Czestochawa, Poland, 1382
In Poland there is an icon that is often referred to as the Black Madonna. This icon, which is one of the most famous in the world, is part of a larger school of dark-skinned images of the Virgin Mary and the infant Christ. There are several Black Madonna icons as well as statues that were especially popular during the medieval period in Europe.
The Black Madonna icon in Poland, Our Lady of Czestochawa, is one of the most famous icons in the world. Some even believe that this icon changed the course of history in Poland. According to one church tradition, this image was painted by the apostle Luke. Reportedly, while he was painting it, the Virgin Mary told him many things about the life of Christ, which he ultimately included in his Gospel.
Although one tradition holds that the icon was created by Luke in the first century, the icon seems to have disappeared from the popular eye for a few hundred years, resurfacing in A.D. 326, when it was discovered by Saint Helen in Jerusalem. Saint Helen passed the icon to her son, the Emperor Constantine who was reportedly able to scare off an invading army by placing the icon on the walls of the city. According to accounts of this event, the soldiers took one look at the icon and fled.
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Pope John Paul II had a lifelong devotion to the Black Madonna. As a student, he visited this icon and returned again shortly after he became Pope. He loved to mention the miraculous history surrounding the Black Madonna in sermons, and he treasured his own copy of the icon of Our Lady of Czestochawa, which he kept in his private chapel at the Vatican.
After this event, the icon passed through many hands and finally found its way to Poland. In 1382, the Virgin Mary appeared to the man who possessed the icon at the time, Prince Ladislaus of Opolo. During the course of this apparition, the Virgin Mary asked that the icon be placed at a mountaintop monastery, Jasna Gora, located in Czestochowa.
After the icon was moved, many miracles were reported and recorded in a book at the monastery. One of the most remarkable events occurred in 1430, when the Tartars took over the monastery. When one of them attempted to steal the icon, he found that it became heavier and heavier the farther he walked. Finally, in a fit of desperation he took out a knife and slashed the cheeks of the Virgin Mary 157 and threw the icon into a river. Although it was eventually recovered and the slashes were repaired multiple times, the wounds mysteriously continue to be visible.
symbolism
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Many believe that Our Lady of Czestochowa helped protect Poland during invasions and wars. In 1655, the entire country was taken over by Charles X of Sweden. Only a few Polish soldiers and monks from Jasna Gora were able to fight for resistance. Although they were sorely outnumbered, they successfully resisted the Swedes for forty days, and the Swedish soldiers fled.
On September 14, 1920, the Russian army was preparing to attack Warsaw, but their plans changed when they saw a vision of a woman in the skies over Warsaw. After that frightening experience, they felt they could not invade Warsaw.
During World War II, when Poland was occupied by the Nazis, Hitler demanded an end to all pilgrimages. In a brave show of defiance, nearly half a million Polish people ignored Hitler's orders and visited their precious icon. When Poland was liberated in 1945, one-and-a-half million Polish people visited the shrine to offer their gratitude to Our Lady of Czestochowa for her deliverance and protection. Three years later, when Russia captured Warsaw, 800,000 Polish people again risked their lives, passing the Communist soldiers who patrolled the roads as they made their way to visit the sanctuary at Czestochowa for the Feast of the Assumption.
