The Black Madonna of Poland

The History of the Polish National Shrine of Czestochowa is a mirror of the tormented and troubled history of the nations of Central and Eastern Europe and a key to the understanding of their spiritual resistance during their trials. 

According to the legend, St. Luke painted a portrait of the Blessed Virgin on the table made by Jesus Himself when He was an apprentice carpenter under the paternal guidance of St. Joseph. After the Crucifixion, this table was brought to Jerusalem; when the Holy City had fallen to the Romans the disciples kept it hidden during their wanderings. 

It was St. Helena, mother of Constantine the Great, who while searching for the Holy Cross found the picture of the Mother of Christ and took it to Constantinople. The venerated portrait of the Virgin thus remained from the third to the eighth century in Constantinople in a church built for the purpose of housing the precious relic. 

In the troublesome eighth century the picture was again in great danger and was carried to the wilderness to be hidden in remote places like the forests of Belsk, in Eastern Poland. Even in that part of Europe there was no real peace, because of the migrations from the East, which constantly moved westward. During the first Tartar invasion of Europe the picture escaped harm. In 1382 the Tartars occupied Belsk, murdering and looting, but the portrait of the Holy Virgin was not discovered by the heathen invader, for a mysterious cloud enveloped the chapel. 

After the Tartars returned to their Asiatic homeland the Prince of Belsk was ordered in a dream by an angel to take the picture to an insignificant, obscure village named Czestochowa. There it was confided to the custody of the monks of St. Paul of the Desert who have guarded it down to the present day.

Comparative calm reigned around Czestochowa until 1430 and the renown of the miraculous picture grew. During this time King Jagiello united Poland and Lithuania and himself became an ardent Christian. He built a great Gothic cathedral around Our Lady's chapel and kings, princes, noblemen and peasants provided the sanctuary with precious and priceless votive offerings. 

In 1430 a new danger appeared on the horizon as religious wars began to ravage this part of Europe. These were first the wars between the followers of Jan Hus and the Catholic princes. The Hussites attacked Czestochowa, murdered, burned, robbed and took the Holy Picture. There is a story that as they bore it away their horses stopped at the limits of the village and no beating could incite them to move forward. 

Thus the picture of the Virgin was saved. When the pious monks found the picture, retaken from the Hussites, it lay in the mud covered with earth and blood. They immediately wanted to clean it but found that all wells had gone dry in fighting the fire. It was at this time that a miraculous fountain sprung up, a spring that has since healed thousands and thousands of sick and has supplied water to millions of pilgrims.

The Polish Nation attributes its very existence to the help of the Virgin of Czestochowa. The veneration of the picture of the Madonna is the expression of the Polish nation's faith and gratitude. After the Hussite invasion the Poles fought for three hundred years with the Teutonic Crusaders, and all the decisive victories won by the Polish nation in these battles are attributed to the miraculous help of the Holy Virgin. 

Thus the safety of the shrine of Czestochowa is identified with the very safety and independence of the whole nation. During the wars with the Swedes in the seventeenth century Czestochowa was besieged by the whole Swedish army for more than six weeks, but the army of the enemy was defeated and the invader driven from Polish soil. Thus Czestochowa again defended Polish unity and independence. 

The following year, 1656, the Holy Virgin was acclaimed Queen of Poland and Czestochowa became the spiritual capital of the nation. But there was little peace around Czestochowa for warfare continued first against the Princes of the Reformation and then against the Turks who, having enslaved the whole Balkan Peninsula and the greater part of Hungary, had arrived at the very doors of Vienna. It was the last minute help of the Polish king Sobieski that saved Vienna and the West. Before Sobieski and his army undertook their crusade he and his knights gathered at Czestochowa and dedicated themselves to their Mother in Heaven.

After the partition of Poland between Austria, Prussia, and Russia the Polish people, although divided into three different states under foreign domination, remained undivided in their faithfulness to Mary, Queen of Poland. In every Polish church there was and there is still a reproduction of the Madonna of Czestochowa. 

When in 1919 Poland regained its independence the newly organized Soviet Russian Red Army immediately invaded the unified country and again the whole of Poland had recourse to its protectress. The Holy Eucharist was carried in procession in every city and every village, novenas were held to Our Lady of Czestochowa in each church. 

On September 14, 1920, the Russians stood at the Vistula and threatened Warsaw. 

According to the legend, on September 15th, the day of Our Lady of Sorrows, the Madonna appeared in the clouds above Warsaw. This day was the turning point in the war. In Polish history this victory is called "the Miracle at the Vistula." During the Nazi invasion and subsequent occupation, people came only secretly to Czestochowa because Hitler prohibited the pilgrimages. The chapel was damaged during World War II but was later repaired and in 1945 half a million pilgrims came to express their gratitude for liberation from Nazism. 

