Our Lady holding Jesus as He accepts flowers from the shepherd child

Our Lady holding Jesus as He accepts flowers from the shepherd child

Welcome to our intercessory prayer ministry for families, babies, little ones and those who love them.

In our prayers for families, we pray for the sanctity of all life and for vocations to marriage, the priesthood and consecrated life, which are born and nurtured in families.

The Prayer of Entrustment to Mary was prayed for this ministry at the icon of the Madonna Salus Populi Romani (Salvation of the Roman People, Our Lady of Good Health) in the Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore (Basilica of Mary Major) in Rome, Italy, in Nossa Senhora do Rosario da Fatima (Basilica of Our Lady of the Rosary) in Fatima, Portugal, in Eglise du Sacre-Coeur (Sacred Heart Parish Church), the site of St. Bernadette's baptismal font, in Lourdes, France and at The National Shrine of The Divine Mercy in Stockbridge, Massachusetts at the Shrine of the Holy Innocents before Our Lady of Guadalupe and at Basilica Papale de San Pietro in Vaticano (St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican City) at the Tomb of St. John Paul II in Rome, Italy and at the Basílica de Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe (Basilica of the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe) in Mexico City, Mexico.

This ministry is consecrated to Jesus Christ, Wisdom Incarnate, through the hands of Mary and dedicated to Our Lady of the Rosary. In our prayers to Mary, we honor and worship her Son Jesus. When He was on the Cross, He gave His Mother to John and she became our Mother as well. "Behold, your Mother." John 19:27

Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam
For the greater glory of God

October 18, 2013

Our Lady of Czestochowa and Saint Luke

Today is the feast day of Saint Luke the Evangelist. He is well known as the writer of one of the four books of the Gospels. It is less known that he was a painter. Legend attributes the painting of Our Lady of Czestochowa to Saint Luke, the Evangelist. It is thought that the original and first Black Madonna to be made into an icon came after Saint Luke the Evangelist experienced an apparition of the Blessed Virgin Mary and painted her. While painting the image, it is said that the Holy Virgin related to Saint Luke the life of Jesus which he later incorporated into the Gospel of Saint Luke in the New Testament. He painted a portrait of Our Lady of Czestochowa on the cedar wood table at which she had taken her meals. Saint Helena, the Queen-Mother of Emperor Constantine was said to have located the portrait during her visit to the Holy Land and to have brought it to Constantinople in the fourth century. After remaining there for five centuries, it was transferred in royal dowries until it made its way to Poland, and the possession of Saint Ladislaus in the fifteenth century.

The legend continues: During Ladislaus' time, the image was damaged during a siege, by a Tartar arrow, "inflicting a scar on the throat of the Blessed Virgin." In 1430, Hussites stole and vandalized the precious image, breaking it into three pieces. Adding insult to injury, one of the robbers drew his sword, struck the image and inflicted two deep gashes. While preparing to inflict a third gash, he fell to the ground and writhed in agony until his death. The two slashes on the cheek of the Blessed Virgin, together with the previous injury to the throat, have always reappeared, despite repeated attempts to repair them. Many miracles were worked by Our Lady of Czestochowa. In more recent times, the Czestochowa Madonna has also been acknowledged for her protection of and cooperation with the Polish nation. Pope John Paul II of Poland had a personal devotion and prayed often before her.

Our Lady of Czestochowa, Saint Luke and Blessed John Paul II, pray for us and all those for whom we pray through this ministry.
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