On Wednesday, February 14, we begin Lent. For centuries, the Catholic Church has been preparing in this way for 40 days for the greatest feast of the Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. In the Polish tradition, the faithful celebrate the Way of the Cross every Friday in Lent, meditating on the passion and death of Jesus. Helping them to do so are the Stations of the Cross.
At Jasna Gora, pilgrim groups, in addition to participating in the Eucharist and praying in front of the Miraculous Icon of Our Lady of Jasna Gora, also plan to celebrate the Way of the Cross service.
They usually do this along the Jasna Gora Fortifications by walking and praying at the monumental stations built in the early 20th century. The Way of the Cross on the defence walls is a gift of pilgrims to commemorate the Jubilee of the Year 1900. Since 1985, every Good Friday the residents of Czestochowa gather on the Jasna Gora Fortifications to participate in the Way of the Cross service at Jasna Gora.
At the beginning of the 21st century, the "Golgotha of Jasna Gora" – the Way of the Cross painted by Jerzy Duda Gracz is being created. It is his and his family's votive gift to the Jasna Gora Sanctuary. Since September 2001, it has been made available to pilgrims above the third part of the Chapel of Our Lady. It consists of 18 paintings, which are surprising in the way they depict the figure of Jesus, his suffering and passion. Indeed, the artist inscribes the history of the suffering of Poles over the centuries into the suffering of Jesus.
On the lower level of the third part of the Chapel of Our Lady, the traditional Stations of the Cross are placed on walls. They were created in the 18th century in the Jasna Gora School of Painting. The Way of the Cross is celebrated here every Friday in Lent for pilgrims and residents of Czestochowa.
Also noteworthy is the Way of the Cross, which is located in the Chapel of St. John Paul II. These are miniatures of the Stations of the Cross on the Jasna Gora Fortifications. They were made by Hungarian sculptor Varga Gábor.
Among the founders of the chapel are Hungarian Pauline confrere Mr. Dabróka Lászlo and his family, as well as Anna and Kazimierz Wolscy. The chapel was opened and consecrated on October 22, 2021.
Considering the approaching Lent, we would like to offer Jasna Gora pilgrims the opportunity to get acquainted also from the historical and artistic point of view with the Stations of the Cross located on the territory of our sanctuary. So you are invited to take a guided tour of Jasna Gora along the route "Via Crucis at Jasna Gora"
History of the Way of the Cross service
Photo from the Jasna Góra Press Office Archives
