Solemnity of Our Lady of Czestochowa
MIRACOLOUS ICON OF OUR LADY OF JASNA GÓRA – BRIGHT MOUNTAIN
“She who once spoke in song, later spoke in this Image, manifesting through it her maternal presence in the life of the Church and of the motherland. The Virgin of Jasna Gora has revealed her maternal solicitude for every soul; for every family; for every human being living in this land, working here, fighting and falling on the battlefield, condemned to extermination, fighting against himself, winning or losing; for every human being who must leave the soil of his motherland as an emigrant; for every human being.” (St John Paul II, Homily, Jasna Gora, June 4, 1979)
The greatest treasure of Jasna Góra is the Miraculous Image of the Mother of God. Thanks to it, Jasna Góra became one of the largest Marian sanctuaries in Poland in the 15th century. The fact why this happened did not explain either the tradition which assigns the authorship of the icon of Saint Luke Evangelist, or the protection by royal couple – Jadwiga and Ladislaus Jagiello. The reason for the uniqueness of this place must be deeper, but it must be stressed that there have never been any Marian apparitions at Jasna Góra, as was the case in other sanctuaries. The strength and mystery that attracts pilgrims to the feet of the Lady of Bright Mountain is Her Miraculous Icon. Without it, Jasna Góra would only be a collection of buildings, memorabilia and works of art, perhaps a beautiful and rich, but dead museum.
There are few miracles at Jasna Góra that could meet the requirements of a medical commission, such as the one in Lourdes, wrote Fr. prof. Janusz Pasierb. He explained that “the miracle of Jasna Góra seems to be based on something else. Above all, moral miracles happen here”.
The oldest description of the image of the Mother of God is provided by polish historian, Jan Długosz, in the Liber Beneficiorum: “The image of Mary the most glorious and most venerable Virgin and Lady, Queen of the world and our Queen (…) made with a strange and rare way of painting (…) with a transient expression of a face that perceives pervading special piety – if you were looking alive.” The painting is one of the types of performances known as Hodegetria. This name means “The one that guides you”. It shows Mary as the Mother of God, but also the Mother of every human being.
About the beginnings of the Icon and its history until 1382, we do not have certain and strictly historical news – only tradition and various pious applications. According to tradition, the Painting of Lady of Czestochowa was painted By St. Luke, Evangelista during the life of the Holy Lady. The same tradition even states that the painting is done on a table used by the Holy Family in Nazareth.
In the fourth century Saint Helena, the mother of the Emperor Constantine the Great, brought this Image to Constantinople with her. There the Icon was worshiped and helped in moments of especially great disasters as contagious diseases, epidemics, etc. Around the 9th or 10th century, the Image traveled north, where it finally settled permanently in Belzki Castle, northeast of Lviv, in Red Russia.
In 1382, Prince Vladislaus II of Opole, ruled in Ruthenia on behalf of King Louis the Hungaria. He wanted to protect the Image against possible desecration from the heathen Tatars (once during the siege of Belzki’s castle, the Tatar arrow falling through the window of the chapel hit the neck of the Mother of God) and decided to transport the Image to Opole in Poland. When on the way he stopped for a short rest in Częstochowa at the foot of the Bright Mountain church, Our Lady was to let him know her will, that she wanted to stay there. Prince Vladislaus II left the Image on Jasna Góra, entrusting it to the Paulin Fathers.
Crumbs from the history of the Miraculous Icon of Our Lady of Jasna Gora
The painting is painted on three linden boards with total dimensions: height: 121.8 cm, width: 81.3 cm, maximum thickness: 3.5 cm. The Icon presents the Virgin Mary in a standing posture, in a torso with the Infant Jesus in her arms. Mary is facing the faithful, and the face of the Child – towards the pilgrim, though she does not stop her eyes on him. Both faces show the expression of contemplation, as if some absence and seriousness. The rightcheek of the Mother of God is marked by two lines running parallel, cut by the third on the line of the nose. Six cuts are visible on the neck, two of which are visible quite clearly, while the other four – less. The baby clads in a carmine dress, rests on Mary’s left arm; he holds the book in his left hand and lifts up the right in a characteristic gesture of a teacher, ruler or blessing. Mary’s right-hand rests on her breast, pointing to Jesus, the only Savior of the world. Blue-gown dress and the same color of the maforion of the Mother of God are decorated with golden angels of the Angevin. Above the forehead of the Virgin, the painter placed a six-pointed star. The image of the Mother of God is painted on a background of blue-green color, which changes into the hue of the sea wave. The dominant elements of the icon are gilded nimbs around the heads of Mary and Jesus – the symbol of God the Father, which blends into one composition, constituting a characteristic detail, contrasting with the dark complexion of the faces of the holy figures. That is why sometimes the Mother of God is called the “Black Madonna”.
