Post by Jerzy on May 2, 2010 2:53:35 GMT -5
Rok temu pojechaliśmy na Jasną Górę.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jasna_G%C3%B3ra_Monastery
The Jasna Góra Monastery (Polish: Jasna Góra, English: Bright Mount, Hungarian: Fényes Hegy, Latin: Clarus Mons) in Częstochowa, Poland is the most famous shrine to the Virgin Mary in Poland and the country's greatest place of pilgrimage - for many its spiritual capital. The image of Black Madonna of Częstochowa, to which miraculous powers are attributed, is Jasna Góra's most precious treasure. Founded in 1382 by Pauline monks who came from Hungary at the invitation of Władysław, Duke of Opole. The monastery has been a pilgrimage destination for hundreds of years, and it contains the most important icon of the Virgin Mary in this part of Europe. The icon, depicting the Mother of God with the Christ Child, is known as the Black Madonna of Częstochowa or Our Lady of Częstochowa, which is widely venerated and credited with many miracles. Among these, it is credited with miraculously saving the Jasna Góra monastery during a siege that took place at the time of The Deluge, a 17th century Swedish invasion. Although this event was of little military importance, the event stimulated the Polish resistance. The Poles could not immediately change the course of the war but after an alliance with the Crimean Khanate they repulsed the Swedes. Shortly thereafter, in the cathedral of Lwów, on April 1, 1656, Jan Kazimierz, the King of Poland, solemnly pronounced his vow to consecrate the country to the protection of the Mother of God and proclaimed Her the Patron and Queen of the lands in his kingdom.
We went on a school pilgrimage to Częstochowa to pray for lucky results of the final exams. All 3 and 4 forms went.
On the way to Częstochowa
More students from other parishes came too. About 2000.
Warning against "religious" con artists.
Non-student pilgrims.
The entrance to Black Madonna Chapel
The hall/lobby of the chapel
You can see the picture ahead.
The main room of the Chapel
Behind this gate....
People are kneeling down while the picture is being screened.
Ornaments on walls. A lot of amber jewellery. The real Treasury is located in another part of the Monastery, paid.
The picture is screened now. Stay tuned to see it in full.
Signs of miraculous power of Black Madonna. Handicapped people don`t need their crutches.
Girls write their wishes to Black Madonna. I didn`t see boys doing it.
After attending an outdoors service on the walls of the monastery, we came back to the Chapel to see the picture unveiled.
People are kneeling down again.
One day I will show you a short film with unveiling.
The walls of the Chapel are decorated with memorial plaques, mostly in honour of Polish martyrdom during WW2 and communist times.
E.g, to 14.000 officers murdured in Mednoje, another execution site apart from Katyn.
Łyczakowski Cemetery in Lvov
The urn with the ashes of Kordecki, the most famous prior in Poland.
The interior door.
Random
The Chapel is the most important but there is also the main church. It is gigantic.
Kolbe, the one who volunteered to die for another inmate in Nazi Auschwitz.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maximilian_Kolbe
The inmate saved by Kolbe lived till 1995.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franciszek_Gajowniczek
Franciszek Gajowniczek (1901 – March 13, 1995[1]) was a Polish army sergeant whose life was spared by the Nazis when Saint Maximilian Kolbe sacrificed his life for Gajowniczek's. Gajowniczek had been sent to the Auschwitz concentration camp for aiding the Jewish resistance in Poland.
Gajowniczek and Kolbe were both prisoners in 1941 at Auschwitz when a prisoner appeared to have escaped.[2] According to the camp's policy, whenever a prisoner escaped, ten others were killed by starvation in reprisal for the escape. Franciszek Gajowniczek was one of those selected to die. When the Franciscan priest Kolbe heard Gajowniczek cry, "My poor wife! My poor children! What will they do?" Kolbe offered himself instead. What exactly Kolbe said has been forgotten, but one version records his words as, "I am a Catholic priest from Poland; I would like to take his place, because he has a wife and children."[3]
Gajowniczek was released from Auschwitz after spending five years, five months and nine days in the camp. Though his wife, Helena, survived the war, his sons were killed in a Soviet bombardment in 1945, before his release.[1]
When Pope Paul VI beatified Maximilian Kolbe in 1971, Gajowniczek was a guest of the Pope's. In 1972, Time Magazine reported that over 150,000 made a pilgrimage to Auschwitz to honor the anniversary of Maximilian's beatification. One of the first to speak was Gajowniczek, who declared "I want to express my thanks, for the gift of life."[4] His wife, Helena, died in 1977.[1] Gajowniczek was again a guest of the Pope when Maximilian Kolbe was canonized by John Paul II on October 10, 1982.
In 1994 Gajowniczek visited the St. Maximilian Kolbe Catholic Church of Houston, where he told his translator Chaplain Thaddeus Horbowy that "so long as he ... has breath in his lungs, he would consider it his duty to tell people about the heroic act of love by Maximilian Kolbe." Gajowniczek died on March 13, 1995, a little over 53 years after having his life spared by Kolbe, in the Polish city of Brzeg. He was survived by his second wife Janina.[1]
The outside complex of the monaster is immense but seems less impressive than the interiors. You can see various architectonic styles, as if these houses had been added one by one every 50 years.
Kordecki statue
The view pf the assembly area
A few gates leading to the monastery.
Warnings
Outside
Statues of the stations of the cross
The road up the hill
After seeing the monastery from outside, let`s go inside again.
The reconstructed defence walls from 17 century.
The cannon didn`t shoot at all. What looks like smoke was steam from a ventilation pipe behinf the cannon! ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D
The monastery needs funds for renovation which is under way in many places.
