National Shrine of Our Lady of Czestochowa

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The National Shrine of Our Lady of Czestochowa, known also as the American Czestochowa is a Polish-American Roman Catholic shrine near Doylestown, Pennsylvania, founded in 1953. It houses a reproduction of the Black Madonna icon of Częstochowa, Poland.

1 History
2 See also
3 External links
4 Headline text

[edit] History

In 1953 a Polish Pauline monk, Father Michael M. Zembrzuski, purchased a tract of land near Doylestown with the intention of building a chapel dedicated to the Black Madonna of Częstochowa, Poland's most important religious icon, with the intention of reconnecting Polish-Americans with their Polish Catholic roots. A barn was converted into the first chapel; it was moved to a new site and dedicated on June 26, 1955.

The chapel was reorganized as a shrine to celebrate the thousandth anniversary of the Polish nation in 1966. It was dedicated on October 16, 1966 by Archbishop John Krol and President Lyndon B. Johnson. The centerpiece of the new shrine was a church building designed by the Polish-American architect George Szeptycki housing the replica of the Black Madonna painting.

In subsequent years other facilities have been added to the site, including a Polish-American cemetery (including monuments to Poland's third prime minister Ignacy Paderewski, the Polish-Lithuanian hussars, and the victims of the Katyń massacres), a monastery, and a visitor center. The lower church interior was remodeled to resemble the interior of the Jasna Góra shrine in Poland housing the original painting. There is also an outdoor pathway with the Stations of the Cross. Every year,around the second week in August, there is a walking pilgrimage to the shrine from Sts Peter and Paul Church in Great Meadows, New Jersey crossing the border into Pennsylvania and going to Doylestown, to the shrine. There are 3 groups that walk in the pilgrimage. The Polish Group, the Polish Youth group, and the American group with sometimes a Spanish group walking with the American Group. On average, close to 2000 pilgrims now walk during this event in August every year. This year, 2007, marks the twentieth anniversary of the Walking Pilgrimage.