In 1430, the expensive votive offerings from the chapel were plundered at Jasna Góra, and the Miraculous Icon was damaged. After ripping off the valuables, the image was cut with a saber and broken. It was found, according to tradition, in the place where today stands the church of St. Barbara with a wonderful spring near Jasna Góra. Paulins Fathers brought the damaged painting to Krakow, to the court of King Ladislaus Jagiello, who along with his wife, Saint Hedwig, are the founders of the oldest part of the Chapel of Our Lady in Jasna Góra.
King Ladislaus Jagiello himself took care of the restoration of the Icon. There were numerous difficulties associated with the painting technique of the Holy Mother Icon.
The Icon was restored. Permanent traces of the destruction of the Image in 1430 are the scars on the Face of Our Lady.
A characteristic feature, which everyone will recognize the Jasna Góra Icon, are the scars on the face of the Mother of God. Jasna Gora’s painting bears signs of wounds and pain. There are many wounds on the Image (on the neck, on the face and two under the right eye). As if Our Lady would tell us, that she is the Mother and Queen of the martyred and tormented nation for centuries. Like the seven swords of sorrow pierced her heart at the foot of the Cross, now she carries the signs of painful wounds on her face in Bright Mountain.
On the left side of the image there are the insignia of Our Lady Queen of Poland, scepter and apple, donated by Polish Women in 1926. On the right side of the painting there are: aGolden Rose and a golden votive in the shape of a heart with the inscription “TOTUS TUUS” – given by Pope John Paul II in 1979 and 1982. An unusual and shocking votive left by Saint Pope John Paul II, currently displayed in a special box on the altar of Our Lady, there is a belt of his cassock, with blood and a hole from the bullet when he was shot during the attack on St. Peter’s Square on May 13, 1981.
The image of the Mother of God is covered by a silver curtain since 1723 with an allegorical composition referring to the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
From the very beginning, the Jasna Góra Icon became famous for miracles that made the Marian sanctuary in Częstochowa famous and brought pilgrims to Jasna Góra from all over Poland, and in subsequent centuries from more distant European countries. Polish historian Jan Długosz, who died in 1480, wrote: “From all of Poland and neighboring countries, namely: Silesia, Moravia, Prussia and Hungary, during the solemnity of Holy Mary – whose rare and devotional picture is here – pious people came for amazing miracles that our Lady and Advocate have done here”.
A national stronghold, a place of spiritual refuge
The indulgence privileges granted to Jasna Góra by the Holy See in the 15th century strengthened the position of this center as one of the most important sanctuaries in Poland. During the Reformation Jasna Góra played an important role, many conversions to Catholicism took place here.
During the Swedish invasion which is called the "Deluge" Jasna Góra resisted the Swedish army during the siege, which lasted from November 18 to December 26, 1655. The Swedish army was commanded by General Burchard Muller, with twelve officers and 3,275 soldiers under him. However, he had to withdraw from the monastery, defended by a small crew, consisting of one hundred and sixty soldiers "taken mostly from a plow", twenty nobility and servants, and seventy monks led by the prior Augustyn Kordecki.
The fact that the monastery was saved wasconsidered to be evidence of the protection of the Mother of God, whom on April 1, 1656 in Lviv, King John II Casimir proclaimed the Holy Mother as the Queen of the Polish Crown.
At the beginning of the 18th century, Jasna Góra defended itself against the Saxon and Swedish armies (in 1702, 1704 and 1705)."This case - as the secretary of the Swedish king, Olof Hernelin wrote in 1704 - alarmed the whole country, because this nation considers this monastery a Sanctissimum."
During the epidemic in 1711, the prior of the Pauline monastery in Warsaw, Fr. Ignacy Pokorski, initiated the first - and continues uninterrupted to this day - Warsaw pilgrimage to Our Lady of Częstochowa.
The image of Our Lady of Częstochowa was also venerated outside Poland. From the fifteenth century, it was worshiped in Hungary, until the end of the eighteenth century, the cult developed, among others in Germany, Austria, Slovakia, Croatia, Russia and America.
The importance of the cult was emphasized by subsequent coronations of the painting. The first took place on September 8, 1717 - the first coronation under papal rights outside Rome. In 1744, the act of entrustment by King August III and all of Poland to the Mother of God took place, and the Parliament in 1764 called the Mother of God of Częstochowa - the Queen of Poland in its laws - following the vows of king John II Casimir in Lviv.
In 1931, Pope Pius XI established the feast of Our Lady of Częstochowa on August 26. For the first time that day, Our Lady of Jasna Góra was honored in 1932 as part of the celebration of the 550th anniversary of Jasna Góra.
