The Virgin of Kębło () is a medieval sculpture of the

Madonna and Child In Christian art, a Madonna () is a religious depiction of the Blessed Virgin Mary in a singular form or sometimes accompanied by the Child Jesus. These images are central icons for both the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches. The word ...

, located in the shrine in Wąwolnica. The statue was brought to Wąwolnica from the nearby village of Kębło, hence its name.

Figurine

The Gothic sculpture of the Madonna and Child dates from the first half of the fifteenth century (around 1420 to 1440). It was made from a trunk of the

lime tree ''Tilia'' is a genus of about 30 species of trees or bushes, native throughout most of the temperate Northern Hemisphere. The tree is known as linden for the European species, and basswood for North American species. In Great Britain and Irelan ...

with a height of 85 cm and a diameter at its widest point 27 cm. Its prototype was a stone statue of the Madonna from

Vimperk Vimperk (; ) is a town in Prachatice District in the South Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 7,300 inhabitants. The historic town centre is well preserved and is protected as an urban monument zone. Historically Vimperk has bee ...

. This style of sculpture is characterized by elegance and courtliness in presenting subtly, drawing a regular face and the richness and decorative draperies into the system. The mother figure is shown presenting the child Jesus to the world.

History of veneration

The tradition of the veneration of Our Lady of Kębło and Wąwolnica probably dates back to the period of invasions by the

Tatars Tatars ( )Tatar
in the Collins English Dictionary are a group of Turkic peoples across Eas ...

at the end of the 13th century. According to parish records, in the first days of September, 1278, Tartar raiders were sent to the vicinity of Wąwolnica. In the village of Kębło, the Tatars set up camp to gather stolen goods and hold people captive. They set on a huge boulder a stolen statue of the Virgin Mary. At the same time at Głusk Opolski Polish troops under the command of Otto Jastrzębczyk had taken up resistance to the invaders. The Poles won the battle. When the defeated Tatars wanted to flee with their loot and prisoners, the figure of the Virgin Mary lifted itself into the air, moved a considerable distance and hung above them. Terrified, the Tartars abandoned their loot and prisoners and escaped. After their escape, the figure stood once again at its original location. Seeing this, the prisoners decided that it was God himself who had restored their freedom. The location of the event became the object of a pilgrimage, and the local landowner Otto Jastrzębczyk decided to build a wooden church, in which the figure was placed. On 8 September, 1700, the statue was transferred to the parish church in Wąwolnica after the superior of the

Benedictines The Benedictines, officially the Order of Saint Benedict (, abbreviated as O.S.B. or OSB), are a mainly Christian mysticism, contemplative Christian monasticism, monastic Religious order (Catholic), order of the Catholic Church for men and f ...

from the Basilica of the Holy Cross (Bazylika mniejsza pw. Trójcy Świętej), Father Chrystyn Mirecki, obtained permission from

Pope Clement XII Pope Clement XII (; ; 7 April 16526 February 1740), born Lorenzo Corsini, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 12 July 1730 to his death in February 1740. Clement presided over the growth of a surplus in the papal ...

. This was because the old church was falling apart, it had insufficient capacity in relation to the needs of an expanding cult, and the need for greater custody for the miraculous statue. The figurine was placed on the altar, while the church was demolished in Kębło. In modern times, only the

chancel In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar, including the Choir (architecture), choir and the sanctuary (sometimes called the presbytery), at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building. It may termi ...

remained from the original 14th-century church, rebuilt in the Renaissance style to the chapel, which is now the shrine of Our Lady.

Pope Paul VI Pope Paul VI (born Giovanni Battista Enrico Antonio Maria Montini; 26 September 18976 August 1978) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 21 June 1963 until his death on 6 August 1978. Succeeding John XXII ...

officially granted a decree of

canonical coronation A canonical coronation () is a pious institutional act of the pope, duly expressed in a formal decree of a papal bull, in which the pope bestows the pontifical right to impose an ornamental crown, a diadem or an aureola, aureole to an image of ...

to the image on 6 April 1976 which is carried out on 10 September 1978.

External links

Polish language site about the Virgin

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Virgin Kebelska Statues of the Madonna and Child Polish sculpture