.m., Archbishop Josef Grünwidl will meet the young pilgrims there for prayer and will give them his blessing. At 10:00 a.m., a solemn bilingual Polish-German Mass will be celebrated in the nearby Church am Hof, presided over by Bishop Szymon Stułkowski of Płock. Immediately afterward, the pilgrims will begin the first stage of their journey from the same area where, in August 1567, the young Stanislaus set out on foot for Rome.
A young saint who followed his vocation
St. Stanislaus Kostka is one of Poland’s best-known young saints and a patron of youth, students, and seminarians. Born in 1550 in Rostkowo, Mazovia, he was sent to Vienna as a teenager to study. There, he encountered the Jesuits and began to discern a vocation to the Society of Jesus.
His family opposed his plans, but Stanislaus chose to follow what he believed to be God’s call. In 1567, still a teenager, he left Vienna and traveled on foot through Augsburg and Dillingen, where he met the Jesuit provincial Peter Canisius, before continuing to Rome. There, he was admitted to the Jesuit novitiate by the superior general of the order, Francis Borgia. He died ten months later, on 15 August 1568, at the age of 17, and was canonized by Pope Benedict XIII on 31 December 1726.
For the young pilgrims, his story is an invitation to courage, faith, and vocational discernment.
A relay pilgrimage across Europe
The pilgrimage will take the form of a relay. From 4 July to 14 September, successive groups — mainly from the Diocese of Płock — will take part in different stages of the route. Among them will be young people, seminarians, religious sisters, priests, and bishops.
The pilgrims will follow historic pilgrimage routes, including sections of the Way of St. James and the Via Romea Germanica, passing through Austria, southern Germany, and Italy. Along the way, they are expected to visit more than 70 parishes, where they will pray together with local communities for priestly and religious vocations in the Church.
Family News Service / Joanna Łukaszuk-Ritter
The Chapel of St Stanisław Kostka in Vienna (photo by Joanna Łukaszuk-Ritter)