Our Lady Queen of Poland (London, Ontario)

Marian Advocation of London (Ontario)
Popular devotion (not officially recognized by the Church)

The advocation of Our Lady Queen of Poland (Our Lady Queen of Poland / Mary Immaculate) was spread in southern Ontario with Polish immigration, especially the arrival between 1910 and 1960 of families serving as post-war workers and immigrants. In London and other cities in southern Ontario, Polish parishes were erected that kept this devotion alive, also linked to the image of Our Lady of Czestochowa. It does not record the exact year of erection of the parish under this title in London.

Main data

Origin and history

The advocation of Our Lady Queen of Poland (Our Lady Queen of Poland / Mary Immaculate) was spread in southern Ontario with Polish immigration, especially the arrival between 1910 and 1960 of families serving as post-war workers and immigrants. In London and other cities in southern Ontario, Polish parishes were erected that kept this devotion alive, also linked to the image of Our Lady of Czestochowa. It does not record the exact year of erection of the parish under this title in London.

The image and the sanctuary

En London existe presencia de comunidades polacas con imágenes marianas, habitualmente réplicas de Nuestra Señora de Czestochowa traídas o bendecidas en relación con el santuario de Jasna Góra. No consta que ninguna parroquia de London esté reconocida oficialmente como «santuario nacional» mariano polaco; se trata de parroquias con devoción mariana viva. No consta una coronación local de la imagen.

Sponsorship and coronation

Invocation of popular devotion; there is no official recognition of the Church as a sanctuary or specific canonical patronage in London. The patronage is spiritual, over the Polish community. There is no canonical coronation of a local image.

Party and devotion

The feast is held on August 26, according to the Polish calendar of Our Lady of Czestochowa, with solemn masses and processions. Many parish chronicles tell stories of the survival of images during the war or exile, although no specific documented stories have been found for London. No officially recognized miracle.

Link to the Rosary

Polish devotion is traditionally very rosarian: the Polish parishes of Ontario organize rosaries in family, pilgrimages and vigil, especially in October and May. There are no specific details of the Rosary's cofradies for London in the sources consulted.