During the Nazi occupation, Our Lady of Częstochowa was the patron saint of Fighting Poland. In the "Diary" of the Governor General Hans Frank, the following words are preserved: "When all the lights for Poland went out, then there was always the Saint of Częstochowa and the Church." Even during the occupation, pilgrims went to Jasna Góra in small groups.
On the threshold of the communist era, at Jasna Góra, the Primate Hlond, together with the Polish episcopate and a crowd of millions of believers, entrusted the Polish nation to the Immaculate Heart of Mary on September 8, 1946. At the end of the ceremony he shouted forcefully from the Jasna Góra: “Polish people! The Polish nation swore allegiance to the Blessed Virgin Mary. Poland wants to remain Poland in which the Polish sun shines and the Mother of Christ. (...) We renewed our vows on behalf of the entire nation. Go and fulfill your vows.
In the post-war period, bishops, diocesan and religious clergy gathered in Jasna Góra to reflect on the shape of pastoral ministry in the times of another invasion, this time communist oppression.
Jasna Góra is one of the most important sanctuaries in Europe
As a result of all these events - as well as the pilgrimages of John Paul II to Poland - the pilgrimage movement to Our Lady of Częstochowa definitely increased in the 70's and 80's. At that time, following the example of the Warsaw pilgrimage, walking pilgrimages from other Polish dioceses were inaugurated. Paradoxically, the pilgrimage movement to Jasna Góra flourished during martial law. In 1982, the August pilgrimage from Warsaw wasaround 50,000. people. The strong devotion to the Mother of God is also evidenced by the fact that every fourth parish in Poland bears her name.
Since the 1970s, the devotion of Our Lady of Jasna Góra has become more and more international. In August, young people from many European countries, mainly from Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Slovakia and Hungary, begin to come to Jasna Góra, along with Polish pilgrimages, finding here a unique color and depth of prayer. The peak of the pilgrimage of young people to Jasna Góra took place in August 1991, when almost two million young people from all over the world came to Częstochowa for the World Youth Day, including approxomately 100,000. from the territory of the then USSR. Then John Paul II, using the metaphor of two lungs: eastern and western, called for the reintegration of Europe. In 1991 Jasna Góra was visited by the largest number of pilgrims in history - about 7 million.
John Paul II came to Jasna Góra and he prayed here during each of his pilgrimages to Poland. Similarly, Benedict XVI and Francis. Francis' stay on July 28, 2016 coincided with the celebration of the 1050th Anniversary of the Baptism of Poland. Earlier, on May 3, 2016, on the feast of Our Lady, Queen of Poland, Polish bishops, together with the faithful gathered at Jasna Góra, made the Act of Entrustment to Our Lady on the occasion of the 1050th Anniversary of the Baptism of Poland.
Today, the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Częstochowa is one of the most visited pilgrimage sites in Europe. In 2019, Jasna Góra was visited by nearly 4 million 400 thousand pilgrims, including 300 walking pilgrimages, and 133 thousand people participated in them.It is interesting that - despite the strong "secularization " visible in the World - in the last 20 years, the pilgrimage movement to Jasna Góra has not decreased, but increased. In 2001, it was 4 million pilgrims, and in 2019 – 5 million.
In 2018, 75,822 masses were celebrated at Jasna Góra, 6,950 sermons, homilies were delivered at Jasna Góra, 2,724,000 communions were distributed. Paulin’s and other clergy heard confessions for 35,750 hours, that is nearly 1,500 days.
“So many times we came here to this holy place with attentive pastoral ear, to listen to the beating of the heart of the Church and of that of the motherland in the heart of the Mother. Jasna Gora is, in fact, not only a place of pilgrimage for the Poles of the motherland and of the whole world but also the nation's shrine. One must listen in this holy place in order to hear the beating of the heart of the nation in the heart of the Mother. For her heart beats, we know, together with all the appointments of history, with all the happenings in our national life: how many times, in fact, has it vibrated with the laments of the historical sufferings of Poland, but also with the shouts of joy and victory! The history of Poland can be written in different ways; especially in the case of the history of the last centuries, it can be interpreted along different lines. But if we want to know how this history is interpreted by the heart of the Poles, we must come here, we must listen to this shrine, we must hear the echo of the life of the whole nation in the heart of its Mother and Queen. And if her heart beats with a tone of disquiet, if it echoes with solicitude and the cry for the conversion and strengthening of consciences, this invitation must be accepted. It is an invitation springing from maternal love, which in its own way is shaping the historical processes in the land of Poland.” (St John Paul II, Homily, Jasna Gora, June 4, 1979)
Until Tomorrow
fr. george