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St_Aloysius
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Does anyone know where to get some good icons of the Black Madonna?
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b_justb
Guest
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bpbasilphx
Guest
Our Lady of Chestachova was originally a Russian Icon painted by St. Luke stolen during one of the border wars abetween Russia and Poland.
If you compare it with the Icon called Portaitissa or Our Lady Keeper of the Portal/Door (or something similar), also painted by St. Luke, you will see many similarities, including the cut on the cheek that bled and scroll in the Divine Infant’s hand.
If you compare it with the Icon called Portaitissa or Our Lady Keeper of the Portal/Door (or something similar), also painted by St. Luke, you will see many similarities, including the cut on the cheek that bled and scroll in the Divine Infant’s hand.
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St_Aloysius
Guest
Wow…!
I can’t begin to expound on the utter irony of what I’m seeing…
Our Lady continues to amaze me… I wish I could begin to explain.
Thanks so much!
I can’t begin to expound on the utter irony of what I’m seeing…
Our Lady continues to amaze me… I wish I could begin to explain.
Thanks so much!
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b_justb
Guest
St_Aloysius Please tell us of your amazement!
When I was first introduced to Icons I was amazed to learn that St. Luke had painted (or written, depending on your like of the terms) several of them. I think 7 or 8? I can’t remember exactly. I was wondering why that fact of Christian history is so unknown by the vast majority of American Christians (from any Christian Tradition). When I have people over and they go into my office which has many Icons I always direct their attention to the ones that St. Luke did originally. Which always leads to a conversation about them and the theology in the work.
Just trying to plant seeds.
When I was first introduced to Icons I was amazed to learn that St. Luke had painted (or written, depending on your like of the terms) several of them. I think 7 or 8? I can’t remember exactly. I was wondering why that fact of Christian history is so unknown by the vast majority of American Christians (from any Christian Tradition). When I have people over and they go into my office which has many Icons I always direct their attention to the ones that St. Luke did originally. Which always leads to a conversation about them and the theology in the work.
Just trying to plant seeds.
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chewchoo
Guest
so is this st. luke, as in the gospel of st. luke???
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b_justb
Guest
Indeed, the one and the same. St. Luke had quite the Marian devotion. One of the originals is still surviving in a monastery on Mount Athos in Greece.so is this st. luke, as in the gospel of st. luke???
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St_Aloysius
Guest
It seems to be pure synchronicity…
This image of the Mother of God of Czestochowa has been imprinted in my brain, I think, for years. I’m sure I must have seen it when I was younger at least once, but never paid it any mind. (I was not raised Catholic, however, and so it could not have been in a church setting if so…) Now how odd that it would appear in these circumstances!
God has put me in touch with some of the most incredible people in this last year. A boy in my CCD class I was introduced to one night during a Youth Mass by a Dominican nun who was speaking to his family. His mother’s strong accent struck me. Later on, I would talk to him some more. His mother, I discovered, had quite a story: She was raised in Communist Poland as an atheist; her grandmother helped her enter into the Church against her family’s wishes. This gave her a grounding in faith, and though she’d risk her life many times for Christ in the time following, she still was searching in many respects. She went to shamans and gurus, experienced mystical affirmations from Christ, and finally began to reclaim the Catholic Church as her treasure: most especially the holy Eucharist. She in the course of her life, being a superb singer, has performed for the Great Pope John Paul II twice. She ranks him as the most amazing man she’s ever encountered. “He makes you feel like you are the most incredible person in the world!”
I became unbelievably close to this family shortly after, mainly though my friendship of Julian, her son. The mother, Ms. Liliana, refers to me as her fourth son and never hesitates to welcome me “home” each time I go to visit or stay (which is frequent).
We have discussed many topics. What was interesting is that I was reading a book by a former mentor of hers and something struck me. It was talking about the Black Madonna’s appearance in response to the at times shadowless, inhuman portrayals of the Blessed Virgin–especially during the Middle Ages. Whenever this exaggerated devotion to her took place, it said, the inevitable result would happen: the shadow (that is, the feminine dark side) denied in the Blessed Virgin would be projected onto women at large and witch hunts would ensue. The alternative was that iconographic depictions of the Black Madonna, which portrayed Mary in manner after the Earth Goddess and made her humanity and accessibility apparent, would appear.
I didn’t mention this until later. I was wondering a question I now feel is answered for me: How best to see Our Blessed Mother in all her humanity and versatility, rather than only as a distant and shadowless (and thus inhuman) religious concept? I now have found the answer, and it is a simple one. It is one, also, that each should discover on their own.
As Ms. Liliana and I discussed this, God in a subtle way disclosed the solution to me. When I mentioned the love I had of the Black Madonna, as she represented to me Mary in all her humanity and earthliness, she could only smile.
(CONT.)
This image of the Mother of God of Czestochowa has been imprinted in my brain, I think, for years. I’m sure I must have seen it when I was younger at least once, but never paid it any mind. (I was not raised Catholic, however, and so it could not have been in a church setting if so…) Now how odd that it would appear in these circumstances!
God has put me in touch with some of the most incredible people in this last year. A boy in my CCD class I was introduced to one night during a Youth Mass by a Dominican nun who was speaking to his family. His mother’s strong accent struck me. Later on, I would talk to him some more. His mother, I discovered, had quite a story: She was raised in Communist Poland as an atheist; her grandmother helped her enter into the Church against her family’s wishes. This gave her a grounding in faith, and though she’d risk her life many times for Christ in the time following, she still was searching in many respects. She went to shamans and gurus, experienced mystical affirmations from Christ, and finally began to reclaim the Catholic Church as her treasure: most especially the holy Eucharist. She in the course of her life, being a superb singer, has performed for the Great Pope John Paul II twice. She ranks him as the most amazing man she’s ever encountered. “He makes you feel like you are the most incredible person in the world!”
