Holy Mountain Jawor

Jawor - a hill in the Low Beskids , within the Hańczowskie Mountains , on the border with Slovakia , about 3 km from the village of Wysowa-Zdrój , in the Uście Gorlickie commune in the Gorlice poviat ,

Mount Jawor is considered a saint by Orthodox believers and Greek Catholics due to the Marian apparitions that took place there in the interwar period . On the northern slope of the hill there is a Greek Catholic sanctuary - a wooden Orthodox church dedicated to the Protection of the Mother of God , as well as a spring that is worshiped. It is planned to build an Orthodox church in the vicinity of a Greek Catholic sanctuary (currently Orthodox services are celebrated at a field altar). Many of us have heard of the "Orthodox Częstochowa" or the holy Mount Grabarka, where crowds of Orthodox pilgrims carry votive crosses on August, on the day of the Transfiguration, which are then placed around the church creating a very characteristic image. The holy Mountain of Lemkos Jawor in Wysowa-Zdrój has a similar, but lesser character.

Where did this Orthodox tradition and the sanctity of Mount Jawor come from?

Well, in 1925, three Lemkos from Wysowa were returning at night from a fair in Gabultów (Czechoslovakia at that time) and under the peak of Mount Jawor, they saw a bright glow, which quickly disappeared. In the following days, the glow reappeared, and it was accompanied by dream visions of God's Lordship by one of the Lemkos. Later, where the glow appeared, a spring sprouted, the water of which had healing powers. The cult of the Mother of God developed on Mount Jawor, and the mountain itself was considered holy. Later, an Orthodox church - a sanctuary was built at the place of the apparitions, and the spring was covered.

In 2017, the area of the sanctuary was returned to Greek Catholics.