Anecdotes about the Virgin Mary

"The Siege of Jasna Góra and the Queen of Poland"

Czestochowa (Poland) (1655)

Between 1655 and 1660, the Swedish invasion descended upon the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in what history remembers as the "Deluge." Amidst that devastation, the Jasna Góra Monastery, home to the Black Madonna of Częstochowa, was besieged by Swedish troops in November and December of 1655.

It was defended by a tiny garrison, some three hundred men including soldiers and religious figures, against a much larger Swedish contingent. Leading the resistance was the Pauline prior, Father Augustyn Kordecki, a well-known historical figure. Against all odds, after weeks of siege, the Swedes lifted the siege and withdrew without taking the sanctuary.

The moral impact was enormous and fueled national resistance. The following year, in 1656, King John Casimir solemnly proclaimed Mary Queen of Poland, forever sealing the link between Marian devotion and the country's identity. Since then, Our Lady of Częstochowa has been not only a venerated image, but the Mother and Queen to whom Poland has turned in every dark hour of its history.