Black Madonna of Częstochowa

The original painting (122 centimeters × 82 centimetres or 48 by 32 inches) displays a traditional composition well known in the icons of Orthodox Christianity. The Virgin Mary is shown as the "Hodegetria" version (meaning "One Who Shows the Way" or "Οδηγήτρια" in Greek). In it, Mary directs attention away from herself, gesturing with her right hand toward Jesus as the source of salvation. In turn, the child extends his right hand toward the viewer in blessing while holding a book of gospels in his left hand. The icon shows Mary in fleur-de-lis robes. The origins of the icon and the date of its composition are still contested among scholars. One difficulty in dating the icon is due in part to its original image being painted over after being severely damaged by robbers in 1430. The wooden panel backing the painting was broken, and the image slashed. Medieval restorers unfamiliar with the encaustic method found that the paints they applied to the damaged areas "simply sloughed off the image", according to the medieval chronicler Risinius. Their solution was to erase the original image and repaint it on the original panel. The original features of an Orthodox icon were softened; the nose was made more aquiline. (1374-1399), Queen regnant of Poland (1384-1399). It is speculated that artists might have give her features to Black Madonna during renovation on of the icon in 1430s. ==History==

Lucan tradition The icon of Our Lady of Częstochowa has been intimately associated with Poland for the past 600 years. Its history before it arrived in Poland is shrouded in numerous legends that trace the icon's origin to Luke the Evangelist, who painted it on a cedar table top from the house of the Holy Family. The same legend holds that the painting was discovered in Jerusalem in 326 by Helena, who brought it back to Constantinople and presented it to her son, Constantine the Great. Arrival in Częstochowa The oldest documents from Jasna Góra state that the picture traveled from Constantinople via Belz. Seventy monks and 180 local volunteers, mostly from the Szlachta (Polish nobility), held off 4,000 Swedes for 40 days, saved their sacred icon and, according to some accounts, turned the course of the war. Marian apparition The legend concerning the two scars on the Black Madonna's right cheek is that the Hussites stormed the Pauline monastery in 1430, plundering the sanctuary. Among the items stolen was the icon. The Hussites tried to get away after putting it in their wagon, but their horses refused to move. They threw the portrait down to the ground, and one of the plunderers drew his sword upon the image and inflicted two deep strikes. When the robber tried to inflict a third strike, he fell to the ground and writhed in agony until his death. Despite past attempts to repair these scars, they had difficulty covering up those slashes as the painting was done with tempera infused with diluted wax. The feast day of Our Lady of Częstochowa in the Catholic Church in Poland is celebrated on 26 August. The icon is commemorated in the Eastern Orthodox Churches on 6 March O.S./19 March N.S. ==Pontifical approbations==

Several pontiffs have recognized the image: • Pope Clement XI – issued a decree of Canonical Coronation for the image via the Vatican Chapter on 8 September 1717. It is the third image to merit a decree of pontifical coronation outside of Rome. The first one is the Madonna of Trsat in Croatia, followed by the Virgin of Mount Goritia in Slovenia. • Pope Pius X – after the crowns were stolen on 23 October 1909, the Pontiff replaced the crowns on 22 May 1910. • Pope John Paul II – gifted another set of crowns as a native of Poland, placed on 26 August 2005. • Three pontiffs have granted golden roses to the image, Pope John Paul II (1978), Pope Benedict XVI (2006), Pope Francis (2016). ==Outside Poland==

Ukrainian Catholic shrines in Hoshiv, Ulashkivtsi, Chernivtsi and Borshchiv have variant copies of the Mother of God of Częstochowa, which are miraculous. Eastern Orthodox Christians in Ukraine and Belarus, former parts of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, also have a special devotion to the Madonna of Częstochowa. The icon is often mentioned in Ukrainian folk songs from the 16th and 17th centuries. The American National Shrine of Our Lady of Częstochowa is located in Doylestown, Pennsylvania. Another shrine of the image is located in Garfield Heights, Ohio; erected on 1 October 1939, by the Sisters of St. Joseph of the Third Order of St. Francis. In Australia, the Shrine of Our Lady of Mercy, Penrose Park, located in the Southern Highlands of New South Wales is dedicated in her honour. The title Our Lady of Mercy is used as remembrance of times throughout history that prayers for protection have been responded to through appeal to Our Lady of Częstochowa, as adherents believe. There is a memorial dedicated to the Madonna of Częstochowa at the Carfin Grotto, Scotland. Since 2012, a copy of the icon of Our Lady of Częstochowa visits Catholic and Orthodox parishes in many countries as part of the "From Ocean to Ocean" pilgrimage in defense of life. ==See also==

References Sources • • • ==External links==