Black Madonna of Częstochowa
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The Black Madonna of Częstochowa ( pl, Czarna Madonna / Matka Boska Częstochowska; la, Imago thaumaturga Beatae Virginis Mariae Immaculatae Conceptae, in Claro Monte, lit=Miraculous Image of the Immaculate Conception, the Blessed Virgin Mary in Clear Mountain), also known as Our Lady of Częstochowa, is a venerated
icon An icon () is a religious work of art, most commonly a painting, in the cultures of the Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, and Catholic churches. They are not simply artworks; "an icon is a sacred image used in religious devotion". The most ...
of the
Blessed Virgin Mary Mary; arc, ܡܪܝܡ, translit=Mariam; ar, مريم, translit=Maryam; grc, Μαρία, translit=María; la, Maria; cop, Ⲙⲁⲣⲓⲁ, translit=Maria was a first-century Jews, Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Saint Joseph, Jose ...
housed at the
Jasna Góra Monastery The Jasna Góra Monastery ( pl, Jasna Góra , ''Luminous Mount'', hu, Fényes Hegy, lat, Clarus Mons) in Częstochowa, Poland, is a shrine dedicated to the Virgin Mary and one of the country's places of pilgrimage. The image of the Black Mad ...
in Częstochowa,
Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...
. Several
pontiff A pontiff (from Latin ''pontifex'') was, in Roman antiquity, a member of the most illustrious of the colleges of priests of the Roman religion, the College of Pontiffs."Pontifex". "Oxford English Dictionary", March 2007 The term "pontiff" was la ...
s have recognised the venerated icon, beginning with Pope Clement XI, who issued a
canonical coronation A canonical coronation ( la, Coronatio Canonica) is a pious institutional act of the pope, duly expressed in a bull, in which the pope bestows the right to impose an ornamental crown, a diadem or an aureole to an image of Christ, Mary or J ...
to the image on 8 September 1717 via the
Vatican Vatican may refer to: Vatican City, the city-state ruled by the pope in Rome, including St. Peter's Basilica, Sistine Chapel, Vatican Museum The Holy See * The Holy See, the governing body of the Catholic Church and sovereign entity recognized ...
Chapter. It has also merited three pontifical
golden rose The Golden Rose is a gold ornament, which popes of the Catholic Church have traditionally blessed annually. It is occasionally conferred as a token of reverence or affection. Recipients have included churches and sanctuaries, royalty, military ...
s to date.


The icon

The painting (122 × 82 centimetres) displays a traditional composition well known in the
icon An icon () is a religious work of art, most commonly a painting, in the cultures of the Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, and Catholic churches. They are not simply artworks; "an icon is a sacred image used in religious devotion". The most ...
s of
Orthodox Christianity Orthodoxy (from Greek: ) is adherence to correct or accepted creeds, especially in religion. Orthodoxy within Christianity refers to acceptance of the doctrines defined by various creeds and ecumenical councils in Antiquity, but different Chur ...
. The Virgin Mary is shown as the "
Hodegetria A Hodegetria , ; russian: Одиги́трия, Odigítria ; Romanian: Hodighitria, or Virgin Hodegetria, is an iconographic depiction of the Theotokos (Virgin Mary) holding the Child Jesus at her side while pointing to him as the source of s ...
" version (meaning "One Who Shows the Way" or “Οδηγήτρια” in Greek). In it, Mary directs attention away from herself, gesturing with her right hand toward Jesus as the source of salvation. In turn, the child extends his right hand toward the viewer in blessing while holding a book of gospels in his left hand. The icon shows Mary in
fleur-de-lis The fleur-de-lis, also spelled fleur-de-lys (plural ''fleurs-de-lis'' or ''fleurs-de-lys''), is a lily (in French, and mean 'flower' and 'lily' respectively) that is used as a decorative design or symbol. The fleur-de-lis has been used in the ...
robes. The origins of the icon and the date of its composition are still contested among scholars. One difficulty in dating the icon is due in part to its original image being painted over after being severely damaged by robbers in 1430. The wooden panel backing the painting was broken, and the image slashed.
Medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...
restorers unfamiliar with the encaustic method found that the paints they applied to the damaged areas "simply sloughed off the image", according to the medieval chronicler Risinius. Their solution was to erase the original image and repaint it on the original panel. The original features of an Orthodox icon were softened; the nose was made more aquiline.


