Czestochowa: Poland's Heartbeat
From Good Shepherd Tours, welcome back! We once again prepare to take a virtual pilgrimage through a new set of travel blogs across Europe, North America and the Middle East. We continue our journey with the second of a three-part series on Poland. View the first part here.
“The heartbeat of our nation.” This is how Pope St. John Paul II once described the monastery of Jasna Gora in Czestochowa, located in southern Poland. On the outskirts of the modern city of Poland lies a bridge in time spanning centuries of faith and national identity, connecting modern Poland to its spiritual wellspring.
Anyone familiar with Polish Catholic culture will recognize the immediately identifiable icon of the ”Black Madonna” of Poland – Matka Boska Częstochowska in Polish, roughly translating as Our Lady of Czestochowa. Its dark but glowing, deeply piercing imagery leaves a lasting impression upon all who gaze upon it.
Held to be an icon of the Mother of God written by the hand of the Apostle Luke on a cedar board that was once part of a table made by the Holy Family prior to Christ’s ministry, the icon made its way from the Holy Land to Constantinople via Saint Helena, then slowly made its way via Russia-Ukraine until it found its present home in the late 14th century. Innumerable miracles attributed to the icon range from national calamities being averted through the defense of the shrine against enemy invaders to personal illnesses and injuries being cured, as evidenced by the many crutches and personal tokens of devotion that adorn the walls of the shrine. The icon itself has two noticeable slashes on the face of the Virgin Mary, attributed to when a zealot, attempting to cart off the icon but frustrated when the animals pulling the cart would not move from their place, hacked at the icon with his sword and was immediately stricken down and died. Polish faithful make an annual 9-day pilgrimage on foot from Warsaw in the month of August, continuing a tradition that endured even during the Nazi occupation of Poland during the Second World War, amongst which a young seminarian student by name of Karol Wojtyła that became the future Pope St. John Paul II secretly took part in.
The entrance to the monastery through the ornate Lubomirski Gate may seem that one is visiting a palace, and the beautiful baroque basilica next to the actual shrine is certainly befitting a national monument. But when arrives at the shrine itself to venerate the image, there is a sense of a simple chapel-like atmosphere, as each day the gilded screen is lifted to the fanfare of trumpets and it is displayed to the faithful pilgrims, who may revere the image while traversing on their knees around the back of the altar in a horseshoe-shaped corral, all while masses continue to be said throughout the day.
Though one of the busiest shrines in the world, there is a sense of sanctity and peace that permeates throughout Jasna Gora monastery. To understand the spiritual draw of a pilgrimage to the Black Madonna of Czestochowa is to understand Poland, and the living, breathing Catholic faith of this special nation.
Be Not Afraid!
Good Shepherd Travel offers trips to Poland as part of their pilgrimage tours. The Holy Land, Rome, Lourdes, Fatima, Ireland, and many other destinations are among our most popular programs. For more information on how to begin preparing for a pilgrimage in late 2021 and 2022, contact Tony AbuAita at tony@goodshepherdtravel.com . We will return to pilgrimage – and we hope to see you with us!