The thirteenth edition of the Ars Celebrandi liturgical workshops started on Thursday, July 2, 2026, at the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Sorrows, Queen of Poland, in Licheń. These unique workshops, dedicated to the traditional liturgy of the Roman Catholic Church, are intended for priests, altar servers, and singers practicing Gregorian chant. Participants will learn all the skills necessary to celebrate Holy Mass in the classical Roman Rite, the Divine Office, devotions, sacraments, and sacramentalia.
The „Ars Celebrandi” workshops in Licheń are held with the permission of the Ordinary of the Diocese of Włocławek, Bishop Krzysztof Wętkowski. They are organized by the Ars Celebrandi Foundation and the „Una Voce Polonia” Association, affiliated with the international Catholic federation Foederatio Internationalis Una Voce. Their staff consists of individuals from diocesan pastoral ministries of the Latin tradition. Furthermore, they enjoy media patronage from renowned Polish Catholic media outlets, such as Radio Maryja and Telewizja TRWAM, Przewodnik Katolicki, Rycerz Niepokalanej, Pastores, the Liturgia.pl portal (Dominikański Ośrodek Liturgiczny) and Misyjne Drogi / misyjne.pl, as well as the international blog Rorate Caeli.
„It’s noteworthy that the ‘old mass’ includes many elements that engage the faithful in active participation: genuflections, bows, making numerous signs of the cross, prayerful dialogues with the priest. One prays with one’s whole body,” says Tomasz Olszyński, president of the Ars Celebrandi Foundation, the organizer of the workshops. „This dynamism and active participation of the faithful is not limited to the liturgy itself. Our workshops were born as a grassroots initiative of lay people from various parts of Poland who wanted to develop their liturgical practice. And the lay people still prepare these workshops: they bring the vestments, set up and decorate the altars, and handle all the organizational aspects. More broadly, the pastoral ministries of the Latin tradition in Poland, which, thanks to the kindness of Polish bishops, exist today in virtually every diocese in the country, were established as a result of the initiatives and requests of lay Catholics, and they still bear much of the burden of their operation.”
This year’s workshops brought together 170 participants from Poland and abroad (Germany, Slovakia, the USA, and Italy). The youngest participant is 10 years old, and the oldest is 73. The majority of participants are male, participating in the altar server classes. Young people learn piety and a love for the liturgy, so it’s no surprise that over the 13 years of their existence, the „Ars Celebrandi” workshops have already provided the Church with dozens of priestly vocations, primarily to diocesan and religious seminaries in Poland.
However, „Ars Celebrandi” is not only about acquiring skills through lectures and practical sessions, but also a retreat designed to deepen their spiritual formation. Some participants treat these workshops each year as private retreats, participating solely in liturgical celebrations. And these are numerous and varied: Holy Masses in the Roman and Dominican Rites, as well as so-called "Polish" Masses with ancient folk devotional songs, Gregorian and folk (translated by Franciszek Karpiński, with traditional melodies) Vespers, and other Breviary hours, the First Friday service with the exposition of the Blessed Sacrament, the evening Rosary and procession in honor of Our Lady of Licheń, which take place at the Licheń sanctuary every Saturday. Two requiem Masses will also be celebrated: for Antoni Kazimierz Ostrowski – Archbishop of Gniezno, Primate of Poland, and Bishop of Włocławek from 1763 to 1776 – and for the deceased buried in the local cemetery, with a stational procession. The retreat sermon, dedicated to the sacrament of penance and reconciliation, will be preached by Father Dawid Karaś from the Radom Catholic Tradition Circle.
The Ars Celebrandi traditional liturgy workshops at the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Licheń, Queen of Poland, will run until Thursday, July 9th.
[Video (in Polish) on Ars Celebrandi here]