History


Lucan tradition

The icon of Our Lady of Częstochowa has been intimately associated with Poland for the past 600 years. Its history before it arrived in Poland is shrouded in numerous legends that trace the icon's origin to
Luke the Evangelist Luke the Evangelist (Latin: '' Lucas''; grc, Λουκᾶς, '' Loukâs''; he, לוקאס, ''Lūqās''; arc, /ܠܘܩܐ לוקא, ''Lūqā’; Ge'ez: ሉቃስ'') is one of the Four Evangelists—the four traditionally ascribed authors of t ...
, who painted it on a cedar table top from the
Holy Family The Holy Family consists of the Child Jesus, the Virgin Mary and Saint Joseph. The subject became popular in art from the 1490s on, but veneration of the Holy Family was formally begun in the 17th century by Saint François de Laval, the fir ...
house. The same legend holds that the painting was discovered in Jerusalem in 326 by Helena, who brought it back to
Constantinople la, Constantinopolis ota, قسطنطينيه , alternate_name = Byzantion (earlier Greek name), Nova Roma ("New Rome"), Miklagard/Miklagarth (Old Norse), Tsargrad ( Slavic), Qustantiniya ( Arabic), Basileuousa ("Queen of Cities"), Megalopolis ( ...
and presented it to her son,
Constantine the Great Constantine I ( , ; la, Flavius Valerius Constantinus, ; ; 27 February 22 May 337), also known as Constantine the Great, was Roman emperor from AD 306 to 337, the first one to convert to Christianity. Born in Naissus, Dacia Mediterran ...
."Black Madonna Shrine", Franciscan Missionary Brothers


Arrival in Częstochowa

The oldest documents from
Jasna Góra Jasna may refer to: Places * Jasna, a village in Poland * Jasná, a village and ski resort in Slovakia Other uses * Jasna (given name), a Slavic female given name * JASNA, the Jane Austen Society of North America See also * Yasna Yasna (;
state that the picture traveled from
Constantinople la, Constantinopolis ota, قسطنطينيه , alternate_name = Byzantion (earlier Greek name), Nova Roma ("New Rome"), Miklagard/Miklagarth (Old Norse), Tsargrad ( Slavic), Qustantiniya ( Arabic), Basileuousa ("Queen of Cities"), Megalopolis ( ...
via
Belz Belz ( uk, Белз; pl, Bełz; yi, בעלז ') is a small city in Lviv Oblast of Western Ukraine, near the border with Poland, located between the Solokiya river (a tributary of the Bug River) and the Richytsia stream. Belz hosts the adminis ...
. Eventually, it came into the possession of
Władysław Opolczyk Vladislaus II of Opole ( pl, Władysław Opolczyk, german: Wladislaus von Oppeln, hu, Oppelni László, uk, Владислав Опольчик; ca. 1332 – 18 May 1401), nicknamed Naderspan, was Duke of Opole from 1356, Count palatine of Hu ...
,
Duke of Opole The following is a list of monarchs who used the title Duke of Opole and controlled the city and the surrounding area either directly or indirectly (see also Duchy of Opole). Piast dynasty * 1163-1173 Bolesław I the Tall (Bolesław Wysoki), Du ...
, and adviser to Louis of Anjou, King of Poland and Hungary. Ukrainian sources state that earlier in its history, it was brought to Belz with much ceremony and honors by King
Lev I of Galicia Leo I of Galicia ( ua, Лев Дани́лович, translit=Lev Danylovych) (c. 1228 – c. 1301) was a king of Ruthenia, prince (Kniaz) of Belz (1245–1264), Peremyshl, Halych (1264–1269), and grand prince of Kiev (Kyiv, 1271–1301). ...
and later taken by Władysław from the Castle of Belz when the town was incorporated into the Polish kingdom. A famous story tells that in late August 1384, Ladislaus was passing Częstochowa with the picture when his horses refused to go on. He was advised in a dream to leave the icon at Jasna Góra. Art historians say that the original painting was a
Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...
icon created around the sixth or ninth century. They agree that Prince Władysław brought it to the monastery in the 14th century.


