Random Polish Stuff

So I have a whole bunch of random information about Poland that I'm going to share with you.

One of the crazy things about Poland is that many times throughout history the country of Poland has not existed on any map or anything. But the Polish people always maintained their culture and their love of their country and so, despite the best efforts of many different peoples, Poland has never ceased to exist. The first time Poland was wiped off the map was in the 1700's when the powers of Russia, Prussia, and Austria divided Poland amongst themselves.

In World War I the Poles were forced into the Russian, German, and Austrian armies and forced to fight each other.

On November 11, 1918 Poland once again became independent. Poland signed non-aggression pacts with both the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany prior to World War II. However, on August 23, 1939, Germany and the Soviet Union signed a non-aggression pact with each other and began to threaten Poland. On September 1, 1939 Germany invaded Poland from the west and on September 17 the Soviet Union invaded Poland from the east.

In 1944 Poland came under Soviet control and was once again wiped off the map.

In 1978 Karol Wojtyla, Cardinal fo Krakow, was elected Pope! Two years later strike leader Lech Walesa was elected as the head of Solidarity. The next year martial law was imposed by the Soviets and many of Solidarity's leaders, including Walesa, were imprisoned. But in 1983 martial law was lifted and finally, in 1990, Walesa was elected president of Poland!

One of the most important symbols of Poland is the image of Our Lady of Czestochowa.

According to tradition this image was painted by St. Luke, the evangelist, on a tabletop built by Jesus Himself. It was discovered by St. Helen, the mother of Emperor Constantine and collector of Christian relics in the Holy Land. The icon was then enshrined in the imperial city of Constantinople, according to legend, where it remained for the next 500 years.

In 803, the painting is said to have been given as a wedding gift from the Byzantine emperor to a Greek princess, who married a Ruthenian nobleman. The image was then placed in the royal palace at Belz, where it remained for nearly 600 years.

The icon arrived in Poland in 1382 with a Polish army fleeing the Tartars, who had struck the image with an arrow.

Legend has it that during the looting of Belz, a mysterious cloud enveloped the chapel containing the image. A monastery was founded in Czestochowa to enshrine the icon in 1386, and soon King Jagiello (Ya-gee-ellow) built a cathedral around the chapel containing the icon.

However, the image soon came under attack once again. In 1430, Hussites (pre-Reformation reformers) attacked the monastery, slashed the Virgin's face with a sword, and left it desecrated in a puddle of blood and mud.

It is said that when the monks pulled the icon from the mud, a miraculous fountain appeared, which they used to clean the painting. The icon was repainted in Krakow, but both the arrow mark and the gashes from the sword were left and remain clearly visible today. In these wounds the Queen of Poland visibly bears the sufferings of the Polish people.

The miracle for which Our Lady of Czestochowa is most famous occurred in 1655, when Swedish troops were about to invade Czestochowa. A group of Polish soldiers prayed fervently before the icon for deliverance, and the enemy retreated. In 1656, King John Casimir declared Our Lady of Czestochowa "Queen of Poland" and made the city the spiritual capital of the nation.

The Virgin again came to the aid of her people in 1920, when the Soviet Russian Red Army gathered on the banks of the Vistula River, preparing to attack Warsaw. The citizens and soldiers fervently prayed to Our Lady of Czestochowa, and on September 15, the Feast of Our Lady of Sorrows, she appeared in the clouds above Warsaw. The Russians were defeated in a series of battles later dubbed the "Miracle at the Vistula."

During Nazi occupation, Hitler prohibited pilgrimages to Czestochowa, but many still secretly made the journey. In 1945, after Poland was liberated, half a million pilgrims journeyed to Czestochowa to express their gratitude. On September 8, 1946, 1.5 million people gathered at the shrine to re-dedicate the entire nation to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. During the Cold War, Czestochowa was a center of anti-Communist resistance.

Pope John Paul II was a fervent devotee of the Virgin Mary and of her icon at Czestochowa. As pope, he made pilgrimages to pray before the image in 1979, 1983, 1991, and 1997. In 1991, he held the sixth World Youth Day at Czestochowa, which was attended by 350,000 young people from across Europe.

Pope Clement XI officially recognized the miraculous nature of the image in 1717 and in 1925 Pope Pius XI designated May 3 a feast day in her honor. Pope Benedict XVI visited the shrine on May 26, 2006.