Częstochowa – to the Mother you come back to all your life

Jasna Góra – the heart of Poland

There is no need for grand words.

It is enough to walk in through the gate of Jasna Góra, to hear your footsteps on the stone courtyard, to see the monastery tower and to know that the heart of the nation beats here.

Częstochowa: an extraordinary place, the only one of its kind in the world.
A place of returns.

You come to your Mother with:

• gratitude
• pain
• questions
• longing
• desire
• the debts of the heart

And you always come away understood, and lighter.

Our Lady of Częstochowa – a face that knows suffering

The image of the Black Madonna gives you pause, perhaps even saddens you; it bears scars.
It remembers history.

Those scratches are like a sign that the Mother knows human suffering.
She is not a distant icon from another world. She is a Mother who has seen war, partition, communism, despair and hope.

And she is still looking, still seeing, still feeling with us.

In the silence of the chapel, the words echo in your memory:

„Long have you been Poland’s Queen, O Mary; speak a word for us, O Mary…”

A confession. And still true. How long yet, Mother, in this vale of tears, must we go on shedding tears?

Being given to Mary saved my life

My holy, earthly mother Emilia, some years before she died, simply came into my room with the clean washing. She saw that my window was open and the wind was blowing straight at me while I sat at my desk doing my homework. My mother said: „Daughter, close the window; the Mother of God is covering you with her mantle so that you do not catch cold.” And there was a second moment, when my mother simply told me: I have given you to the Mother of God. She is your mother.

There was also a coach pilgrimage to Częstochowa with my mother; I do not remember how old I was, but I remember sitting in a wooden pew at night before the image of Our Lady of Częstochowa, my mother Emilia beside me. I must have been at primary school. I remember falling asleep leaning against that pew while my mother went on praying. Was that the moment when she entrusted me? I do not know, but I feel the power of that prayer to this day. No sincere prayer returns to the Father without accomplishing his will here on earth.

All of these moments came back to me as I stood behind my mother’s coffin in the twenty-third year of my life. I did not despair. Very quickly the Heavenly Mother comforted me. I was brave, a soldier as always. The only reason I did not cry was that I knew my mother was happy, that she had reached the goal of her pilgrimage to Jesus, our Lord. And I did not cry because I knew that the Lady of Heaven was already standing guard and had taken command. Mum! Mummy! Her image was venerated in our home, in our little house altar above the fireplace. A whole wall devoted to Our Lady of Częstochowa and to the Holy Trinity. One day I will look out a photograph and put it here. I promise.

A day at Jasna Góra, as one more grace

It was only a single day.

But in Częstochowa time is not measured in hours.
It is measured by the silence before the Image.

Someone kneels.
Someone weeps.
Someone gives thanks.
Someone comes back after years away.

The Mother receives them all.

All roads lead to the Mother

You can walk on pilgrimage across half of Poland.
You can drive there by car for a few hours.
You can come back every year.

But it always comes down to one thing.

To returning. To remembering. To knowing that she is always there.

O Holy Virgin, who defends bright Częstochowa
And shines in the Gate of Dawn! You who guard the castle town
Of Nowogródek with its faithful people!
As you once restored me, a child, to health by a miracle,
When, offered by my weeping mother into your care,
I raised my lifeless eyelid;
And straight away could walk to the threshold of your shrines
To thank God for the life you gave me back.

from „Pan Tadeusz” by Adam Mickiewicz

When we stand before the Image of Our Lady of Częstochowa in the Chapel of the Miraculous Image at Jasna Góra, we are not looking merely at an icon. We are looking at a history that has passed through centuries, wars and human tragedies.

Where does the Image come from?

According to tradition, the Image of Our Lady of Częstochowa was painted by St Luke the Evangelist on a tabletop from the house of the Holy Family. This is a devotional account, deeply rooted in the spirituality of the Church.

Historically, however, we know that the icon was most probably created in the thirteenth or fourteenth century, within the circle of Byzantine art. The painting style, the composition and the technique all point to Eastern influences.

The Image came to Poland in 1382. Duke Władysław Opolczyk brought it from Halych Ruthenia and gave it to the Pauline Fathers, who had settled at Jasna Góra in Częstochowa.

From that moment a history began that would change the spiritual map of Poland.

Scars that became a sign

In 1430 the monastery was attacked by robbers. The Image was desecrated and damaged. Characteristic sword cuts appeared on the face of the Mother of God.

Attempts were made to paint over them.

They failed.

To this day the scars are visible on Mary’s cheek.

And perhaps that is precisely why so many people find in her their own Mother.
Because her face is not perfect.
It is wounded.

Like our lives.

Jasna Góra – a fortress of the spirit

In 1655, during the Swedish Deluge, the monastery at Jasna Góra held out against a siege. That event became a symbol of resistance and of entrustment.

In 1656 King Jan Kazimierz proclaimed the Mother of God Queen of Poland.

From that time Częstochowa became not only a sanctuary, but the spiritual heart of the nation.

Kings came here, and soldiers, mothers, children, whole generations.

Why is the Image so important?

Because it is not merely a work of sacred art.

It is a place of unbroken prayer.

The Chapel of the Miraculous Image at Jasna Góra in Częstochowa is one of the most important Marian sanctuaries in Europe. Every year millions of the faithful make their pilgrimage here – on foot, by coach, alone, in communities.

Before this Image these words have been spoken:

– „Long have you been Poland’s Queen…”
– „Under your protection…”
– „Behold your Mother.”

And they are still being spoken.