Word: czestochowa
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...that appeared on the front pages of government and party newspapers, Deputy Premier Mieczyslaw Rakowski spoke out against "educators who treat history in an uncritical manner" and encourage Polish youths to believe "myths, legends and half-truths." It was a clear reference to John Paul's homily in Czestochowa, in which he cited examples of heroic self-sacrifice from Poland's 1,000-year history. Foreign Minister Stefan Olszowski blamed "Western countries and their media" for turning the papal visit into an "antisocialist demonstration." Equally blunt criticism came from Government Spokesman Jerzy Urban, who hinted that "relations between...
Difficult months of bargaining preceded the Pope's visit to Poland. John Paul was originally supposed to return home in August 1982 for the celebration at Czestochowa but the military crackdown intervened and Jaruzelski postponed the trip. When the government finally invited the Pope, he asked Jaruzelski to grant a general amnesty. The authorities adamantly refused. Warsaw also balked at including the cities of Gdansk and Lublin in the papal itinerary, fearing that supporters of the banned union, which was particularly strong in those two cities, might use the Pope's visit to stage demonstrations. The Vatican...
...Pope's next stop was Czestochowa, the spiritual highlight of his trip. But the thought of the Black Madonna's "tear-filled and sad" eyes said John Paul moved him to reflect again on Poland's recent troubled history. While a crowd of a million people listened from the open fields and woods below the Jasna Gora shrine, the Pope described the creation of Solidarity in August...
...Poles, the Black Madonna of Czestochowa is far more than an object of Roman Catholic reverence. It is a source of historical continuity, a cause and remembrance of national liberation from foreign enemies, and a fount of miracles. The 4-ft. by 2½-ft. gilt-and-tempera dark-hued portrait of the Virgin Mary and Christ child is laden with gems and silver. By legend, the painting is attributed to St. Luke the Evangelist, and was executed on a table top from the house of Mary, Joseph and Jesus in Nazareth. It origins are unknown, but it may date...
...prayed to the Virgin for deliverance. The siege failed, and the Poles subsequently drove the Swedes out of the country. In gratitude, the reigning Polish monarch, Jan Kazimierz, dedicated his throne and the country to "the Virgin Mary, Queen of Poland." In 1711 the people of Warsaw walked to Czestochowa to thank the Virgin for saving the city from the bubonic plague. Ever since, the pilgrimage has been an annual rite...