Longing for Darkness: Tara and the Black Madonna by Galland China

Author:Galland, China [Galland, China]
Language: eng
Format: azw3, mobi, epub
Tags: Itzy, Kickass.to, Open Library
ISBN: 9780670828180
Publisher: Viking Adult
Published: 1990-09-01T04:00:00+00:00

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troops attacked the Monastery of Jasna Gora in November 1655. Jasna Gora was surrounded by some six thousand Swedish soldiers and twenty-five hundred cavalry.

"The monastery had two hundred fifty soldiers and less than one hundred monks to defend against the Swedish forces with their artillery," Josef tells me. The prior of the monastery, Augustin Kor-decki, was not about to turn over Jasna Gora to the Swedes. He had foreseen the coming attack and prepared for a long siege. "When the Swedes attacked with their artillery, Kordecki led a procession of monks displaying the Holy Sacrament along the batdement walls to show the Swedes they weren't afraid. He was not going to surrender, no matter what the odds."

Monks and soldiers, with the help of mercenaries attacking from the rear, successfully fought off the thousands of Swedes until just before Christmas, when the Swedes finally withdrew. The victory against such enormous odds was considered miraculous. The protection of the Virgin was believed to be the reason for the spectacular defense, and upon his return from exile, the king, John Casimir, placed Poland under the protection of the Madonna of Jasna Gora and declared her "Queen of the Crown of Poland." News of the monastery's success spread like wildfire and helped fuel the resistance against Sweden.

The Czestochowa Madonna is also credited by the Poles for their victory against the Bolshevik Army in 1920. After one hundred and twenty-five years of having been partitioned between Prussia, Austria, and Russia, Poland achieved its independence again. Poland had literally been wiped off the map of Europe and did not exist again until this "Miracle of the Vistula" that occurred in the defense of Warsaw. 4

Wandering through the halls, we finally reach the Gothic chapel of the Virgin with the altar and presbyter set behind ornate black wrought-iron open grillwork. Framed in silver, the icon is set high above the altar into a massive, ornate Baroque altarpiece veneered in ebony. Cool and impersonal, the faces of Mary and the infant Jesus are a dark brown, burnt sienna color, set off by heavily jeweled robes. Hers is blue encrusted with jewels, diamonds, rubies, sapphires, pearls,

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