Our Lady of Krasnobrod (Poland)

Marian devotion

Where is he?

The sanctuary of Our Lady of Krasnobrod is in Krasnobrod, in the voivodship of Lublin, Poland. The coordinate comes from the OpenStreetMap polygon corresponding to the Church of the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary; the geometric center of the building is calculated and rounded to four decimals. The point identifies the temple of the sanctuary, not the exact place of the tradition of the apparition or the chapel of San Roque located at another point in the environment.

Documented history

The parish of Krasnobrod retains a small image of the Virgin with the Child, venerated in the sanctuary of the Visitation. Institutional history distinguishes the development of veneration, ecclesial research from the 17th century and subsequent coronation. In 1654 the bishop of Chełm sent a commission headed by the auxiliary bishop Mikołaj Świrski to examine what was said about the image. The existence of this commission is a historical fact of the life of the cult; it does not allow each story about favors to be turned into a proven miracle.

During World War II, the image was put to safety by three inhabitants of Krasnobród. The story published by the parish reports that Franciszek Zawół, Bronisław Ruta and Jan Wowin took her out of the occupied church on the night of July 22, 1943 and hid her at the Kazimierz Fudakowski estate. This episode is preserved as a story documented by the later testimony of its protagonists and helps to explain the material continuity of devotion.

On 4 July 1965 the bishop of Lublin Piotr Kałwa performed the coronation of the image and an extended copy, in a ceremony held with permission in papal form. The Archdiocese of Lublin recalls the fiftieth anniversary of that coronation and the diocese of Zamość-Lubaczów now presents the place as a sanctuary. Coronation and public veneration are documented ecclesial facts; they do not in themselves amount to an approval of the traditional apparition.

Tradition

The tradition places in 1640 an experience of Jakub Ruszczyk, neighbor of the town of Szarowola, who would have contemplated the Virgin and recovered health. There is also talk of a small image or picture found later in the place. In this document the story is presented as a tradition because the sources consulted describe the memory of the phenomenon, but do not provide a contemporary decree that declares the apparition supernatural or a medical file that certifies the healing.

The devotion is also expressed around the chapel of the source and the pilgrimages. The water and the graces attributed are part of popular piety. There is no individual recognition of a cure as a miracle in the verified sources; that is why no more is said than the documentation allows.

Legend and limits of the record

The wonderful details of Jakub Ruszczyk's apparition and healing belong to the traditional story. The fact sheet can confirm the existence of the sanctuary, the historical research of 1654, the preservation of the image during the war and the coronation of 1965. Any supernatural interpretation not supported by a specific ecclesial declaration is kept apart.

Ecclesial State

The state is stated as permitted veneration. The Catholic sanctuary and the coronation of the image are documented by parish, diocesan and archdiocese sources. The revised sources do not contain an episcopal decree or a no obstat of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith that approves the apparition of 1640 as supernatural. Mary is venerated and her intercession is asked before God; she does not worship her.

Anecdotes and stories

The protection of the image during the German occupation shows a concrete form of community responsibility: three neighbours risked their lives to preserve an object that the population considered sacred. Krasnobrod's history thus unites heritage, memory of war and prayer. Also remember that an image can have material continuity without that automatically testing all the extraordinary stories that have been formed around it.

Prayer

St. Mary, comfort of those who suffer, pray for the families wounded by war and for those who protect the memory of their communities. Take us to Christ, teach us to act with courage and make our prayer always seek truth and peace. Amen.

Sources

• Parish of the Visitation of Krasnobród, history of the image, HTTP 200.
• Archdiocese of Lublin, 50th anniversary of the coronation of Krasnobród, HTTP 200.
• OpenStreetMap, way 175207717, iglesia de Krasnobród, HTTP 200.

The image during the war and the life of the sanctuary

The 1943 episode shows that the history of a venerated image can also be read through concrete decisions of a community. The small size of the image allowed it to be removed from the church under occupation, but this fact is not presented as a miraculous intervention: the parish source attributes salvation to the risky initiative of three neighbors and to the protection they sought for the object. The subsequent conservation of the piece helps to understand the material continuity of the cult until the coronation of 1965.

The Krasnobrod shrine brings together the Church of Visitation, the memory of the image, the pilgrimages and other devotional places around it. The diocesan sources remember the celebration of anniversaries of the coronation and the public condition of the sanctuary. It is not stated that each element of the landscape - the source, chapels or healing accounts - has the same historical status. Each is mentioned in the appropriate place: documented heritage and veneration, transmitted tradition and undeclared miracle when there is no specific file.