Our Lady of Czestochowa
On Friday, we visited Our Lady of Czestochowa, which is about a 2 1/2 hour drive from Krakow. Our Lady of Czestochowa is a miraculous icon, a painting of Mary holding baby Jesus. This icon is considered miraculous because many miracles have been attributed to it. The image is hanging in a chapel behind the altar on the grounds of the Jasna Gora monastery. When we arrived, there was a group in the chapel praying the rosary. Shortly after, there was a Mass in the chapel. Apparently the chapel is filled all day with various groups praying the rosary, having Mass, or some other type of prayer service. Between the rosary and Mass, we had an opportunity to view the icon up close. There was a line. While we were waiting in line we were looking around at the beautiful chapel. On one wall hung crutches, so many that they covered the entire wall, presumably left there by people who had experienced miraculous healings here and no longer needed the crutches.
After viewing the icon up close, we went into the adjacent church, which is the Basilica of the Assumption. The church is beautiful. We went upstairs in the church where we saw the most unusual Stations of the Cross. The stations consisted of large paintings done by a local artist. The paintings were 6 feet tall and almost 4 feet wide, with the exception of the twelfth station (Jesus dies on the Cross), which was 6 feet tall by 7.5 feet wide. The uniqueness of these paintings is that they feature contemporary people, items, and events in the background. For example, in the second station, "Jesus takes up his cross", there are crutches, artificial limbs, and a man in a wheelchair, indicating that in taking up the cross, Jesus helps us to bear our crosses also. In the sixth station, "Veronica wipes the face of Jesus", Veronica looks like Mother Teresa, and there are poor and sick people in the background, indicating the people that Mother Teresa ministered to. John Paul II was standing at the foot of the cross in the twelfth station. In the painting of the fourteenth station, "Jesus is laid in the tomb", there is a scene of Auschwitz in the background, depicted in ruins.
After visiting the Basilica, we went into some museums. In one of the museums, we saw a rosary that was made out of bread which some prisoners at Auschwitz had made. Apparently the prisoners kept small pieces of the bread that they were given to eat and used the pieces to fashion a rosary.
After our visit to the Jasna Gora Monastery, we stopped at a Polish restaurant for lunch. There was very limited fare on the menu, and no meat was being served today, with it being Friday. So we all had a bowl of soup and some bread for lunch.
After lunch, we drove about 3 hours to Warsaw. We are staying in the beautiful Polonia Palace Hotel in downtown Warsaw. We will explore Warsaw tomorrow.
After viewing the icon up close, we went into the adjacent church, which is the Basilica of the Assumption. The church is beautiful. We went upstairs in the church where we saw the most unusual Stations of the Cross. The stations consisted of large paintings done by a local artist. The paintings were 6 feet tall and almost 4 feet wide, with the exception of the twelfth station (Jesus dies on the Cross), which was 6 feet tall by 7.5 feet wide. The uniqueness of these paintings is that they feature contemporary people, items, and events in the background. For example, in the second station, "Jesus takes up his cross", there are crutches, artificial limbs, and a man in a wheelchair, indicating that in taking up the cross, Jesus helps us to bear our crosses also. In the sixth station, "Veronica wipes the face of Jesus", Veronica looks like Mother Teresa, and there are poor and sick people in the background, indicating the people that Mother Teresa ministered to. John Paul II was standing at the foot of the cross in the twelfth station. In the painting of the fourteenth station, "Jesus is laid in the tomb", there is a scene of Auschwitz in the background, depicted in ruins.
After visiting the Basilica, we went into some museums. In one of the museums, we saw a rosary that was made out of bread which some prisoners at Auschwitz had made. Apparently the prisoners kept small pieces of the bread that they were given to eat and used the pieces to fashion a rosary.
After our visit to the Jasna Gora Monastery, we stopped at a Polish restaurant for lunch. There was very limited fare on the menu, and no meat was being served today, with it being Friday. So we all had a bowl of soup and some bread for lunch.
After lunch, we drove about 3 hours to Warsaw. We are staying in the beautiful Polonia Palace Hotel in downtown Warsaw. We will explore Warsaw tomorrow.
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