Episode Transcript  

One

Icon of Our Lady of Czestochowa

Today we recall the two-fold power of Consecration to Mary and confidence in her power. The Icon of Our Lady of Częstochowa, also known as the Black Madonna, has been attributed to St. Luke. A document dating to 1474 called “The Transfer of the Painting of the Blessed Virgin Mary” claims St. Luke painted the icon in Jerusalem before Mary’s Assumption, on the tabletop once used by the Holy Family for prayer and meals. The faithful had requested it as a lasting memorial. St. Luke depicted Mary with the Child Jesus on her left arm.

The icon was first venerated in Jerusalem, then transferred by St. Helena, mother of Emperor Constantine, to Constantinople, where it remained for centuries. Eventually it reached the Castle of Belz on the contemporary western Ukraine border with Poland. During a siege, an arrow struck the Virgin’s face. Prince Ladislaus of Opole prayed for help, and a sudden fog confused the enemy, allowing a victorious defense.

In 1382, as Ladislaus moved the icon to his estate, the horses stopped near Częstochowa and would not move. After he vowed to build a shrine wherever Mary chose, the horses advanced to Jasna Góra, where he built and endowed the monastery and entrusted the icon to the Pauline monks. Our Lady has been venerated as the Queen of Poland from that time.

Two

Our Lady of Sorrows

The Icon of Our Lady of Czestochowa has two distinctive slash marks on the cheek that give her a look of tremendous sorrow. In 1430, robbers attacked the monastery looking for treasure. Finding none, they took everything of value and even the Holy Icon. As they carried it away, it became so heavy they could go no further. They dropped it in the mud and slashed the Virgin's face with a sword. With the third stroke of the sword, the attackers died, leaving the Icon desecrated in a puddle of blood and mud.

The monks pursuing them found the icon, and when they lifted the icon from the ground, a miraculous fountain appeared, which they used to clean the painting. They tried to repair the icon and remove the slash marks on her face, but no matter how many times they painted over it, the slash marks from the swords reappeared. It was impossible for them to cover or remove. Why is this? Because Mary is Our Lady of Sorrows. She stood by Jesus at the cross, and she continues to weep because so many of her children on earth do not know the love of Christ and are in danger of eternal loss by their own choice.

Her sorrowful face should move us to consecrate our loved ones to her and to do all we can to win them back to Christ by prayer, sacrifice and friendship.

Three

The Deluge

In 1655 the Swedish Lutheran Army attacked Poland. The onslaught was so large and devastating it came to be known as “the Deluge,” the flood. They quickly advanced to the center of the country, but the invading army was stopped at the fortress Monastery of Czestochowa by a group of peasants, monks, and a few heavily armored knights. The Swedish general laid siege to this basilica fortress, declaring, “We will bring down this chicken coop in three days.” Then something happened he didn’t bargain for. He and his men saw a beautiful woman hovering over the basilica, directing the cannon fire in such a way that the Swedish army was completely routed.

In the meantime, the Polish King Jan Casimir had fled in fear. But upon learning of the miraculous defense of Poland by Our Lady at Czestochowa, the King came back, went to the Cathedral, prostrate himself before an image of Mary, and consecrated himself and the country to her under the title Queen of Poland, vowing to be a more just and virtuous king.

After the siege of Jasna Gora, the Swedish General was allowed to spend time in Krakow. In one of the churches, he was dumbstruck and paralyzed by a picture of Mary. Asked the reason, he said, “This is the woman who appeared on the ramparts of the fortress and directed the cannon against us! This the woman who defeated us.”

Four

Vienna

By 1683, the Muslim Ottoman Empire had made its way all the way to the gates of Vienna, halfway through Europe with the intent of waging Jihad, holy war, to destroy Christianity. The Pope appealed to King Jan Sobieski of Poland. When Sobieski got the word from the Pope, he gathered his cavalry, called the Winged Hussars because they had sewn eagle wings to the back of their armor so that when they rode they looked like eagles flying. They immediately rode to Czestochowa. They consecrated themselves to Mary, and they said, “In the name of Mary, we will conquer.”

They reached Vienna on the evening of September 11th, 1683. And in the early morning of September 12th, they attacked the significantly larger Muslim army and destroyed them. When the battle was over, Sobieski sent a message to the Pope saying, “We conquered in the name of Mary.”

Upon his return to Poland, Jan Sobieski went immediately to the shrine of Our Lady of Czestochowa on a pilgrimage of thanksgiving and laying the captured Muslim flag before the miraculous icon of Mary. Once again, the victory came through Mary, the Rosary and the countless faithful who responded to her call. In gratitude, the Pope declared September 12th, the Feast of the Holy Name of Mary.

Five

When Victory Comes it will come through Mary

At the end of World War II, the Soviet Communists took over Poland, arrested Cardinal Wyszyński, and placed him in solitary confinement. There he reflected on the history of his country. In every hopeless situation, Poland reconsecrated itself to Mary, and she miraculously set them free. So Wyszyński came up with a plan to get word to all the people in the country. It took three years, but at the end of three years, in 1956, one million Poles gathered at the bright mountain, Czestochowa, and there they consecrated themselves to Mary. And with every stanza of the consecration, one million Poles cried out, “Queen of Poland, we promise!” an unconditional gift of themselves to Our Lady.

One month later Cardinal Wyszyński was released, and it set in motion what would ultimately result in the fall of Communism in Poland and the regaining of religious freedom. What is the point of all these stories? God’s Providence that works all things for good is carried out by the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit can solve anything. But we perpetually live from pride and self-reliance. We try to fix and solve and control everything by our weak wisdom and power. And we can’t.

These events teach us there is another more powerful way. Let the Holy Spirit do it. And the Holy Spirit does everything through Mary. So, belong entirely to Mary, depend on her, let her inspire and carry you. But we must fight pride and self-reliance by practicing to depend more and more on Mary.

May the triumph of her heart begin with you!

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