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| Location | Częstochowa, Poland |
| Date | Attested as early as 14th century |
| Type | Wooden icon, bejewelled |
| Approval | |
| Venerated in | Catholic Church,Eastern Orthodoxy |
| Shrine | |
| Patronage | Poland |
| Attributes | Black Madonna inHodegetria form,Infant Jesus, fleur-de-lis robes, slashes on right cheek |
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TheBlack Madonna of Częstochowa (Polish:Czarna Madonna z Częstochowy;Latin:Imago thaumaturga Beatae Virginis Mariae Immaculatae Conceptae, in Claro Monte,lit. 'Miraculous Image of the Immaculate Conception, the Blessed Virgin Mary in the Crystal Mountain'), also known asOur Lady of Częstochowa (Polish:Matka Boska Częstochowska) is a veneratedicon of theBlessed Virgin Mary enshrined at theJasna Góra Monastery inCzęstochowa, Poland.
Pope Clement XI issued a Pontifical decree ofcanonical coronation to the image on 8 September 1717 via theVatican Chapter. It has also merited three Pontificalgolden roses.
The icon is venerated by both Roman Catholic andEastern Orthodox Christians.
The original painting (122 centimeters × 82 centimetres or 48 by 32 inches)[2] displays a traditional composition well known in theicons ofOrthodox Christianity. The Virgin Mary is shown as the "Hodegetria" 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 infleur-de-lis robes.[3]
The origins of the icon and the date of its composition are still contested among scholars.[4] 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 restorers unfamiliar with theencaustic 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 moreaquiline.[3]
The icon ofOur 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 toLuke the Evangelist, who painted it on a cedar table top from the house of theHoly Family.[5][6] The same legend holds that the painting was discovered in Jerusalem in 326 byHelena, who brought it back toConstantinople and presented it to her son,Constantine the Great.[7]
The oldest documents fromJasna Góra state that the picture traveled fromConstantinople viaBelz.[6] Eventually, it came into the possession ofWładysław Opolczyk,Duke of Opole, and adviser toLouis 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 KingLev I of Galicia 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 aByzantine icon created around the sixth or ninth century. They agree that Prince Władysław brought it to the monastery in the 14th century.[citation needed]
In August 1382, the hilltop parish church was transferred to the Paulites, a hermitic order from Hungary.[8] The golden fleur-de-lis painted on the Virgin's blue veil parallel the heraldicazure, 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 eitherCharles I of Hungary orLouis the Great, the Hungarian kings of theAnjou 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.[6] TheSiege of Jasna Góra took place in the winter of 1655 during theSecond Northern War, as the Swedish invasion of thePolish–Lithuanian Commonwealth 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 inLubliniec, and later to the Pauline monastery inMochów between the towns ofPrudnik andGłogówek.[9] Seventy monks and 180 local volunteers, mostly from theSzlachta (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.[8] This event led KingJohn II Casimir Vasa to give what has become known as theLwów Oath. He submitted the Polish Commonwealth under the protection of Our Lady andproclaimed her Queen of Poland in the cathedral ofLwów on 1 April 1656. Before this event, several royal nobilities have offered crowns to the image throughout the years, replacing its iron sheet crownriza 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.[10]
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The legend concerning the two scars on the Black Madonna's right cheek is that theHussites 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.[5]
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 6 August for the nine-day, 140-mile trek. Elderly pilgrims recall stealing through the dark countryside at great personal risk during theNazi occupation.Pope John Paul II secretly visited as a student pilgrim duringWorld War II.[8]
Thefeast day of Our Lady of Częstochowa in the Catholic Church in Poland is celebrated on 26 August.[11] The icon is commemorated in the Eastern Orthodox Churches on6 March O.S./19 March N.S.
Several pontiffs have recognized the image:
Ukrainian Catholic shrines inHoshiv,Ulashkivtsi,Chernivtsi andBorshchiv have variant copies of the Mother of God of Częstochowa, which are miraculous. Eastern Orthodox Christians in Ukraine and Belarus, former parts of thePolish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, also have a special devotion to the Madonna of Częstochowa.[12] The icon is often mentioned inUkrainian folk songs from the 16th and 17th centuries.[6]
Our Lady of Częstochowa Roman Catholic Church in Houston, Texas has a copy hanging inside the church to the left of the altar. This version of the icon does not have the heavily gilded gold over the initial image.[13]
The AmericanNational Shrine of Our Lady of Częstochowa is located inDoylestown, Pennsylvania.[14] Another shrine of the image is located in Garfield Heights, Ohio; erected on 1 October 1939, by theSisters of St. Joseph of the Third Order of St. Francis.[15]
In Australia, theShrine of Our Lady of Mercy, Penrose Park, located in the Southern Highlands of New South Wales is dedicated in her honour. The titleOur Lady of Mercy is used as remembrance of times throughout history that prayers for protection have been responded to through appeal to Our Lady of Częstochowa, as adherents believe.[16]
There is a memorial dedicated to the Madonna of Częstochowa at theCarfin Grotto, Scotland.
Since 2012, a copy of the icon of Our Lady of Częstochowa visits Catholic and Orthodox parishes in many countries as part of the "From Ocean to Ocean" pilgrimage in defense of life.[17]
Due to its appearance, the icon has been syncretized by some Vodou practitioners to the deityEzilí Dantor, the mainloa of thePetro family inHaitian 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 theHaitian Revolution.[18]
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