Pilgrimage to Częstochowa

Last weekend, we went to Częstochowa for a pilgrimage to our lady of Częstochowa or the Black Madonna. One of the holiest place in Poland.

We had a great time there with my hubby. We joined the annual pilgrimage of the Families of Nazareth Movement..one of the largest religious movement in Poland. It was participated by other chapters of the movement from different places around the world...and of course some pilgrims were from the Philippines. It was my first time to see the place which I been dreaming to visit for long time. Before it's only in my dreams and imagination

to be there..but now, I had the chance to visit the blessed image of Mother Mary. I am such a marian devotee. I am aiming to be like Mary.. to have a heart as pure as her and a faith as strong as her. I know, it will not be an easy deal in having such faith.

Prior to the trip there, I am so much excited already. I planned our meals..what to bring there and of course I have to prepare myself. I was overwhelmed with joy that I could not understand when I reached the Jasna Gora. I never felt exhausted with the long walk from the cathedral to the monastery of Jasna Gora where the black image of Madonnas where situated. It was really an offering for me...for a good future ahead in Poland, for my pregnancy and for peace in the family. I could say I was so blessed because I was given the chance to be there. And of course, it is the first time of my hubby to be in a pilgrimage with me. We both are happy on that day..all along our walks are walks of joy and offering.

And so, to complete the trip too.. We are trying to look for some Filipinos who are part of the pilgrimage. We know for a fact that there are Filipinos..since it was announce during the opening and greetings of the delegates that there are pilgrims from Philippines. I couldn't help but really tried to trace faces of asians or that of my kababayans. We did met them! It was our Polish friend who were able to meet them first and called us that some Filipinos wants to meet us. So, without further ado, we met them and had lunch with them. The lunch was an invitation from a Polish priest whom we met there too in the pilgrimage. Lunch was held at their house near the area. Fr. English (not his real name...we just named him after johnny english..coz he is funny priest), is set to have a mission in Papua New Guinea and soon will leave Poland. That is why, he also offered this pilgrimage to this mission. We met his family too..we really experienced there real Polish hospitality. Like Filipinos, Polish are very hospitable. By the way, the priest were introduced to us by our Filipino friends...It was a nice lunch with them..with all the talks and exchanging of stories about life here and way back home. Most of the Filipinos we met already lived here in Poland for some years for work and for a mission. They are so warm people....and it is nice to be with your fellow kababayans. Indeed, we had great fun!

We went back to Jasna Gora for the holy mass. It was a very solemn mass celebrated by the bishop and was translated into different languages. We could not get in anymore to the basilica where the holy mass was held because of the huge flock of pilgrims... besides, they have to look after me since I am pregnant and that I might collapse inside. So, opted to stay outside since the speaker is loud enough for still thousands of pilgrims staying outside. We didn't have much time to tour around the shrine due to time contraint. I told my hubby that we will just go back there someday and stay there for some days. After the mass, we had to bid our goodbyes and hoping to meet again soon. As much as we still want to stay, but we need to find our bus home since we went on a trip by bus with the other members of families of nazareth in our area. Indeed, i really felt so blessed on that day...so holy & blessed with new friends and new realization of my faith.

It was a holy fun filled day. I took some pictures during the pilgrimage, but I could not get a clearer pictures of the image since cameras are not really allowed inside where the icon was place.

To know more about the history of Our Lady of Częstochowa...read on some scripts below what I searched on the net.

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Black Madonnas: Our Lady of Czestochowa
Michael P. Duricy

