Save the ruins of a Slovak monastery - Katarinka

With the summer season gradually approaching, we would like to share three biggest highlights in the life of our project.

In March, more than 100 young volunteers attended our biggest and most important training course, the so-called Main training. This workshop was intended for all young people, who took part in our summer voluntary camps and have shown interest and eagerness to support our project in the next season. The aim of the training was to share the basic knowledge about the history, functioning and processes in our project, help the young people to understand our vision and key values and prepare them for the organization of the project events in the future. The training lasted the whole weekend and was filled with lectures, group discussions, role-plays and practical exercises, which were created in order to develop the organizational, communication and leadership skills of the attendees . At the end of the workshop, the young volunteers also took part in the funny teambuilding activity.
On 20th April, we could experience another highlight - representatives from our project Katarinka attended the award ceremony of the National Committe of ICOMOS (International Committee for Monuments and Sites) Slovakia, that took place at the Bratislava Castle. Our project received nominations in two ICOMOS categories for year 2017. At the ceremony we took home one of the main national awards titled „Heritage For Future for Year 2017“ in the category "Exceptional activity leading to the enhancement of information about the values of the monument fund and the public's awareness of these values“.

The prize was accepted by five members of NGO Katarinka, who represented various generations of the project volunteers - from the founders of the activities in 1994 to the young people, who are currently active in the leadership of the project. The award was dedicated to the hundreds of our volunteers, who took part in the conservation works throughout the years and thus helped to preserve the ruins of the monastery and the church of St. Catherine in safe condition until this day. We are very thankful for the award and regard it as a recognition of our longterm and extensive project activities that aim to save this rare historical and cultural monument for future generations.

Apart from receiving recognition from the professionals, we also experienced one another special highlight in April – the highest attendance of visitors on one of our traditional public events, the so-called White Sunday Pilgrimage. The tradition of the White Sunday pilgrimage dates back to 18th century, when thousand of pilgrims walked from Trnava town through the Carpathian forests up to Katarinka . In 2000, volunteers from our project renewed this tradition and started to organize the pilgrimage again on yearly basis.

The wandering itself began with the arrival of the train with the pilgrims at the station in Bukova and the iintroductiory word from of the organizers. More than 200 people walked through the Carpathian forests from Buková railway station and more than 300 visitors joined the event on the spot. The pilgrims were joined also by the Bishop of the Archdiocese of Bratislava Jozef Halko, who walked with them the full length of the route. The highlight of the program was the holy mass celebrated in the ruins of the Church of St. Catherine, which was attended by more than 500 pilgrims altogether. Apart from the bishop Halko, who was the main celebrant, the mass was joined also by several other priests who are close to the Katarinka project - Ondrej Chrvala, Miroslav Kovác, Ludovít Kubán, Jesuit Martin Halcak, Dominican Bartolomej Vladimir Hurnanský, Matej Juraj Šulík and Franciscan priest Zenius Félix-Mária Ziška. Many visitors, especially families with small children, enjoyed of the pleasant weather, stayed in the surroundings of Katarinka and spent there a pleasent afternoon.