33. BITESIZE CATECHISM: OUR LADY OF CZESTOCHOWA & THE USE OF SACRAMENTALS

APPETIZER: Holy Mother Church has instituted sacramentals which are sacred signs that bear a resemblance to the sacraments. They signify effects, particularly of a spiritual nature, which are obtained through the intercession of the Church. By them people are disposed to receive the chief effect of the sacraments, and various occasions in life are rendered holy. Sacramentals do not confer the grace of the Holy Spirit in the way that the sacraments do, but by the Church's prayer, they prepare us to receive grace and dispose us to cooperate with it. For well-disposed members of the faithful, the liturgy of the sacraments and sacramentals sanctifies almost every event of their lives with the divine grace which flows from the Paschal mystery of the Passion, Death, and Resurrection of Christ. From this source all sacraments and sacramentals draw their power. There is scarcely any proper use of material things which cannot be thus directed toward the sanctification of human beings and the praise of God. The religious sense of the Christian people has always found expression in various forms of piety surrounding the Church's sacramental life, such as the veneration of relics, visits to sanctuaries, pilgrimages, processions, the stations of the cross, the rosary, medals, icons, etc. (CCC #1667, #1670, #1674)

MAIN COURSE:  Our Saint of the Week is the Blessed Mother under her title of Our Lady of Czestochowa, Queen of Poland, whose feast day is August 26. I have chosen this topic and this feast because it stands out strongly for two things that are very "Catholic": the use of sacramentals and a relationship with Mary as Mother and Protectress.  

First let's take a look at the story of this holy icon and then we will study what we Catholic believe about sacramentals. Even for those who are not Polish-Americans, the icon of Our Lady of Czestochowa is a powerful reminder of our spiritual mother's protection and care.  Pope St. John Paul II was a HUGE proponent of this icon and devotion in modern Catholicism. It held a deeply special place in his heart and spirituality.

This sacred icon is a very famous painting of the Blessed Virgin holding the Child Jesus and is among the most ancient images of the Blessed Mother and Child Jesus in Christianity. Under this title, Mary is the Patron and Protector of Poland. Since the face of Mary is very dark, she is often referred to as the Black Madonna of Poland. This darkening of the image comes from centuries of soot and smoke from candles illuminating the icon. The picture follows the traditional form of an icon. Mary gestures toward Jesus, directing the attention away from her and pointing to Jesus as the source of salvation.  This is and continues to be Mary's mission: to present Jesus to the world. The Child Jesus extends his right hand in blessing to the viewer of the painting.  He holds a Book of the Gospels in his left hand reminding us that He is the Incarnate Word of the Father who came to speak the Word of God to us.

The painting of the Madonna has a long history.  Saint Helen the Empress found this painting when she went to Jerusalem in the 4th century in search of the true Cross of Christ. She gave the painting to her son, the Emperor Constantine. When the city of Constantinople was invaded by enemies the people prayed to Mary before this icon and the city was saved. This began the great devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary attached to this painting.  In 1382, Prince Ladislaus of Poland sought to protect the holy image from invading barbarians. On his journey to his hometown where he planned to hide the icon, he stopped and spent the night at village called Czestochowa. The next day, as he began to continue the journey, the horses pulling the wagon with the painting of Our Lady refused to move. After repeatedly unsuccessful attempts to force the animals forward, Prince Ladislaus took this as a sign that the painting was to remain in Czestochowa. The icon was placed in the care of the Order of the Hermits of Saint Paul at their monastery called the Mount of Light, or in Polish, Jasna Gora. The icon of the Black Madonna, Our Lady of Czestochowa, has remained there to this day.

The sacred icon was again in danger and damaged in 1430 when a band of marauding invaders looted the monastery. Twice the painting was struck with a sword repeatedly in order to extract the gold and jewels that adorned it.  Despite trying to repair the painting afterwards, the sword cuts and the arrow wound are still visible in the painting today.  Look at you will see the scars on Mary's face and neck, giving this icon one of its most distinctive characteristics. But these "wounds" also brought a sense of solidarity with Our Lady among the people because they saw in these markings a symbolism of the desire of Mary to suffer with them and protect them. 

Through this connection the hearts of the Polish people grew stronger in their attachment to and love for the Beloved Mother.  They refurbished the icon with jewels as a signs of their love and adorned both Jesus and Mary with crowns, officially declaring the the Blessed Virgin to be the one only Queen of Poland. God seems to have blessed this devotion as is evidenced by the many conversions,  healings and miracles that have been attributed to prayers to Our Lady of Czestochowa over the years.

The icon and devotion was hugely inspirational in the Poland's successful fight for freedom from the USSR in the late 20th century. The shrine of Czestochowa was a gathering place for the Solidarity movement and the icon became both a spiritual and a political symbol igniting and uniting the people in their struggle for civil and religious rights.  What is so beautiful about the Icon of Czestochowa is that it shows all of us Catholic people, no matter what our ethnicity, the purpose and power of the sacramentals of the Church to enable us to live as Christians committed to peace and justice. And that leads us perfectly into this week's Bitesize study.

As we read in the Appetizer, sacramentals are tangible actions and items that the Church approves and blesses to aid us in our spirituality and in living the Gospel as Christians in the world.  They have a name that is very similar to Sacraments, but they do not possess the supernatural grace and power of the sacraments. Instead, they nurture us spiritually to more faithfully and effectively receive the sacraments. The sacramentals DO bring us the grace and power of God but they do so because of the prayers and blessings of the Church, the Mystical Body of Christ, and not becaus eo anything they possess in and of themselves.

