Inspired by the teachings of Sts. John Paul II and Maximilian Kolbe, sculptor MARIUSZ DRAPIKOWSKI and Piotr Ciołkiewicz, president of the Comunità Regina della Pace (Queen of Peace Community), have the aim to bring perpetual adoration of the Blessed Sacrament for the intention of world peace across the globe
Piotr Pajestka explains “The objective of the Association is to promote prayer for peace during the direct encounter with Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament. We pray for the gift of peace for the world, but also for the grace to experience peace in our hearts.”
One way of accomplishing this is through "12 Stars in the Crown of Mary, Queen of Peace", a project to create twelve Prayer Centers in places affected by armed conflicts, lack of understanding between peoples and religions, both currently and in the past. The first Center was established at the fourth Station of the Cross in Jerusalem, but has since been moved to the Chapel of the Milk Grotto in Bethlehem.
The 12 stars in the name refer to “the crown of 12 stars” on Mary’s head mentioned in the Book of Revelation. The monstrance in each of the eight existing centers for perpetual adoration refers to this image of Mary.
Studio, a workshop run by the father-and-son team of Mariusz and Kamil Drapikowski, designed all the monstrances. “Our inspiration for designing these monstrances comes from reading sacred Scripture and the exegesis of St. John Paul II and Pope Benedict.”
The eight existing “stars” in the Crown of Mary, Queen of Peace are found in areas that have been ravaged by conflict, bringing adoration to those in particular need.
The second center of perpetual adoration for peace to be opened was in the Sanctuary of Our Lady, Queen of Peace in Ozernoye, Kazakhstan, near the geographic center of the Eurasian landmass and the site of the suffering of many peoples under Josef Stalin. Asia’s second center is in Dagupan in the Philippines, a country currently ravaged by terrorist attacks sponsored by the Islamic State.
The monstrances are now found in Namyang, South Korea. The Namyang Center of Prayer for Peace was opened after Drapikowski and Ciołkiewicz heard of Korean pilgrims in Medjugorje walking up the CrossMountain on their knees to pray for the reconciliation of their nation. The Korean center took on a more concrete shape later, when Michał Rzepka, a Pole who lives in South Korea, and his Korean wife, Agnes, supported this initiative. Several months later, the world was surprised as the leaders of North Korea began talks with their peers in South Korea and the United States.
According to Drapikowski, Father Francis Xavier Lee Sang Gak, the custodian of the Namyang prayer center, is convinced that the North’s slow opening to the world is related to the perpetual adoration set in motion in 2017.Africa continues to be a land marked by conflict, and both African Centers of Prayer for Peace were established in sites of great human suffering. The first is in Kibeho,Rwanda, the site of Marian apparitions in the 1980s and the place where the horrors of the 1994 Rwandan genocide occurred. The other African site is located in Yamoussoukro,Ivory Coast.
In Europe they are found in Medjugorje,Bosnia and Herzegovina. and Niepokalanów, Poland. This city is just outside Warsaw, which suffered more than any other city during World War II, with 85% of its buildings destroyed and most of its inhabitants killed or displaced.
Two more are planned for the Americas, one for Australia and another for
Papua New Guinea.
Monstrances:
Top - Kazakhstan
Left - Niepokalanów, Poland
Right- Rwanda
Left- Medjugorje, Bosnia and Herzegovina
