Post by troubledgoodangel on Nov 24, 2007 9:28:15 GMT -7
Madonna Œwiêtojañska, also known as Our Lady of Liberty, is one of the most famous icons in Kraków. Located in the antique church of Saint John the Evangelist run by the Presentation Sisters (Siostry Prezentki), the oldest religious congregation in Poland, the picture dates from the beginnings of the XVI century. The Madonna clad in a very uncommon tunic color green-algae, is represented with Jesus on her right arm, and also uncommonly, a clover flower (koniczyna), which is believed to bring luck, between two fingers of her left hand (very oddly, the instant I wrote this, a tiny ladybug (biedronka), has landed from nowhere on my left hand, which is also very unusual since we are in late November!).
Going back to what we were discussing, the tradition has it that the painting was donated to Saint John's by Prince Stanis³aw Radziwi³³ the Pious. Madonna Œwiêtojañska has been credited with a number of miracles. The first, most spectacular, happened in 1633, when a prisoner about to be beheaded yelled her name, and chains and shackles miraculously fell off his hands, which in those days meant acquittal. To this day, the shackles and sabers, which he donated afterwards, hang in the front altar, as a votum. It was likely for that reason, that the Madonna was given the name she has, and became an object of pilgrimage wherever the freedom of Poland was at stake. Among the many people who visited Madonna of Liberty were King Jan III Sobieski, who came on February 23, 1684, to thank for the amazing victory over the Turks and Tadeusz Koœciuszko, who came on March 24, 1794, to ask for help in the Uprising. And Archbishop Karol Wojty³a spent many hours with this his preferred icon, and eventually had it crowned, both Jesus and the Madonna, at a ceremony at Wawel (it was the first coronation Wojty³a had ever performed). I myself came upon the church quite by accident (the structure is very unassuming from outside), and I can tell you: the Pani Od Wykupu Niewolników (this is her other Polish name, which means Our Lady of Ransom of Slaves), had produced for me a spectacular miracle, also, which I won't go into. I am still at odds what to do with the ladybug, which is refusing to leave. I don't really blame her, for it is below zero, and the computer keyboard is nice and warm.
Going back to what we were discussing, the tradition has it that the painting was donated to Saint John's by Prince Stanis³aw Radziwi³³ the Pious. Madonna Œwiêtojañska has been credited with a number of miracles. The first, most spectacular, happened in 1633, when a prisoner about to be beheaded yelled her name, and chains and shackles miraculously fell off his hands, which in those days meant acquittal. To this day, the shackles and sabers, which he donated afterwards, hang in the front altar, as a votum. It was likely for that reason, that the Madonna was given the name she has, and became an object of pilgrimage wherever the freedom of Poland was at stake. Among the many people who visited Madonna of Liberty were King Jan III Sobieski, who came on February 23, 1684, to thank for the amazing victory over the Turks and Tadeusz Koœciuszko, who came on March 24, 1794, to ask for help in the Uprising. And Archbishop Karol Wojty³a spent many hours with this his preferred icon, and eventually had it crowned, both Jesus and the Madonna, at a ceremony at Wawel (it was the first coronation Wojty³a had ever performed). I myself came upon the church quite by accident (the structure is very unassuming from outside), and I can tell you: the Pani Od Wykupu Niewolników (this is her other Polish name, which means Our Lady of Ransom of Slaves), had produced for me a spectacular miracle, also, which I won't go into. I am still at odds what to do with the ladybug, which is refusing to leave. I don't really blame her, for it is below zero, and the computer keyboard is nice and warm.
