Holy Mass indulgence on the Feast of Our Lady Queen of Poland, May 3, will be held at Jasna Góra at the summit at 11 a.m. It will be celebrated by the chairman of the Polish Bishops’ Conference, Archbishop Stanisław Gądecki, who will also deliver the homily.
On that day, the Sanctuary will also remain in special communion with Pope Francis and the faithful gathered in various parts of the world, and beg for an end to the pandemic. The holiday expresses the nation’s faith in the special protection of God that Poles have experienced and are experiencing through Mary. It was established at the request of the Polish bishops after regaining independence after World War I.
Already on the eve of the holiday, on May 2, during the Jasna Góra Assembly, the chairman of the Episcopate in the chapel of Our Lady will light a special candle and start praying for the end of the pandemic. The ceremony itself, on May 3 at At 6.00 p.m. the rosary will begin broadcasted by the Vatican media. As requested by the Pope, May will be devoted to a prayer marathon under the slogan: “The Church prays constantly to God.”
The great Marian prayer vigil in union with Pope Francis at Jasna Góra Monastery took place already in 2013. The monastery in Częstochowa was invited as one of the ten sanctuaries of the world that participated in the prayer of the rosary for peace in the world, as part of the International Marian Day. 4 years later, on the centenary of the Fatima apparitions. On May 13, 2017, a special “prayer telemost” was held at the sanctuary. It was a prayer vigil with Pope Francis and other Marian shrines around the world.
Jasna Góra has been in spiritual communication with the Holy See for many years. Here every day, since 1958. a prayer is offered for the pope who holds his apostolic office. This is a peculiar phenomenon because there is no other place in the world where a special Holy Mass is celebrated every day. for the Successor of Peter. At the request of St. John XXIII, who had special connections with Jasna Góra. Holy Mass for the Pope is celebrated in front of the Miraculous Picture every day at 18.30.
The connection between Jasna Góra and the Vatican is not only a daily Mass. A copy of the Miraculous Picture was taken to Rome by Pope Pius XI. In turn, Pius XII agreed in 1953 to open the chapel of Our Lady of Jasna Góra in the basement of St. Peter. The image of Our Lady of Jasna Góra is present in the Apostolic Palace in Castel Gandolfo. In 1979, John Paul II said to the Pauline Fathers in the Vatican that “he did not move Jasna Góra here, but he found her here”.
All contemporary popes: John Paul II, Benedict XVI, and Francis visited Jasna Góra. They thanked for praying in their intentions and asked for its continuation.
The feast of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Queen of Poland, alludes to the defense of Jasna Góra against the Swedes in 1655 and the vows of King Jan Kazimierz, in which he entrusts the kingdom to the protection of the Mother of God and the adoption of the Constitution of May 3. The holiday was officially approved in 1920 by Pope Benedict XV. It has been celebrated since 1923. After the liturgical reform in 1969, it was elevated to the rank of a celebration. The holiday expresses the nation’s faith in the special protection of God that Poles have experienced and are experiencing through Mary. It was established at the request of the Polish bishops after regaining independence after World War I.