On September 8, 1946, 1,500,000 persons participated at the National Shrine in the rededication of the entire nation to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. 

Credits : Catholic Culture 

Our Lady Of Kursk

The first historical data concerning the miraculous icon of Our Lady of Kursk go back to the year 1295. The holy image was found in that year at the foot of an old oak tree in the neighborhood of the city of Rilsk. 

At the moment when a passerby discovered the image, so the legend relates, a fountain suddenly sprang from the earth-- and this fountain still exists. The populace of the city and the neighboring province immediately erected a log chapel and placed the icon at its main altar.

In 1898, revolutionaries threw bombs into the cathedral of Kursk. The church and even that small corner where the icon was placed were heavily damaged. The image of the Mother of God, however, remained undamaged. In 1918, after the Bolshevik Revolution, the picture disappeared again from the monastery. It was found after two months at the bottom of a deep well concealed in a sack, robbed of all its jewels. 

During the fights of the revolutionaries with the White army, the image remained safely in the monastery of Kursk. 

But in 1919, the anti-Bolshevik army withdrew from Kursk and the population feared that the image might fall into the hands of the godless. Thus the icon was carried secretly and given from hand to hand. Finally, in 1920, it reached Constantinople where it did not remain very long, being taken away by Tsarist officers and priests into Yugoslavia. This country sheltered for a long time the refugees of the White Russian army and the highest representatives of the Russian Orthodox Church. 

Between the two wars, the miraculous image of Our Lady of Kursk continued to visit various centers of the Russian emigration. Always in the care of Metropolitan Anasthassy, it escaped destruction during World War II; its hiding place was known only to those entrusted with its safe-keeping. 

After the war, it was announced that the miraculous icon of Our Lady of Kursk was in Munich, Germany, but that it was in the care of only the highest dignitaries of the Russian Orthodox Church in exile.

The holy image of the Madonna of Kursk is at this time the most sacred relic of the entire Russian Orthodox Church in exile. After its short stay in Munich, it crossed the ocean and its temporary dwelling place today is in New York City at the chapel of the Synod of the Bishops of the Russian Orthodox Church. 

But it travels continuously. There is in the world no other holy image of Our Lady that has been carried to so many different places and countries; that has suffered such adventurous, dangerous voyages. Of this we can be certain: no matter how long this holy image is forced to remain far from its place of origin, there will be no permanent abode for her until she returns to the vicinity of the oak tree in the forest of Rilsk.

Credits : Catholic Culture 

Our Lady of Iviron

Our Lady of Iviron is the famous wonder-working icon of Our Blessed Mother, which was formerly kept in a special small chapel at the gate to the Red Square in Moscow, and venerated as the special protectress of Moscow. 

Iviron, means of Georgian origin. 

There was no Tsar who would come to the city of Moscow without first driving to this shrine and offering his homage. 

Before the 1917 revolution, men and women flocked to this little chapel to offer their prayers to Our Lady. But the miraculous image was not confined to this chapel at the gates of the city. 

The Madonna of Iviron was borne away each day in a stagecoach, drawn by six horses, to visit the houses of the sick, to bless with her presence a wedding, a christening, or some other great religious celebration. While this original was carried around, a copy of the sacred image replaced it in the shrine.

The Iviron Madonna is a copy of the famous icon that rests in the Greek Orthodox monastery of Iviron on Mount Athos. This monastery was founded in the tenth century by three Georgian monks.

The Mount Athos community of Greek Orthodox monks most probably became a general monastery when the individual hermits who chose this secluded spot decided to create a community.

Athos is a small tongue of land projecting from high mountains into the Aegean Sea. The city of the orthodox monks comprises about 120 monasteries, housing approximately four thousand monks. All monasteries are dedicated to the Holy Virgin, Mother of God.

In the year 999, the monks observed a flaming shape on the ocean; at the same time, the Mother of God appeared in the dream of an old Georgian hermit monk named Gabriel who lived in the monastery of the Georgians in the Mount Athos community. 

The Mother of God ordered the Georgian monk to go to the seashore, walk on the waves and retrieve the icon. The old Georgian acted accordingly before the astonished eyes of the people. He walked on the surface of the water, took the icon and brought it to the altar in the church of the Georgian monastery of the Iberians.

At the beginning of the seventeenth century, Tsar Alexis of Russia suddenly fell ill. 

Compelled by an inner conviction, he asked that the Virgin of the Gate be brought from Athos to heal him. The monks, however, were not willing to separate themselves from the cherished protectress of their gate. 

They decided that a special copy be made.

