Our Lady of Czestochowa (Poland)
Many generations of the people of Poland have venerated Mary in faith and hope at her shrine in Czestochowa.
As early as the fourth century this image was sent from the Holy Land by St. Helena to her son, Emperor Constantine, in Byzantium. Before the year 1000, it reached Southern Poland as part of the dowry in marriage between families from Constantinople and Kiev.
Prince Ladislaus of Opole, Vice Regent of Poland, brought the picture to Czestochowa, where, in 1382, it came under the guardianship of the Pauline Fathers in their monastery at Jasna Gora, "The Bright Hill." When the Hussites plundered the shrine in 1430, one of the bandits struck the painting with a sword leaving scars on Mary's cheek.
Two centuries later the monastery was miraculously protected from the invading army of Sweden, and King John Casmir, on April 1, 1656, proclaimed the Blessed Virgin Queen of Poland.
Against a reredos of mosaic in patterns of gold, copper, and silver is set the crowned painting of Our Lady of Czestochowa, supported by two angels. Other adornments include the Polish eagle in the dome, mosaic portraits of holy people connected with Poland, and tapestries depicting Christianity in Poland.
Christ the King is shown in the marble tympanum on the south wall. On the opposite wall Christ is crowning His Blessed Mother Queen of Heaven.Text Shrine Documents
In the Not A Monument, But A 'Must See' In DC photo essay.
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