Our Lady declared as Queen and Protector of Poland

In August 1382, the hilltop parish church was transferred to the Paulites, a hermitic order from Hungary. The golden fleur-de-lis painted on the Virgin's blue veil parallel the heraldic ''azure, semée de lis, or'' of the French royal coat of arms and the most likely explanation for their presence is that the icon had been present in Hungary during the reign of either
Charles I of Hungary Charles I, also known as Charles Robert ( hu, Károly Róbert; hr, Karlo Robert; sk, Karol Róbert; 128816 July 1342) was King of Hungary and Croatia from 1308 to his death. He was a member of the Capetian House of Anjou and the only son of ...
or
Louis the Great Louis I, also Louis the Great ( hu, Nagy Lajos; hr, Ludovik Veliki; sk, Ľudovít Veľký) or Louis the Hungarian ( pl, Ludwik Węgierski; 5 March 132610 September 1382), was King of Hungary and Croatia from 1342 and King of Poland from 1370. ...
, the Hungarian kings of the
Anjou Anjou may refer to: Geography and titles France * County of Anjou, a historical county in France and predecessor of the Duchy of Anjou **Count of Anjou, title of nobility *Duchy of Anjou, a historical duchy and later a province of France **Duk ...
dynasty. They probably had the fleur-de-lis of their family's coat of arms painted on the icon. This would suggest that the image was probably originally brought to Jasna Góra by the Pauline monks from their founding monastery in Hungary. The Black Madonna is said to have miraculously saved the monastery of Jasna Góra (English: Bright Mount) from a Swedish invasion. The
Siege of Jasna Góra The siege of Jasna Góra (also known less accurately as the ''Battle of Częstochowa'', pl , Oblężenie Jasnej Góry) took place in the winter of 1655 during the Second Northern War, or 'The Deluge' – as the Swedish invasion of ...
took place in the winter of 1655 during the Second Northern War, as the Swedish invasion of the
Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, formally known as the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and, after 1791, as the Commonwealth of Poland, was a bi- confederal state, sometimes called a federation, of Poland and Lithuania ru ...
is known. The Swedes were attempting to capture the Jasna Góra monastery in Częstochowa. The sacred icon was replaced with a copy and the original moved in secret to the castle in
Lubliniec Lubliniec (german: Lublinitz) is a town in southern Poland with 23,784 inhabitants (2019). It is the capital of Lubliniec County, part of Silesian Voivodeship (since 1999); previously it was in Częstochowa Voivodeship (1975–1998). Geograp ...
, and later to the Pauline monastery in
Mochów Mochów (German Mochau, szl, Mochōw) is a village in the administrative district of Gmina Głogówek, within Prudnik County, Opole Voivodeship, in south-western Poland, close to the Czech border. It lies approximately north-west of Głogówe ...
between the towns of
Prudnik Prudnik (, szl, Prudnik, Prōmnik, german: Neustadt in Oberschlesien, Neustadt an der Prudnik, la, Prudnicium) is a town in southern Poland, located in the southern part of Opole Voivodeship near the border with the Czech Republic. It is the ...
and
Głogówek Głogówek (pronounced , German: ''Oberglogau'', cs, Horní Hlohov, szl, Gogōwek) is a small historic town in southern Poland. It is situated on the Osobloga River, in Opole Voivodeship of the greater Silesian region. The city lies approximat ...
. Seventy monks and 180 local volunteers, mostly from the Szlachta (Polish nobility), held off 4,000 Swedes for 40 days, saved their sacred icon and, according to some accounts, turned the course of the war. This event led King
John II Casimir Vasa John II Casimir ( pl, Jan II Kazimierz Waza; lt, Jonas Kazimieras Vaza; 22 March 1609 – 16 December 1672) was King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1648 until his abdication in 1668 as well as titular King of Sweden from 1648 ...
to give what has become known as the Lwów Oath. He submitted the Polish Commonwealth under the protection of Our Lady and proclaimed her Queen of Poland in the cathedral of Lwów on April 1, 1656. Before this event, several royal nobilities have offered crowns to the image throughout the years, replacing its iron sheet crown
riza : A riza ( Russian: риза, "vestment," "robe"; Ukrainian: шати, ''shaty'', "vestments") or oklad (оклад, "covered"), sometimes called a "revetment" in English, is a metal cover protecting an icon. It is usually made of gilt or silve ...
with one in gold with several jewels. In later years, various gemstones were interchanged and repositioned around the image to preserve the icon's aesthetic by replacing the stolen crowns.


