About 350 Orthodox pilgrims from Białystok and nearby towns in eastern Poland have begun a five-day pilgrimage on foot toward Mount Grabarka, where the Monastery of Saints Martha and Mary is located. The group expects to cover more than 120 kilometers, with the journey set to culminate on the eve of the Feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord.

Approximately 200 participants left Białystok on August 14, according to the website of the Polish Orthodox Church. Before the departure, Bishop Andrei of Supraśl served a prayer service (moleben) and blessed the pilgrimage crosses that participants will carry along the entire route, then place on Mount Grabarka. Another group of roughly 140 pilgrims departed the day before from the Monastery of Saint Onuphrius the Great in Jaćbłeczna.

The pilgrimage from Jaćbłeczna was organized by the Brotherhood of Orthodox Youth of the Lublin–Kholm Diocese.

The tradition is linked to an account from the 18th century, when, during a cholera epidemic, a local resident reportedly received a dream instruction to climb the mountain carrying a cross. He went together with others, and pilgrims prayed for deliverance from the disease. Since then, believers have made wooden crosses inscribed with their names and specific prayer requests, which they later leave around the monastery.

The practice continues today as a way to remember loved ones and offer prayers for health, express gratitude for help received, or raise other personal intentions. Crosses are especially numerous on Grabarka during the monastery’s main annual celebration—Transfiguration.

Mount Grabarka is often called the “mountain of crosses,” as thousands of wooden crosses surround the monastery at the top.

The Białystok pilgrims will pass through Zabludów, Ty niewicze, Cz yże, Orl y, Kleślele, Roga cze and T ełaty cze, with the longest stretch expected to be about 28 kilometers. They plan to arrive at Grabarka on August 18.

The pilgrimage from Jaćbłeczna is also scheduled for five days. Participants plan to walk more than 120 kilometers and join the celebrations on Mount Grabarka on August 18–19.

At the departure, Archbishop Abel of Lublin and Kholm described the annual walk to Grabarka as a special form of testimony to faith, saying that pilgrims carry with them prayer and belief—something, he said, modern people especially need.