The image of Our Lady in Czestochowa, Poland [at right] is among that small group of Black Madonnas recognized throughout the entire world, largely due to the recent manifestations of public piety shown by the reigning Polish Pope, John Paul II. The image is sometimes called Our Lady of Jasna Gora after the name of the monastery site in which it has been kept for six centuries. Joan Carroll Cruz relates the following 'miracle story' regarding the selection of this site:
St. Ladislaus determined to save the image from the repeated invasions of the Tartars by taking it to the more secure city of Opala, his birthplace. This journey took him through Czestochowa, where he decided to rest for the night. During this brief pause in their journey, the image was taken to Jasna Gora [meaning "Bright Hill"]. There it was placed in a small wooden church named for the Assumption. The following morning, after the portrait was carefully replaced in its wagon, the horses refused to move. Accepting this as a heavenly sign that the portrait was to remain in Czestochowa, St. Ladislaus had the image solemnly returned to the Church of the Assumption.
Another 'miraculous' aspect of this image is that its antiquity is so great that its origins are unknown, as if "dropped from the heavens." Legend attributes its creation to St. Luke, the evangelist, who "painted a portrait of the Virgin on the cedar wood table at which she had taken her meals." St. Helena, the Queen-Mother of Emperor Constantine is said to have located the portrait during her visit to the Holy Land and to have brought it to Constantinople in the fourth century. After remaining there for five centuries, it allegedly was transferred in royal dowries until it made its way to Poland, and the possession of St. Ladislaus in the fifteenth century.
The legend continues: During Ladislaus' time, the image was damaged during a siege, by a Tartar arrow, "inflicting a scar on the throat of the Blessed Virgin." In 1430, Hussites stole and vandalized the precious image, breaking it into three pieces. Adding insult to injury:
One of the robbers drew his sword, struck the image and inflicted two deep gashes. While preparing to inflict a third gash, he fell to the ground and writhed in agony until his death ... The two slashes on the cheek of the Blessed Virgin, together with the previous injury to the throat, have always reappeared - despite repeated attempts to repair them.
However, modern scholarship has its own views on this legend. Leonard Moss claims: "the figure is distinctly thirteenth-fourteenth century Byzantine in form." In general, its Byzantine style is obvious, a variant on Hodegetria. Janusz Pasierb states of the image that "in 1434 it was painted virtually anew" due to the extensive damage caused by vandalism. He adds that "the authors of the new version were faithful to the original as regards its contents." This might explain the persistence of the damage marks mentioned earlier. Finally, note that Pasierb sees the prototype of Our Lady of Czestochowa as "a Byzantine icon ... which from the fifth century on had been worshipped in a church in Constantinople's ton hodegon quarter."
Miracles
The miracles worked by Our Lady of Czestochowa seem to occur mainly on a public scale. During her stay in Constantinople, she is reported to have frightened the besieging Saracens away from the city. Similarly, in 1655 a small group of Polish defenders was able to drive off a much larger army of Swedish invaders from the sanctuary. The following year, the Holy Virgin was acclaimed Queen of Poland by King Casimir. It is also recorded that Our Lady dispersed an army of Russian invaders by an apparition at the River Vistula on September 15, 1920. In more recent times, the Czestochowa Madonna has also been acknowledged for her protection of and cooperation with the Polish nation. Beyond these public prodigies:
The miracles attributed to Our Lady of Czestochowa are numerous and spectacular. The original accounts of these cures and miracles are preserved in the archives of the Pauline Fathers at Jasna Gora.
The image is not so well-known only on account of its history of miracles. Its international reputation has been considerably enhanced because of the personal devotion of the current Roman Pontiff:
In modern times, Pope John Paul II, a native son of Poland, prayed before the Madonna during his historic visit in 1979, several months after his election to the Chair of Peter. The Pope made another visit to Our Lady of Czestochowa in 1983 and again in 1991.
Why is She Black?
A final question remains: why is Our Lady of Czestochowa black? Cruz mentions a possible link to the Canticle of Canticles: "I am black but beautiful"; but concludes that "The darkness is ascribed to various conditions [e.g. accumulated residue from candles], of which its age is primary." Broschart, by contrast, opines:
the shrine was destroyed by fire, but the picture was not burned - however, the flames and smoke had darkened it and from that day it has been known as the "Black Madonna."
Recall that Moss saw the image as Byzantine in form, dating from the Medieval period. He added: "the skin pigmentation is characteristic of this stylized portraiture."
Interestingly, Ernst Scheyer, an art historian who studied the image, believed that "the present image was restored in the nineteenth century and painted somewhat darker than previously."
Adding to all this confusion, a notable Swiss copy, completed by Kosmoski in 1956 and kept in the Hospice of the Great St. Bernard Pass, is much darker than the version in Jasna Gora, while a copy at a shrine in Doylestown, Pennsylvania is depicted in lighter flesh tones. All of which makes the question of authorial intent extremely complicated. Perhaps all that may be said of Our Lady of Czestochowa is that she may be called black, but she is certainly beautiful. Her miraculous reputation, though, is beyond dispute.