Jasna Gora in Czestochowa, Poland
Altar and chairs set in place for mass.
Angels on the ceiling.
Ceiling of saints.
Golden interior and places of worship.
Beautiful interior
Large gated area close to the Black Madonna
Another altar and holy statues.
This is the priceless Black Madonna.
A mass is celebrated every hour in this area where the Black Madonna hangs. The area has benches surrounded by a gated and fenced area. On both sides of the four foot fence was a walkway in a U shape that goes behind the entire altar and back out on the other side. I got in line to get closer to be able to take a photo or two of the Madonna and got myself into a predicament that I could not get out of. What I didn’t realize was
that as soon as we entered the side of the fenced area, everyone knelt on the
cement floor and began to knee-walk forward.
I cannot knee walk and I was stuck because I could not turn around and leave the line so I crept as low as I could all the way around the U.
The Black Madonna was taken from Jerusalem in 326 to Constantinople by St. Helena who gave it to her son, Constantine. The painting resided here in a church for six centuries. It was brought to Czestochowa by Prince Ladislaus of Opole in 1384. From a manuscript entitled
"Translatio Tabulae", dated 1474 in the Jasna Góra archives, a
description of the painting’s history is given as follows: "The Madonna was
created by St. Luke the Evangelist on a table top from the house of the Holy
Family. St. Luke was said to have painted two images of Mary, one of which
found its way to Bologna, Italy."
Linking to Our World Tuesday
Linking to Our World Tuesday
11 comments:
lovely photos. such history! I must say I wouldn't be able to kneel either, I have to get people to pull me up when I do that. lol
I think my eyes would pop right out of my head at seeing all of that. It would be so hard to take it all in....such beauty!
The clothing on the painting changes depending on the season of the church. The church is a very beautiful place.
Really beautiful church.
I have heard about Black Maria.
I believe you had an uncomfortable place inside the fence :)
Of course I had to run off and research the Black Madonna! This is an adventure to remember! I was teaching at church recently, and part of my lesson was about how Jesus looked. The Bible says he was not at all handsome, and he would have also been quite dark. The modern paintings of him are nothing like he really looked. So the Black Madonna would be more like these people really looked. I am so glad you did not try to knee crawl, you could have really hurt yourself. The ceiling of Saints is spectacular!!
Great post. Thanks for sharing these great photos!
What an incredible place. I wouldn't have been able to do the knee walk either.
Wow! It's a palace. The black Madonna reminds me of a Klimt.
Very interesting post ! We have a black Madonna near Brussels and people from all over the world are visiting too.
What a beautiful church! We have a black madonna here in Cologne, too, it's fascinating!
Talk about "ornate" this would certainly quality.
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