August 15 is the Assumption of the Virgin Mary, a public holiday, which celebrates the Virgin Mary's assent to heaven and is marked by religious services at churches throughout Poland. It is a day when Catholics honour the Blessed Virgin Mary.

 

The Blessed Virgin Mary plays a very important for every Pole and is considered the Queen of Poland.

 

On April 1, 1656, at the cathedral in Lwów (now Lviv in northwestern Ukrainian), Poland's King Jan II Kazimierz Waza proclaimed her the Patron and Queen of the kingdom. Since that time the Blessed Virgin Mary has been the symbol of Polish national and religious freedom.