A very important thing to remember when using sacramentals is that they are not protection-charms or magic amulets. This may sound funny to you, but many Catholics I have encountered tend to have this rather superstitious attitude. For example, I was once asked by a non-practicing Catholic who had not been to Mass or Confession for years, if I had a brown scapular he could wear for an upcoming airplane flight. I asked why he wanted it (though I knew the answer). "Because people who die wearing the brown scapular go to heaven!" Obviously, he had heard that said when he was a kid but sadly no one had put it into proper context for him. He had no clue that the scapular was simply a blessed sign of our relationship with Christ through Mary and that it has no supernatural power of its own accord! But I was glad to see that he at least still had some level of connection with God and heaven!

I love sacramentals and make good use of them myself.  Icons, statues, rosaries, medals all have a prominent but proper place in my home, in my life,  and in my spirituality. And as a deacon one of the things I love best is blessing people and the religious items they bring for a blessing.  I just hope and pray that all who use them will grow in their relationship with God, draw closer to Christ, live the Gospel more wholeheartedly, receive the Sacraments more frequently, and serve others more generously.  This is, after all, the ver reason and purpose why they have been given to us by the Church.

DOGGIE-BAG: Something to take with you for spiritual snacking...

From our Catholic Tradition:  Here is a short explanation of some of our more popular sacramentals.  It is nearly impossible to list all of them, but suffice it to say that a sacramental is ANY item or action of devotion that receives the official blessing of the Church through her ministers (bishops, priests or deacons).  

Rosary/Prayer Beads. The rosary has roots in several early Christian prayer traditions. They share similar formats to the rosary with repetitive structures and prayers.  3rd century Christian hermits and monks in Egypt used stones and later prayer ropes to keep track when praying the 150 Psalm or when reciting  the "Jesus Prayer” (“Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me.”)  The Our Father was also prayed 150 times, using a string of beads with five decades referred to as a Paternoster (Latin for “Our Father”).   The full rosary has 20 decades (a decade is groups of 10 beads or knots) but much more common is a rosary of 5 decades or even those which have just 1 decade.  The heart of the rosary though is not in the reciting of memorized repeated prayers but in reflection on the Mysteries (events) from the life of Jesus and to a lesser extent of Mary.  In addition to the Marian Rosary which most Catholics know about, there are many other devotions that make use of prayer-beads (such as the Chaplet of Divine Mercy).

Miraculous Medal. The Blessed Virgin herself designed the Medal of the Immaculate Conception—popularly known as the Miraculous Medal - because of the many conversions and healings associated with its proper devout use. It was given to the Church by Our Lady in her Church investigated and approved apparitions to St. Catherine Laboure in Paris in 1830.  Mary said that extraordinary graces wpould be poured out upon those who wear it and pray for Mary's intercession with trust.

Brown Scapular/Scapular Medal. This scapular consists of two pieces of brown cloth of any material that is worn over the shoulders with one piece on the chest and the other on the back (thus its name of scapular, coming from the shoulder blades which are anatomically called "scapulas").  It is a miniature version of the full length scapular garment worn by friars and nuns of the Carmelite Order. According to the Church, wearing the scapular the Brown Scapular is an external sign of the childlike relationship established between the Blessed Virgin Mary of Mount Carmel, and those who entrusts themselves totally to her protection, who have recourse to her maternal intercession, and who devote themselves to a life of regular prayer.  If a person so wishes a Scapular Medal may be worn in place of the cloth scapular.  Such a medal has an image of Jesus with his Sacred Heart on one side and an image of Our Lady on the other side and is specially blessed to replace the cloth scapular.

Holy Water.  Water that has been specially blessed by a bishop. priest or deacon for use by making a sign of the cross when entering a church reflects a renewal of baptism, a cleansing of venial sin, and for protection against evil. Its primary connection is with Baptism and  thus the sprinkling of holy water is common in rituals for many of the sacraments and prayer services.  It is a good custom for families to have a holy water font (container) in their home so that the members can make use of it for prayer and asking God;s blessing when leaving the home.

St. Benedict Cross-Medal. For the early Christians, the cross was a favorite symbol of their faith in Christ. From the writings of St. Gregory the Great (540-604), we know that St. Benedict had a deep faith in the Cross and worked miracles with the Sign of the Cross. This faith in, and special devotion to, the Cross was passed on to succeeding generations of Benedictines.  This gave rise to the making of medals that bore the image of St. Benedict holding a cross aloft in his right hand and his Rule of Life in the other hand. Thus, the Cross has always been closely associated with the Medal of St. Benedict, which is often referred to as the Medal-Cross of St. Benedict. It is one of the few sacramentals that has a very special blessing that can be given by any bishop, priest or deacon.  It has come to be properly used as a means for combatting evil, overcoming temptations and healing the sick through the Cross of Christ and the intercession of St. Benedict.

Scripture Verse to Memorize: "People would take handkerchiefs and aprons that had touched Paul’s skin to those who were sick. Their sicknesses would be cured, and evil spirits would leave them." (Acts 19:12. This verse shows us that the sacramentals we call relics - which are items touched to the body of a saint - were used even in New Testament times.)