She has been recognized as Poland’s spiritual queen for many centuries.
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For hundreds of years, the Polish people have been united under a national devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary. Even when Poland was erased from the map, the Polish people’s faith was kept alive by their common love of the Blessed Mother.
This love of the Virgin Mary is most often expressed in the miraculous image of Our Lady of Czestochowa, which was been in Poland since the 14th century.
To further solidify this love, the leaders of Poland have crowned her “queen” on multiple occasions in the nation’s history.
For example, according to the Catholic New Agency, Our Lady of Czestochowa “was crowned Queen and Protector of Poland by King John II Casimir in 1652 [followed by a] canonical coronation … by Clement XI on Sept. 8, 1717.”
This was further broadened after Poland regained its independence after World War I. According to Zenit, “Mary was proclaimed the Queen of Poland by Pope Benedict XV in 1920 at the request of Polish bishops.” Polish priest Fr. Pawel Rytel-Andrianik explained how, “At that time not only the Church in Poland, but also the whole Nation realized that during these 123 years of partitions, it was love and devotion to Mary that was a binder uniting Poles despite the fact that the Polish State did not exist on the map of Europe. She led us through the darkest events in the history of our Nation. That is why Mary is the Mother of the Independence of our Fatherland.”
Her queenship over Poland was further solidified in 1923, when Pope Pius XI designated May 3 as the Feast of Our Lady, Queen of Poland. This coincides with “Constitution Day” in Poland, a day that remembers the events of May 3, 1791, when Poland established its first constitution.
More recently in 2017 the Polish parliament declared 2017 a “Jubilee Year” for the country, honoring the 300th anniversary of the first canonical coronation of the image of Our Lady of Czestochowa.
The Polish people have always recognized the pivotal role the Virgin Mary plays in their lives and how she is a motherly protector, preserving their faith during the midst of the most severe trials anyone could endure.
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