The Polish Pope
The view of the city
Reconstruction of old stone walls. You can see new concrete walls around taking over.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jasna_G%C3%B3ra_Monastery
The Jasna Góra Monastery (Polish: Jasna Góra, English: Bright Mount, Hungarian: Fényes Hegy, Latin: Clarus Mons) in Częstochowa, Poland is the most famous shrine to the Virgin Mary in Poland and the country's greatest place of pilgrimage - for many its spiritual capital. The image of Black Madonna of Częstochowa, to which miraculous powers are attributed, is Jasna Góra's most precious treasure. Founded in 1382 by Pauline monks who came from Hungary at the invitation of Władysław, Duke of Opole. The monastery has been a pilgrimage destination for hundreds of years, and it contains the most important icon of the Virgin Mary in this part of Europe. The icon, depicting the Mother of God with the Christ Child, is known as the Black Madonna of Częstochowa or Our Lady of Częstochowa, which is widely venerated and credited with many miracles. Among these, it is credited with miraculously saving the Jasna Góra monastery during a siege that took place at the time of The Deluge, a 17th century Swedish invasion. Although this event was of little military importance, the event stimulated the Polish resistance. The Poles could not immediately change the course of the war but after an alliance with the Crimean Khanate they repulsed the Swedes. Shortly thereafter, in the cathedral of Lwów, on April 1, 1656, Jan Kazimierz, the King of Poland, solemnly pronounced his vow to consecrate the country to the protection of the Mother of God and proclaimed Her the Patron and Queen of the lands in his kingdom.
We went on a school pilgrimage to Częstochowa to pray for lucky results of the final exams. All 3 and 4 forms went.
On the way to Częstochowa
More students from other parishes came too. About 2000.
Warning against "religious" con artists.
Non-student pilgrims.
The entrance to Black Madonna Chapel
The hall/lobby of the chapel
You can see the picture ahead.
The main room of the Chapel
Behind this gate....
People are kneeling down while the picture is being screened.
Ornaments on walls. A lot of amber jewellery. The real Treasury is located in another part of the Monastery, paid.
The picture is screened now. Stay tuned to see it in full.
Signs of miraculous power of Black Madonna. Handicapped people don`t need their crutches.
Girls write their wishes to Black Madonna. I didn`t see boys doing it.
After attending an outdoors service on the walls of the monastery, we came back to the Chapel to see the picture unveiled.
People are kneeling down again.
One day I will show you a short film with unveiling.
The walls of the Chapel are decorated with memorial plaques, mostly in honour of Polish martyrdom during WW2 and communist times.
E.g, to 14.000 officers murdured in Mednoje, another execution site apart from Katyn.
Łyczakowski Cemetery in Lvov
The urn with the ashes of Kordecki, the most famous prior in Poland.
The interior door.
Random
The Chapel is the most important but there is also the main church. It is gigantic.
Kolbe, the one who volunteered to die for another inmate in Nazi Auschwitz.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maximilian_Kolbe
The inmate saved by Kolbe lived till 1995.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franciszek_Gajowniczek
Franciszek Gajowniczek (1901 – March 13, 1995[1]) was a Polish army sergeant whose life was spared by the Nazis when Saint Maximilian Kolbe sacrificed his life for Gajowniczek's. Gajowniczek had been sent to the Auschwitz concentration camp for aiding the Jewish resistance in Poland.
Gajowniczek and Kolbe were both prisoners in 1941 at Auschwitz when a prisoner appeared to have escaped.[2] According to the camp's policy, whenever a prisoner escaped, ten others were killed by starvation in reprisal for the escape. Franciszek Gajowniczek was one of those selected to die. When the Franciscan priest Kolbe heard Gajowniczek cry, "My poor wife! My poor children! What will they do?" Kolbe offered himself instead. What exactly Kolbe said has been forgotten, but one version records his words as, "I am a Catholic priest from Poland; I would like to take his place, because he has a wife and children."[3]
Gajowniczek was released from Auschwitz after spending five years, five months and nine days in the camp. Though his wife, Helena, survived the war, his sons were killed in a Soviet bombardment in 1945, before his release.[1]
When Pope Paul VI beatified Maximilian Kolbe in 1971, Gajowniczek was a guest of the Pope's. In 1972, Time Magazine reported that over 150,000 made a pilgrimage to Auschwitz to honor the anniversary of Maximilian's beatification. One of the first to speak was Gajowniczek, who declared "I want to express my thanks, for the gift of life."[4] His wife, Helena, died in 1977.[1] Gajowniczek was again a guest of the Pope when Maximilian Kolbe was canonized by John Paul II on October 10, 1982.
In 1994 Gajowniczek visited the St. Maximilian Kolbe Catholic Church of Houston, where he told his translator Chaplain Thaddeus Horbowy that "so long as he ... has breath in his lungs, he would consider it his duty to tell people about the heroic act of love by Maximilian Kolbe." Gajowniczek died on March 13, 1995, a little over 53 years after having his life spared by Kolbe, in the Polish city of Brzeg. He was survived by his second wife Janina.[1]
The outside complex of the monaster is immense but seems less impressive than the interiors. You can see various architectonic styles, as if these houses had been added one by one every 50 years.
Kordecki statue
The view pf the assembly area
A few gates leading to the monastery.
Warnings
Outside
Statues of the stations of the cross
The road up the hill
After seeing the monastery from outside, let`s go inside again.
The reconstructed defence walls from 17 century.
The cannon didn`t shoot at all. What looks like smoke was steam from a ventilation pipe behinf the cannon! ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D
The monastery needs funds for renovation which is under way in many places.
The Polish Pope
The view of the city
Reconstruction of old stone walls. You can see new concrete walls around taking over.