I became unbelievably close to this family shortly after, mainly though my friendship of Julian, her son. The mother, Ms. Liliana, refers to me as her fourth son and never hesitates to welcome me “home” each time I go to visit or stay (which is frequent).
We have discussed many topics. What was interesting is that I was reading a book by a former mentor of hers and something struck me. It was talking about the Black Madonna’s appearance in response to the at times shadowless, inhuman portrayals of the Blessed Virgin–especially during the Middle Ages. Whenever this exaggerated devotion to her took place, it said, the inevitable result would happen: the shadow (that is, the feminine dark side) denied in the Blessed Virgin would be projected onto women at large and witch hunts would ensue. The alternative was that iconographic depictions of the Black Madonna, which portrayed Mary in manner after the Earth Goddess and made her humanity and accessibility apparent, would appear.
I didn’t mention this until later. I was wondering a question I now feel is answered for me: How best to see Our Blessed Mother in all her humanity and versatility, rather than only as a distant and shadowless (and thus inhuman) religious concept? I now have found the answer, and it is a simple one. It is one, also, that each should discover on their own.
As Ms. Liliana and I discussed this, God in a subtle way disclosed the solution to me. When I mentioned the love I had of the Black Madonna, as she represented to me Mary in all her humanity and earthliness, she could only smile.
(CONT.)
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St_Aloysius
Guest
You see, my mother is opposed to my leaving Protestantism (the Baptist faith, more specifically) for the Catholic Church. Very much so. So I have yet to be fully received into the Church. Ms. Liliana eagerly awaits this day.
At hearing of my love for the Black Madonna, she said, “Amazing! It suddenly makes so much sense. When I was thinking and thinking what I would get you when your Confirmation finally came around, I had this image pop into my head. It was a huge icon of the Black Madonna! I saw it so clearly, as in a vision–but didn’t understand why. Now I do.”
The Black Madonna represents earthliness and humanness in a very real way, while simultaneously speaking of unparalleled holiness as well. It represents the full integration of light and dark, the full spectrum of human emotions, and the wholeness for which we were created.
After that, I began searching for the image of the Madonna that I had planted in my heart. I wanted to find it. Seeing it as clearly as I did deep within myself, I knew I would find it. And I did. Our Lady of Czestochowa. A Polish icon. And a picture of my destiny, my true Self, in so many respects.
I am very much the opposite of this Lady. I am an imperfect human. My complexion is very light and my hair is snow-white. Ha, ha. No wonder my psycho-spiritual Self is so attracted, so drawn, to this icon. She is the complelemtary and yet opposing side to all that I am. She is what completes me, fulfills me, and guides me on my journey to God.
In contemplating her, I feel something happening deep within myself. A voice is speaking, maternal and nurturing. I am being suckled at the breasts of the Great Mother, fed with pure spiritual milk. I am being shown an image of holy Sophia, of the ineffable Wisdom of Almighty God, and am resting in her embrace. And I can hear so clearly those ancient words which do only the venerable Theotokos, the Mother of God and of our own divine spark, justice: I am the mother of fair love and of respect and of knowledge and of holy hope. In me is all grace of the way and of the truth; in me is all hope of life and of virtue.
At hearing of my love for the Black Madonna, she said, “Amazing! It suddenly makes so much sense. When I was thinking and thinking what I would get you when your Confirmation finally came around, I had this image pop into my head. It was a huge icon of the Black Madonna! I saw it so clearly, as in a vision–but didn’t understand why. Now I do.”
The Black Madonna represents earthliness and humanness in a very real way, while simultaneously speaking of unparalleled holiness as well. It represents the full integration of light and dark, the full spectrum of human emotions, and the wholeness for which we were created.
After that, I began searching for the image of the Madonna that I had planted in my heart. I wanted to find it. Seeing it as clearly as I did deep within myself, I knew I would find it. And I did. Our Lady of Czestochowa. A Polish icon. And a picture of my destiny, my true Self, in so many respects.
I am very much the opposite of this Lady. I am an imperfect human. My complexion is very light and my hair is snow-white. Ha, ha. No wonder my psycho-spiritual Self is so attracted, so drawn, to this icon. She is the complelemtary and yet opposing side to all that I am. She is what completes me, fulfills me, and guides me on my journey to God.
In contemplating her, I feel something happening deep within myself. A voice is speaking, maternal and nurturing. I am being suckled at the breasts of the Great Mother, fed with pure spiritual milk. I am being shown an image of holy Sophia, of the ineffable Wisdom of Almighty God, and am resting in her embrace. And I can hear so clearly those ancient words which do only the venerable Theotokos, the Mother of God and of our own divine spark, justice: I am the mother of fair love and of respect and of knowledge and of holy hope. In me is all grace of the way and of the truth; in me is all hope of life and of virtue.
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A_Sombra
Guest
The Orthodox icon that was spoken of above and that "became"the Black Madonna was called the Turkovitskaya Icon of the Most Holy Mother of God.
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Ungcsertez
Guest
Not Russian, Ruthenian-Ukrainian. The icon was owned by a noble Ruthenian family from Belz.Our Lady of Chestachova was originally a Russian Icon painted by St. Luke stolen during one of the border wars abetween Russia and Poland.
If you compare it with the Icon called Portaitissa or Our Lady Keeper of the Portal/Door (or something similar), also painted by St. Luke, you will see many similarities, including the cut on the cheek that bled and scroll in the Divine Infant’s hand.
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b_justb
Guest
St_Aloysius - awesome testimony! Thanks for sharing it with us.
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