Legends about the Madonna's appearance

The legend concerning the two scars on the Black Madonna's right cheek is that the
Hussite The Hussites ( cs, Husité or ''Kališníci''; "Chalice People") were a Czech proto-Protestant Christian movement that followed the teachings of reformer Jan Hus, who became the best known representative of the Bohemian Reformation. The Huss ...
s stormed the Pauline monastery in 1430, plundering the sanctuary. Among the items stolen was the icon. The Hussites tried to get away after putting it in their wagon, but their horses refused to move. They threw the portrait down to the ground, and one of the plunderers drew his sword upon the image and inflicted two deep strikes. When the robber tried to inflict a third strike, he fell to the ground and writhed in agony until his death. Despite past attempts to repair these scars, they had difficulty covering up those slashes as the painting was done with tempera infused with diluted wax.


Veneration

Częstochowa is regarded as the most popular shrine in Poland, with many Polish Catholics making a pilgrimage there every year. Since 1711, a pilgrimage leaves Warsaw every August 6 for the nine-day, 140-mile trek. Elderly pilgrims recall stealing through the dark countryside at great personal risk during the
Nazi occupation German-occupied Europe refers to the sovereign countries of Europe which were wholly or partly occupied and civil-occupied (including puppet governments) by the military forces and the government of Nazi Germany at various times between 1939 ...
.
Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II ( la, Ioannes Paulus II; it, Giovanni Paolo II; pl, Jan Paweł II; born Karol Józef Wojtyła ; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 until his ...
secretly visited as a student pilgrim during
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
.Menaker, Drusilla. "Poland's Black Madonna", ''New York Times'', July 22, 1990
/ref> The feast day of Our Lady of Częstochowa is celebrated on August 26.


Pontifical approbations

Several pontiffs have recognized the image: * Pope Clement XI — issued a decree of
Canonical Coronation A canonical coronation ( la, Coronatio Canonica) is a pious institutional act of the pope, duly expressed in a bull, in which the pope bestows the right to impose an ornamental crown, a diadem or an aureole to an image of Christ, Mary or J ...
for the image via the Vatican Chapter on 8 September 1717. It is the third image to merit a decree of pontifical coronation outside of Rome. The first one is the Madonna of Trsat in
Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...
, followed by the Virgin of Mount Goritia in
Slovenia Slovenia ( ; sl, Slovenija ), officially the Republic of Slovenia (Slovene: , abbr.: ''RS''), is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the southeast, an ...
. * Pope Pius X — after the crowns were stolen on 23 October 1909, the Pontiff replaced the crowns on 22 May 1910. *
Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II ( la, Ioannes Paulus II; it, Giovanni Paolo II; pl, Jan Paweł II; born Karol Józef Wojtyła ; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 until his ...
— gifted another set of crowns as a native of Poland, placed on 26 August 2005. * Three pontiffs have granted golden roses to the image, Pope John Paul II (1978), Pope Benedict XVI (2006), Pope Francis (2016).


Outside Poland

Orthodox Christian believers in
Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...
and
Belarus Belarus,, , ; alternatively and formerly known as Byelorussia (from Russian ). officially the Republic of Belarus,; rus, Республика Беларусь, Respublika Belarus. is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by ...
as former parts of the
Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, formally known as the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and, after 1791, as the Commonwealth of Poland, was a bi- confederal state, sometimes called a federation, of Poland and Lithuania ru ...
.
Ukrainians Ukrainians ( uk, Українці, Ukraintsi, ) are an East Slavic ethnic group native to Ukraine. They are the seventh-largest nation in Europe. The native language of the Ukrainians is Ukrainian. The majority of Ukrainians are Eastern Ort ...
have a special devotion to the Madonna of Częstochowa. The icon is often mentioned in
Ukrainian folk songs Ukrainian folk music includes a number of varieties of traditional, folkloric, folk-inspired popular music, and folk-inspired European classical music traditions. In the 20th century numerous ethnographic and folkloric musical ensembles were ...
from the 16th and 17th centuries. The American
National Shrine of Our Lady of Czestochowa The National Shrine of Our Lady of Czestochowa ''(or simply Czestochowa)'', known also as the American Czestochowa is a Polish-American Roman Catholic shrine near Doylestown, Pennsylvania, founded in 1953. It houses a reproduction of the Black ...
is located in Doylestown, Pennsylvania. Another shrine of the image is located in Garfield Heights, Ohio; erected on October 1, 1939, by the Sisters of St. Joseph of the Third Order of St. Francis. In Australia, the
Shrine of Our Lady of Mercy, Penrose Park The Shrine of Our Lady of Mercy, commonly known as Penrose Park (located in the Southern Highlands, NSW), is a Catholic place of veneration of the replica of the Our Lady of Jasna Góra, a Black Madonna. The shrine is ministered by the Order of ...
, located in the Southern Highlands of New South Wales is dedicated to her honour. The title Our Lady of Mercy is used to remember all the times she has responded through history to prayers for protection.


