Our Lady of Czestochowa

The icon of Our Lady of Czestochowa has been venerated at Jasna Góra, in Poland, since the fourteenth century. It belongs to the Hodegetria iconographic type, the Virgin who points out the way, and the scars visible on Mary’s face result from the Hussite attack of 1430, deliberately preserved as historical testimony. This article examines the origin of the icon, its iconographic program, and the singular place that Czestochowa occupies in the Marian spirituality of John Paul II.

Czestochowa and Polish Catholic identity: John Paul II and the shrine of Jasna Góra

From far-off Poland, in the region of Jasna Góra, Bright Mountain, of Czestochowa, we find the greatest Marian shrine of the country that saw the birth of the Marian piety of Saint John Paul II and educated it. This shrine is still today the center of the spiritual vitality of the Polish nation, even reaching an average of four million pilgrims a year.

The great festivities take place on May 3, Our Lady Queen of Poland; on August 15, the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary; on August 26, the celebration of Our Lady of Jasna Góra; and finally on September 8, the feast of the Nativity of Our Lady, which draw an average attendance of two and a half million people.

The life of the Shrine is set by a calendar that remains unchanged year after year: the exposition of the miraculous image from 6:00 a.m. until the Supplication of Jasna Góra at 9:00 p.m. Among the various pastoral initiatives we highlight the Family of the Rosary of Jasna Góra.

The historical origins of the Shrine go back to the Order of Saint Paul, Hermit of Egypt, which arose in Hungary in the thirteenth century and which in 1382, with the patronage of King Louis of Anjou, king of Poland and Hungary, founded a monastery on the hill of Jasna Góra. It is from this date that we have a record of the presence of the image of Our Lady, which became a goal of pilgrimage within and outside Poland.

The influx of pilgrims did not cease to increase, to such a point that structures began to be built upon structures, in diverse architectural styles, in order to enlarge the space for welcoming the pilgrims.

A particular episode of this shrine was the resistance in 1655 to the invasion that Sweden carried out in Poland, a resistance that took place at the Shrine, fortified over the centuries to protect the various offerings of the pilgrims from possible thefts. Thanks to this resistance, together with the devotion of King John Casimir, on April 1, 1656, Mary was proclaimed Queen of Poland. The crowning of the image took place on September 8, 1717, and in the Constitution of 1746 of Poland it was written that “the nation is devoted to this its Most Holy Queen, the Virgin Mary of the painting of Czestochowa, famous for her miracles, who grants protection in times of need.” During the occupation of the Second World War, those in charge of the various forces opposed to the invaders would meet at the shrine, and so Jasna Góra is a symbol of hope, victory, and freedom, becoming the spiritual capital of Poland.

The miraculous image is the symbol of the Poles in the world, for the six centuries of political, cultural, and spiritual history are condensed around the Blessed Virgin Mary. To understand Poland means to be aware of the construction of the identity of Jasna Góra.

The miracles linked to this image go back, in the archives of the Shrine, to 1517, although it is plausible to find other miracles even earlier. Polish religious culture, in its encounter with the icon of Our Lady, normally does not speak; it only looks. This shows the alliance with the Polish faithful and the union of Marian religiosity with the Polish national spirit. Protectress of the integrity of the faith and of human, Christian, and national values, the effectiveness of her intercession is found in the ex voto present by the thousands, from all social strata and from all times.

In 1946, Cardinal A. Hlond, following the inspiration of Pope Pius XII, consecrated the nation to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. In 1956, on August 26, the Polish Episcopate together with pilgrims from all over the world made vows, on the occasion of the 300 years of the proclamation of Mary Queen of Poland, with the text written by Cardinal Primate Stefan Wyszynski while still in prison in Kománcza. This act set off a series of events called the “great novena,” which culminated in the fall of the Berlin Wall.

We can conclude, then, that Our Lady of Czestochowa is honored as Mother of the Church. There is a strengthening of closeness, of awareness of problems, and of the awakening of consciences to responsibility for the Church and to the consolidation of fidelity to Mary.

In her shrine, the local Church is united to the universal Church. Since the act of entrustment to Mary made by Saint John Paul II on June 4, 1979, the miraculous image is considered Our Lady of Pope John Paul II, Our Lady of the unity of the Churches of the East with the Church of the West.

The iconographic program: the Hodegetria type, the scars of 1430, and medieval symbolism

The painting represents the Most Holy Virgin Mary holding the Child Jesus in her left hand. Her eyes look at the one who observes. On the left side of her face wavy hair descends, hidden by the mantle. The color is above all between dark brown and light brown. On the left cheek we find two scratches, which run parallel across half of the cheek and extend toward the neck. A third, transverse scratch runs across the cheek at the height of the nose. Above the forehead of Our Lady we find a star with six points. The mantle and the robe are blue, and the color of the robe of Jesus is carmine. The background of the painting is pale blue with faint nuances of green. The Child Jesus has His arm raised and in His left hand holds the Gospel.

The edifying narrative speaks of a painting by Saint Luke on the table where prayer was made and the Holy Family took its meals. The painting is said to have been taken from Jerusalem to Constantinople and placed in a temple. The Russian Prince Leo fell in love with the beauty of the image, and the emperor is said to have given him this image of inestimable value. Later, because of matters of war, and already with considerable fame for the miracles obtained, the image is said to have been taken to the city of Jasna Góra and placed in the Church, being entrusted to the care of the Pauline monks.

In the historical-archaeological reconstruction we know today that the image arrived at Jasna Góra together with the Paulines in 1382. However, in 1430, during a sacrilegious attack, the image was pierced by a sword that broke it into three pieces. Its reconstruction took place in 1434 and was an approximation to the ancient painting, with traces of the painting of the medieval age and of the original design of the image, which was probably made in the first Christian millennium.

The scratches on the image of the Virgin symbolize the scars and refer to the cuts made in the original canvas. In fact, the restorers wished to preserve not only the image but also the life of Mary as an art of memory. In this sense, the image acquired a great artistic value in its iconographic originality.

On the meaning of this image for Saint John Paul II, we present here his words from 1979:

“So many times we have come here, to this holy place, in vigilant pastoral listening, to hear the heart of the Church and that of the homeland beat in the heart of the Mother. Jasna Góra is, in fact, not only a goal of pilgrimages for the Poles of the Mother Homeland and of the whole world, but it is the shrine of the nation. It is necessary to listen attentively to this holy place in order to feel how the heart of the nation beats in the heart of the Mother. This heart, in truth, throbs, as we know, with all the events of the nation. However, if we wish to know how to interpret this history of the heart of the Poles, it is necessary to come here, to listen attentively to this shrine, in order to understand the echo of the life of the entire nation in the heart of its Mother and Queen”.

Devotion to Our Lady of Czestochowa and her role in the Christian identity of the Polish people are evoked with special depth in the encyclical Redemptoris Mater of John Paul II, which reflects on Mary as Mother of the Church and a sign of hope for the peoples.

Deepen your studies: explore Mariology, Marian Theology, Marian apparitions, and the Postgraduate Program in Mariology.