Author Topic: Black Madonna attacked (Read 723 times)

Neil Obstat · « **on:** January 02, 2013, 08:53:22 PM »

Quote from: Lepanto Again

http://www.thenews.com.pk/article-78926-Poland:-Black-Madonna-under-paint-attack

December 09, 2012 - Updated 204 PKT
From Web Edition

WARSAW: A man hurled cans of paint at Poland's most sacred icon on Sunday in an attack that failed to damage the Black Madonna of Jasna Gora but shocked many in the staunchly Catholic country.

The 58-year-old attacker was detained by guards at the monastery holding the revered depiction of Mary and the baby Jesus in the southern city of Czestochowa, police said.

"The icon is shielded by a protective plate of glass and was unharmed," Czestochowa police spokeswoman Joanna Lazar added.

It was unclear why the man carried out the attack or whether the paint cans were open. A statement on the Jasna Gora monastery website said the attacker had tried to deface the icon with a "black substance".

The monastery became a symbol of national pride after Poles successfully defended it against invading Swedish troops in the 17th century. According to legend, the sacred image was painted by St Luke and helped repel the foreign soldiers.

Solidarity leader Lech Walesa kept his 1983 Nobel Peace Prize medal at the monastery for safekeeping beyond the reach of the country's then communist rulers who regarded the award as part of a Western plot.

Thousands of Poles make pilgrimages to the monastery every year to see the icon, whose origin is shrouded in mediaeval lore. (Reuters)

Anthony Benedict · « **Reply #1 on:** January 03, 2013, 06:24:04 PM »

Quote from: Lepanto Again

We were unaware that St. Luke is said to have painted that image.

Agreed. I've, too, heard of an icon of Our Lady by St. Luke but the style of the Polish icon is too advanced, stylistically, for it to have come from the first century.

Although, the later mid-Eurasian style of the Polish icon, in my opinion dating to no earlier than the end of the first milleium, could have been based on the physignomy of one attributed to the Evangelist.

Elizabeth · « **Reply #2 on:** January 04, 2013, 10:53:18 AM »

Odd that they do not name the poor wretch who attempted to destroy such a very holy painting, or say what would happen to him as a result.

Personally, I think Holy Angels kept the glass from breaking.

Cheryl · « **Reply #3 on:** January 04, 2013, 06:21:46 PM »

Quote from: Lepanto Again

http://www.thenews.com.pk/article-78926-Poland:-Black-Madonna-under-paint-attack

This person should be grateful for God's mercy. He's lucky that the same thing that happened to the soldier that slashed the painting didn't happen to him!