On the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, celebrated on Saturday, 14 September, a great prayer gathering will take place throughout Poland. Up to 100,000 people are expected to attend the gathering at Kruszyn airport near Włocławek. Hundreds of other prayer events are being held around the country.

Maciej Bodasiński, spokesperson for the 'Solo Dios Basta Foundation', who is one of the organisers said: "During her apparitions in Fatima, the Mother of God, asked everyone to carry out acts of penance and to pray the Rosary. We have already organised the 'Great Penance Day', during which we repented for the sins of the Polish nation and the Rosary prayer around the borders of our country. We are convinced that Our Lady invites us under the Cross of her Son Jesus. At a time when so many are turning away from Christ, when the eternal life of so many people is in danger, when our eyes more and more seek earthly things, we want to lift our heads up and look at Jesus, who dies for us on the Cross."

In Zakopane, during his pilgrimage to his homeland in 1997, Pope John Paul II told Polish people: "Defend the Cross; do not offend God's name in your hearts, in family or social life. Today I thanked God for your forebears, who planted a Cross on the top of Mount Giewont. This Cross looks over the whole of Poland from the Tatra Mountains to the Baltic Sea. And this Cross says to the whole Poland: 'Sursum corda' - 'Lift up your hearts'. We need the whole of Poland, from the Baltic Sea to the Tatra Mountains, to look towards the Cross at Mount Giewont, hearing and repeating: 'Sursum corda'".

Archbishop Marek Jędraszewski, Archbishop of Krakow, and vice president of the Polish Bishop's Conference, said in a statement: "A replica of the cross from Mount Giewont will be present on the site of 'Poland under the Cross' prayer event at Kruszyn airport near Wloclawek in western Poland. The event will take place in spiritual unity with Golgotha, the Calvary and the Basilica of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem, where at 3pm local time, there will be the Eucharist celebrated for the intention of the Church, Poland and the whole world.

"Bishops are inviting everyone to spiritual unity with 'Poland under the Cross'. Therefore, we can now say that this is a 'nationwide' event.

"Today, when so many forces of spiritual evil strike the Church and the faithful, let us be led by Our Lady under the Cross of Christ."

Organizer and Catholic film maker Lech Dokowicz said: "There is a clear movement in the hearts of bishops and lay Catholics throughout Poland, as the organisation of the prayer under the Cross continues to gain ever greater spiritual momentum. The history of our country clearly shows that when the Polish nation stays faithful to God, the Gospel and the Holy Cross it lives and prospers. We want to rebuild our bond with God. We want to put up a fight for our faith and for holiness. We want to beg God to pour out the Holy Spirit on us, Polish people, so we can regain the power to fight against sin.

"Many will pray in their own parishes, before mission or roadside crosses and in chapels. During the past four days we had 300 prayer locations that signed up to a map on our website. At the moment, there are over 700 prayer locations in total. We invite Catholics from all over the world to come and join us, here in Poland, to see how Polish people pray and consecrate their life and country to Jesus Christ."

'Poland under the Cross' will be televised live on Polish national TV and radio.