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During the Epiphany celebration – a holiday which is commonly known as the “Three Kings Day” (January 6) it was organized the Three Kings procession in Jarosław. The procession takes place every year and this year was the eighth season.
Spiritual message was dedicated to all the town inhabitants. The holiday festivity began with a Holy Liturgy which was chaired by the guest of honor, Archbishop of Archdiocese of Przemyśl Adam Szal. The festivity slogan was “Renew the Face of the Earth” referring to I pilgrimage of the Holy Father to Poland.
The main organizer of the above event is Archpriest of Jarosław, Prelate Andrzej Surowiec who has been coordinated the festivity for eight years.
There were four colorful processions - European, African Asian and the procession of Holy Family, which at the same time moved off the churches along the streets of Jarosław: Christ the King Church, Franciscan Church and Church of Divine Mercy. Each colored procession was led by one of the kings. The participants of the fourth procession of Holy Family with little shepherds and a donkey were the quickest who came to the end.
After getting to the town square, the other processions came to the Bethlehem Crib in search of the Baby Jesus and sang carols together with the Three Kings amazing Christmas decorations.
The Blue African procession started from Franciscan Church, it was led by King Baltazar. The Green Asian procession was led by King Melchior from the Church of Divine Mercy, while the Red European procession headed by King Kacper started from Christ the King Church. Archbishop of Archdiocese of Przemyśl, parliamentarians, district and town authorities along with mayors, representatives of health service, uniformed services and PWSTE representatives joined the procession. Among the representatives of PWSTE one could see the Rector of PWSTE in Jarosław, prof. UG, dr hab. Krzysztof Rejman and a Deputy Director of the Institute of Economics and Management, Ph.D. Jolanta Wojtowicz-Żygadło, the representative of the Institute of Health Protection, Ph.D Alicja Kłos and a lot of students, including foreign students who participate in the Erasmus + program.

The exceptional nationwide march in Jarosław, inspired by patriotic and historical spirit, contained many elements from the history of Poland, in which faith and love to Motherland shaped the national identity. The procession of this year included historical figures referring to the 100th anniversary of Poland Independence and the jubilee relating to 1050th anniversary of the Baptism of Poland, including Józef Piłsudski with legionaries and Tadeusz Kosciuszko with scythe-bearing peasant recruits.

A great advantage in the European procession was a large number of Polish Kings. The new characters were Mieszko I and Dobrawa, Bolesław Chrobry, Casimir the Great, Saint Queen Jadwiga, Władysław Jagiełło, Jan Kazimierz and Sobieski with Marysieńka. There were also representatives of army from various epochs: from Mieszko I soldiers to contemporary national military reenactment groups with famous leaders. Each of the monarchs was accompanied by a court procession and soldiers. It was worth seeing infantry hussars accompanying King Jan III Sobieski. One could be also impressed by the carriage with a Queen who came to Jarosław square with her children to give the baby gifts; there was also a Roman soldier in a chariot announcing the edict of Augustus Caesar; you could see a march of Holly Family, a dialogue with the Jew and the representatives of armies from different eras: from the Middle Ages to modern times, as well as an Arab with a large group of children dressed in Arabian costumes and shepherds who sat at the Bethlehem Grotto near the fire. The organizers provided an unusual attraction in the form of a live camel ridden by a black African king. You could also see ponies.

The aim of the event was to encourage all the town residents to write K + M + B 2019 on the doors of their flats with chalk. The first person who did it on the symbolic door located on the stage of square market was Archbishop of Archdiocese of Przemyśl Adam Szal.

The march of kings and the colorful processions referring to the tradition of Nativity plays ended in the market square which served as a local Bethlehem, where people shared the special wafer exchanging Christmas greetings as the sign of meeting with Jesus and sang carols together.
The aim of the event was to promote Christian values and sing Polish carols to celebrate the Three Kings Day and unite the inhabitants by singing carols during the march along the streets of the town and joining the group of carol singers at the Jarosław Market Square.
The holiday is associated with beautiful biblical traditions which show that God is open to everyone and comes to everybody. In turn, the promotion of Polish traditions and Christian values as well as celebration of the Three Kings Day were the objective of the event.

The article is written by M.Sc. Magdalena Bojarska,

the Head of the Department of International Cooperation and Spokesperson

of PWSTE in Jarosław