Ave Maria!
Here is a worldwide Marian event that I never hear about even though it has been going on for almost two years and in the US since August. It is a pilgrimage of a replica of the Black Madonna in dedication to the pro-life cause from Vladivostok, Russia on the Pacific Coast to Fatima Portugal on the Atlantic Coast of Europe and then to the east coast of the United States where it will go throughout the country to the shores on the Pacific Ocean. No doubt, St. Clements Island, Maryland was chosen as the landing spot in the U.S. because of its unique Catholic History. It was the location of the first Catholic settlement from England by persecuted Catholics in 1634, just 14 years after the Mayflower landed at Plymouth Rock. So basically these were Catholic pilgrims who came across on two ships the “Dove” and the “Ark” which were the Catholic “Mayflowers” and established the colony of Maryland as a Catholic refuge for Englishmen. So to have this icon of Mary that has journeyed the many thousands of miles completely across Russia and Europe and arrive on our shores at this historic place in Maryland is truly a significant start to its continuing journey around the world. You can read more about it from HLI and the Ocean to Ocean official website with a schedule for the USA here.
A reproduction of the icon of Our Lady of Czestochowa, also known as the Black Madonna, has come to the United States from Poland for veneration by pilgrims at American cathedrals, basilicas, parish churches and shrines across the country.
“From Ocean to Ocean” is sponsored by Human Life International (HLI.org). This worldwide pilgrimage is dedicated to the defense and support of life and family through the intercession of the Blessed Mother under her title of Our Lady of Czestochowa.
The pilgrimage started in 2012 in Vladivostok, Russia, then made its way through 24 countries and more than 400 cities and towns to reach the Atlantic Ocean.
One of its final European stops was on Divine Mercy Sunday 2013 in Fatima, Portugal, where the icon was placed on the site of the Fatima apparitions of Our Lady, which the faithful recall on Oct. 13.
In an extraordinary liturgical event before the worldwide pilgrimage began, in January 2012, this splendid reproduction of the original icon in the Monastery of Jasna Góra in Poland was blessed by the archbishop of Czestochowa. The archbishop of Krakow made a special act of entrustment to Our Lady of Czestochowa, and the icon was touched to the original icon, which is believed to have been painted by St. Luke.
Father Roman Majewski, prior of Jasna Gora, wrote of the pilgrimage online at FromOceantoOcean.org: “The pilgrimage of the Czestochowa icon ‘From Ocean to Ocean’ through the world is an unprecedented historical event and has enormous significance.”
Since Aug. 24, when the pilgrimage landed on America’s shores at St. Clement’s Island, Md., the icon has traveled to a number of parishes and places, such as Mount St. Mary’s Seminary and the Cathedral of Sts. Peter and Paul in Philadelphia.
The icon reproduction is also uniting East and West by stopping at Russian Orthodox churches.
More at NCRegister | Black Madonna Reproduction Makes Pilgrimage for Life.
