Milejczyce, a tiny village in the region of Podlasie in Poland, has for years been an ever more popular destination of pilgrims from across Poland. This is because of the miraculous image of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus depicted as the Good Shepherd, housed in the local Church of St. Stanislaus Bishop and Martyr. The image has recently drawn an increasing number of pilgrims as its veneration has intensified.

“Last year we hosted 20,000 pilgrims and we can see that this year the number will be much higher. Special days include the First Fridays of the Month and the Solemnity of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, which we celebrate as a Triduum. To commemorate this day, a retreat titled “In Love With the Divine Heart” was held in the parish by Fr. Dr. Jerzy Jastrzębski”, Vatican News was told by Fr. Jarosław Rosłon, parish priest of the Church of St. Stanislaus Bishop and Martyr in Milejczyce.

A wellspring of graces

The pastor of the parish adds that for the past few years he has witnessed multiple graces offered to those praying before the miraculous image. A significant moment was the birth in 2020 of a child diagnosed in the mother’s womb with Down’s syndrome and a growth on the kidney. The parents were advised to have an abortion. “Holy Mass for the child’s health was requested by the child’s grandmother. I celebrated the Eucharist on February 13, providentially, because it was the day the baby was born, perfectly healthy at that”, says the parish priest.

Fr. Jarosław Rosłon adds that many ask for Holy Mass when faced with a sudden illness or a life hazard: “In critical and hopeless situations physicians recommend this place to their patients and their nearest and dearest, saying that the Heart of Jesus is their only hope”.

Feeling God’s presence

The parish priest notes that more and more people experience a genuine change of heart, for instance reconciling with a terminal illness. The church is visited by the sick and married couples that have for years been trying to conceive a child.

However, there is still something else that revives the veneration of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus in the local parish. As its pastor Fr. Rosłon observes, “Many of those who pray before the image sense a real present of the Heart of Jesus. The simple yet profound theology represented by the image of Jesus with a burning Heart, a lamb on the Lord’s shoulders, resonates with so many people. A bond is born between the human heart and the Divine Heart”.

The earliest image

Devotion to the Divine Heart in the parish was revived after the painting returned from restoration in 2019. It turned out then that the image was in fact much older than previously thought and was most likely painted in the late 17th century, which makes it the earliest recorded image of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus in Poland. In addition, it has been venerated as miraculous for centuries.

Speaking with Vatican News, Fr. Zenon Czumaj, Director of the Diocesan Archive and Museum in Drohiczyn points out that the great veneration enjoyed by the image in the 19th century was proven by its having two crowns. One crown was placed on the head of Jesus and the other on the lamb resting on His shoulders. Archival records mention nine votive offerings placed at the image.

“I hid Jesus’s Heart”…

“According to archival records, in the mid-19th c. the Divine Heart was venerated in Milejczyce by the faithful of all Christian denominations and the worship continued even when the tsarist regime converted the Catholic church into an Orthodox one in 1866. Initially, the Orthodox authorities wanted to remove the image from the church as the Orthodox Church does not venerate the Heart of Jesus, yet finally the sacristan simply screened the image of the Divine Heart. Before long, he lost eyesight and the village residents were faced with numerous calamities. The man is claimed to have said afterwards: “I hid Jesus’s Heart and Jesus hid His graces for me”, says Fr. Zenon Czumaj.

Fr. Jarosław Rosłon spares no effort to make the church in Milejczyce a shrine of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, where entire families, communities, and social groups will enthrone the Divine Heart in their lives.