The copy was carried to Moscow in 1648 and the Tsar was cured instantly. After that, the holy image was placed in the little chapel on the square before the Kremlin and it became a sign of safety, a place of repose for the people. 

Following the Bolshevik Revolution of 1917, the Moscow chapel of the Iviron Madonna was destroyed, but loving hands saved the icon and for many years it was hidden away in the closed Donskoi monastery. In 1943, it was moved to the Sokholniki Cathedral and Moscow believers pray there, to their beloved protectress.

Credits : Catholic Culture 

Our Lady of Lujan -- Patroness of Argentina

According to Facts and History The Statue of Our Lady of Lujan owes its origin to a Portuguese Settler who lived for many years as a Rancher in Argentina.Once on a visit to Brazil He was enchanted by a Beautiful Statue of Our Lady and brought it back with him to Argentina.

Let us forward to a couple of hundred years back now. The Marian Basilica of Our Lady of Lujan is the most important Marian Centre of Pilgrimage for all Catholics of South America and Central America as well.

Lujan is a great religious center, with many churches.

Soon after the first church had been completed, it proved insufficient to provide for the pilgrims who came from all over the vast country. Many recorded miracles occurred, and various Kings of Spain (Argentina was then a colony of Spain) bestowed upon the shrine gifts and jewels as ornate as those donated to the oldest and most famous ones in Europe.

Argentina has many other holy places dedicated to the Virgin, but Lujan is the most outstanding.Several religious orders, the Carmelites, the Dominicans, the Jesuits, the Franciscans and others have established churches and monasteries around the shrine, which now is in the custody of the Lazarists.

In 1904, the image was placed in the new cathedral, while it was still under construction. The cathedral was completed and consecrated in 1910. It is one of the most important in the world and can best be compared with the Gigantic Spanish Cathedrals.The Tiny Figure of the Madonna, with her wide open blue eyes, surrounded by a golden aureole, clothed in heavy, shining robes looks into the distance. Everything about her is of a corresponding grandeur. Both the material wealth of a country and the vigorous faith of its people here give expression to the spirit of the New World.

By the end of the eighteenth century Lujan became the most important national pilgrimage site in Argentina. During the fight for independence, she became the symbol of victory and the captured flags were placed in the sanctuary.

General San Martin, who passed through the Andes with his army following his successful campaign, laid his sword down forever in the cathedral in honor of Our Lady of Lujan.

In 1930, on the occasion of the three hundredth anniversary of the foundation of the sanctuary, the church housing the image was elevated to the rank of a Basilica. At the same time, Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay recognized Our Lady of Lujan as their Protectress.

Recently the Argentine Army chose the Virgin of Lujan as its patroness. And according to an old custom a regiment of the army was dedicated to her services. This regiment becomes her "property" and the members of the regiment call her "La generala del Lujan."

Credits : Catholic Culture on Our Lady of Lujan  

Brazil's Patroness

Popular Religiosity has an important place in the life of Brazilian Catholics and has helped to bring people closer to God and deepen their faith.

By far the biggest religious attraction of all is the Shrine of Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception at Aparecida (Nossa Senhora de Conceicao Aparecida). 

As many as 8 million pilgrims come here every year to pray to Our Lady of Aparecida ("Our Lady Who Appeared"), who is not only Patron Saint of Brazil, but also of mothers-to-be, the newborn, the rivers, the sea, gold, honey and beauty. 

It is arguably the most important Marian shrine in the Americas.

Saint Pope John Paul II prayed there in 1980.

The devotion's origins date to 1717, when three fishermen threw a net into the Paraiba River, less than 200 miles from Sao Paulo. On hauling it in, they found a headless statue of a Black Virgin. 

Casting their net a second time, they dragged in the head. After that, they caught enormous amounts of fish and concluded that the statue had miraculous powers.

One of the fishermen, Felipe Pedroso, took the 3-foot-tall dark brown wooden statue back home. 

People flocked to see it, and a cult soon started. Many graces were reported as people in Brazil and all over Latin America came to know about the miraculous statue.

In 1904, the 50th anniversary of the dogma of the Immaculate Conception, Sao Paulo's Archbishop crowned the statue, which by then was covered with a heavy mantle of richly embroidered cloth. 

In 1930, Pope Pius XII proclaimed Our Lady of Aparecida, whose feast day is Oct. 12, to be the Principal patroness of Brazil.

After many earlier churches, a Shrine was built in 1955 to accommodate the crowds. 

Pope John Paul II blessed the shrine during his visit in 1980. 

It holds 45,000 people.

Credits : Our Sunday Visitor 

National Shrine of Mary Help of Christians Slovenia

Many faithful are rediscovering the traditional walking pilgrimage on some truly outstanding routes.

Many were almost forgotten.

