Catholic Transcript Online

Father Palic Mataol, Pastor of the Church of St. Nicholas in Yanjoyo, Kosovo, blesses a Crucifix belonging to Master Sgt. Carlos Baez of Caguas, Puerto Rico, at the Church of the Black Madonna in Letnica/Letnice, Kosovo. Sargeant Baez, a member of the Puerto Rico National Guard, said his mother gave him the Crucifix just before he left Puerto Rico for his current deployment to Kosovo. (U.S. Army photo by Sgt. 1st Class Steve Markowski, 130th Public Affairs Detachment.)

Sgt. First Class Steven Markowski, who worked for The Catholic Transcript in the 1990s, sent this account of his visit to the Church of the Black Madonna in Kosovo on the Solemnity of the Assumption. His Army National Guard public affairs unit, based out of the State Armory in Hartford, is deployed in Kosovo.

LETNICA/LETNICE, Kosovo – Thousands of Serbian, Albanian, and Croatian pilgrims venture to this village in eastern Kosovo every August to mark a Catholic holy day. The Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary is the day on which many believe that Mary's body and soul were brought into Heaven.

The celebration at the Church of the Black Madonna here has special significance as the place where Agnesa Bojaxhiu received her calling to devote her life to doing the Lord's work. Better known as Mother Teresa, Bojawhiu made her first trip to the church when she was 7 years old, when she and her family visited from nearby Skopje. She is said to have received her calling while later praying inside the church, at the age of 18.

Approximately 300 people reside in Letnica/Letnice, but they're joined by thousands of people from the Balkans and other parts of Europe for a Mass that, in order to accommodate the crowds, must be held in the grassy, sprawling property adjacent to the three-century-old church.

Hundreds of Kosovo Forces (KFOR) soldiers, including several dozen Americans, joined this year's pilgrimage on Aug. 15. Most are from Multinational National Battle Group East (MNBG E), based at nearby Camp Bondsteel. After arriving on the outskirts of Letnica/Letnice, they joined their KFOR counterparts from Austria, France, Germany, Italy and Portugal for a brief religious service. This was followed by a two-mile hike through the wooded Karadak hills to the white church with twin black spires.

U.S. Soldiers were among those who waited in long lines to get inside and pray in the same pews where Mother Teresa once prayed.

"Sitting in the bench where she sat means a lot. Not many people have that chance," said Col. Francisco J. Neuman of Ponce, Puerto Rico, commander of MNBG E and a member of the Puerto Rico National Guard. "This church is one of the most wonderful things that Kosovo has."

Colonel Neuman and several other U.S. soldiers said they would have celebrated the solemnity of the Assumption if they were back home, but with the KFOR deployment they felt they had a rare opportunity to experience this pilgrimage to the beatified Mother Teresa's former church.

Approximately 85 percent of Puerto Rico's 4 million residents are Catholic. The 78 municipalities there have 10-day festivals in honor of Mary or their respective patron saints, said Sgt. 1st Class Ramon Green, assistant inspector general, noncommissioned officer in charge for MNBG E, and a member of the Puerto Rico National Guard. Sargeant Green's hometown of Cayey, like Letnica/Letnice, honors the Assumption.

"We celebrate the same day in Puerto Rico. We have a big service with a Mass. A statue of Mary is carried in a procession, and we pray the rosary," the sargeant said.

Pfc. Chris Poirrier of Monticello, Ark., a medic with Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 1-114th Aviation, is a Catholic, but was not as familiar with this holy day. He went on the pilgrimage mainly because of the church's most famous former congregant.

"I came to see where [Mother Teresa] got her calling and at the same time participate in the feast of the Assumption. I thought it was really humbling. It was definitely a reaffirmation for me. It's hard to not feel the spirit in a place like that," said Private Poirrier, a member of the Arkansas National Guard.

Sgt. Gina Middlebrooks of Athens, Ga., a radiographer with Task Force Medical, said she experienced a similar feeling while visiting the historical church.

"It was a once-in-a-lifetime experience for me, especially to go at the same time as the other pilgrims," said Sargeant Middlebrooks, adding that the connection to Mother Teresa made this visit extra appealing. "I was just in awe standing there and thinking that she used to stand there, too."

The local bishop was the principal celebrant of the Mass; priests from throughout the region and military chaplains from KFOR concelebrated.

Colonel Neuman experienced this event on a previous deployment to Kosovo, but at that time he was involved with providing security. This year he led the U.S. delegation, along with Brig. Gen. Wilton S. Gorske, the KFOR chief of staff, and a member of the Georgia National Guard. The entire KFOR contingent was led by Lt. Gen. Markus Bentler, KFOR commander.

Toward the end of the Mass, General Bentler spoke to the assembly in English and German. His remarks were also translated into Albanian.

"We've come to bring peace to Kosovo and we are very happy to see what we see here today," General Bentler said. "It is so important to pray for peace today. .We also know that peace can only grow from the hearts of the people. From the bottom of my heart I wish peace to all the people in Kosovo."

Colonel Neuman, who is on his third deployment to Kosovo, said he agrees that peace in the region depends upon peace within the people.

"That's the only thing we can do to avoid any conflict – to be peaceful. We need to have that in mind at all times," he said.