Icon usage in the Haitian Vodou religion

Due to its Africanized image, the icon has been syncretized by some Vodou practitioners to the deity Ezilí Dantor, the main
loa ( ), also called loa or loi, are spirits in the African diasporic religion of Haitian Vodou. They have also been incorporated into some revivalist forms of Louisiana Voodoo. Many of the lwa derive their identities in part from deities venerat ...
of the Petro family in Haitian Vodou. It is hypothesized that the image was introduced into Haiti by the reproductions of the Black Madonna brought by Polish soldiers who sided with the rebels during the Haitian Revolution.


See also

*
Black Madonna The term ''Black Madonna'' or ''Black Virgin'' tends to refer to statues or paintings in Western Christendom of the Blessed Virgin Mary and the Infant Jesus, where both figures are depicted with dark skin. The Black Madonna can be found both ...
* Black Madonna Shrine, Missouri *
The Deluge The Genesis flood narrative (chapters 6–9 of the Book of Genesis) is the Hebrew version of the universal flood myth. It tells of God's decision to return the universe to its pre- creation state of watery chaos and remake it through the microc ...
, Swedish invasion *
Erzulie Erzulie (sometimes spelled Erzili or Èzili) is a family of loa, or spirits, in Vodou. Overview The Erzulie is a family of loa that are often associated with water (fluidity), femininity, and feminine bodies. They are one of the only group o ...
*
Ezili Dantor Ezilí Dantor or Erzulie Dantó is the main loa (or ''lwa'') or senior spirit of the Petro family in Haitian Vodou. Ezili Danto, or Ezili Danto', is the "manifestation of Erzulie, the divinity of love,". It is said that Ezili Danto has a dark co ...
*
Jasna Góra Monastery The Jasna Góra Monastery ( pl, Jasna Góra , ''Luminous Mount'', hu, Fényes Hegy, lat, Clarus Mons) in Częstochowa, Poland, is a shrine dedicated to the Virgin Mary and one of the country's places of pilgrimage. The image of the Black Mad ...
* National Shrine of Our Lady of Częstochowa * Orthodox Church of the Icon of Our Lady of Częstochowa *
Our Lady of Częstochowa-St Casimir Parish Our Lady of Częstochowa-St Casimir Parish is a church in New York City at 24th Street in Brooklyn. The church, which was designated for Polish immigrants, was founded in 1896. It could also be spelled Częnstochowa, due to the tail on the third ...
*
Our Lady of Sorrows, Queen of Poland Our Lady of Sorrows, Queen of Poland, Our Lady of Licheń, or Virgin of Licheń is a Roman Catholic icon of the Blessed Virgin Mary venerated by its Polish faithful dating from 1772 and is permanently enshrined within the Sanctuary of Our Lady of ...
* Rainbow Madonna


References and sources


References


Sources

* * *


External links


Jasna Góra

Czestochowa.us
* Biographical entry of prof. dr Wojciech Kurpik, restorer of Black Madonna of Częstochowa (Polish Wikipedia) {{DEFAULTSORT:Black Madonna Of Czestochowa, The Częstochowa Shrines to the Virgin Mary Catholic Church in Poland Catholic devotions The Most Holy Virgin Mary, Queen of Poland National symbols of Poland Eastern Orthodox icons of the Virgin Mary Paintings of the Madonna and Child Pauline Order Angels in art Books in art