One outstanding shrine is in the Julian Alps—mountains named after Julius Caesar, who founded the city at the foot of the mountains.

There, in the southern limestone mountains near the Austrian border, along the Slava River, a tributary of the Danube, is the National Marian Shrine of Brezje, in the beautiful and friendly land of Slovenia. It's an easy train ride from Venice, Italy.

The story of the Slovene National Shrine begins in 1800, when a parish priest gave orders to enlarge the Church of St. Vitus with a small chapel in honour of Mary, Help of Christians. In the Austro-Hungarian Empire, there was great devotion to Our Lady under this title.

In 1814, Leopold Layer, a Slovenian artist from nearby Kranj, painted the image of Our Lady enshrined there today, based upon a popular motif from Innsbruck, Austria. In 1863, after several miraculous healings, word spread and pilgrimages began to be organized.

Brezje became a popular place of prayer, and the church was too small for all the pilgrims, so a new and truly majestic basilica was built in 1900.

Today the shrine, staffed by Franciscans, draws many pilgrims. Some choose to walk from nearby Ljubljana, a former Roman city and today the capital of Slovenia and the largest city in the country.

St. John Paul II made a pilgrimage to Brezje in May 1996. He said, "A pilgrimage is an image of our life, and pilgrimage shrines are images of the heavenly Jerusalem."

Pilgrims who set off on foot to Brezje find many others on their path. This journey requires a firm will and some sacrifice to reach the destination to meet Mary, Mother of hope and consolation.

The miraculous image of Our Lady is enshrined in a massive golden frame held in place by an exquisite golden-leaf reredos, a work of art itself, visible to all pilgrims in an intimate side chapel where arriving groups gather for prayer.

Each day grace can be seen at work in the presence of the image: arriving pilgrims make their peace with God, seeking holy things and receiving reconciliation with the God of peace and mercy through the sacrament of mercy, confession.

The Basilica of Mary, Help of Christians, at Brezje is a national shrine not only for Slovenians, but also for their diaspora throughout the world. Since Slovenia opened up from Soviet oppression in 1991, the site has drawn thousands of Slovenian nationals and a growing number of others.

The shrine is amid majestic Alps, with the highest peak in Slovenia, Triglav, towering above. The Creator's magnificent works are visible for all to contemplate.

The pilgrimage to Brezje, an important undertaking historically for the Slovenian people, is today being rediscovered and growing in popularity. Making a vow to reach Brezje on foot is a longstanding custom. The walk 40 kilometres can be done in one long day.

An important decision in any pilgrim's life is where to travel and visit. Brezje is highly recommended for those who have the time or wish to enjoy untouched countryside. Travel back in time to a country described by many as one of Europe's best-kept secrets.

As a sign of gratitude and devotion to Mary, Help of Christians, locals take part in a candle-lit procession after Mass on Saturdays from Pentecost to All Saints Day. The candles are handmade by Carthusian Monks, and the devotion includes praying the rosary and singing folk songs. Entire Slovenian Parishes participate.

A pilgrims' office, gift shop, and museum are open year round. Picnics in the lovely park in front of the church are welcome. The church is open at 7 a.m. each day of the year. It closes at 8 p.m. in the summer and 7 p.m. in the winter.

Many groups conclude their pilgrimage with a prayer to Our Lady, Help of Christians, strengthening their devotion to Our Lady.

Devotion to Our Lady under this title has long had a special place in the hearts of many Europeans: Austrians, Croats, Italians, and Hungarians.

May this custom continue to develop among the new generation.

Credits : B.C. Catholic 

The Queenship of Our Lady

This Feast is celebrated every year on August 22.

With the certainty of faith we know that Jesus Christ is king in the literal, and absolute sense of the word; for He is true God and Man. This does not, however, prevent Mary from sharing His royal prerogatives, though in a limited manner; for she was the Mother of Christ, and Christ is God; and she shared in the work of the Divine Redeemer, in His struggles against enemies and in the triumph He won over them all.

From this union with Christ the King she obtains so eminent a status that she stands high above all created things; and upon this same union with Christ is based that royal privilege enabling her to distribute the treasures of the kingdom of the Divine Redeemer.

And lastly, this same union with Christ is the fountain of the inexhaustible efficacy of her motherly intercession in the presence of the Son and of the Father. Without doubt, then, The Blessed Mother possesses a dignity that far transcends all other creatures. In the eyes of her Son she takes precedence over everyone else. In order to help us understand the preeminence that the Mother of God enjoys over all creation, it would help to remember that from the first moment of her conception the Holy Virgin was filled with such a plenitude of grace as to surpass the graces enhancing all the saints.

Credits : Catholic Culture on the Queenship of Mary