How the Polish Madonna became Haiti’s national protector

Our Lady of Czestochowa’s three scars help tell her story of perseverance and love.

Our Lady of Częstochowa is striking in many ways, but the scars on her right cheek make her truly unique. They are battle scars that the Black Madonna suffered for the Polish and Haitian nations. And maybe for you.

Our Lady of Częstochowa’s Polish homeland, on the open plain of Eastern Europe, is a vulnerable place. The Poles have been buffeted by repeated Mongol invasions, partitioned by European powers, and occupied by the Nazi and Soviet regimes. Yet many Polish people believe that there is a spiritual force at work protecting them and holding their nation together.

This belief comes from a legend about how the spirits led the Poles to their homeland. It is a story of three brothers who embarked on a journey. Čech, the oldest, went west and became the Czech people. Rus went east and became the Russian people. Lech, the youngest, went north. While hunting, his arrow led him to a white eagle framed by the setting sun. Lech tried to take one of her three eaglets to raise as his own, but the eagle fought back until blood poured from wounds inflicted by Lech’s sword. Lech finally realized that there was a spiritual force at work and relented. He settled there, naming the place Gniezno, from gniazdo, Polish for “nest.”

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