Sanctuary of Our Lady of Ludzmierz - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

The Sanctuary of Our Lady of Ludźmierz in Ludźmierz

Ludzmierz

Ludźmierz is a village in Poland in the Lesser Poland voivodeship, in the county of Nowy Targ. Ludźmierz is the oldest village in Podhale and is located about 85 kilometres south of Cracow. It lies approximately west of Nowy Targ and south of the regional capital Kraków.The building of the...

, Poland

Poland

Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...

is home to Our Lady of Ludźmierz, known as the Shepherdess of Podhale

Podhale

The Podhale is Poland's most southern region, sometimes referred to as the "Polish highlands". The Podhale is located in the foothills of the Tatra range of the Carpathian mountains, and is characterized by a rich tradition of folklore that is much romanticized in the Polish patriotic imagination...

or in Polish Gaździna Podhala. The cult of Our Lady of Ludźmierz is strongly identified with the Góral

Goral

Goral may refer to:* Three species of Asian ungulates in the genus Naemorhedus.* The Gorals, a people living in southern Poland, northern Slovakia and the Czech Republic....

people who live in the surrounding Tatra Mountains

Tatra Mountains

The Tatra Mountains, Tatras or Tatra , are a mountain range which forms a natural border between Slovakia and Poland, and are the highest mountain range in the Carpathian Mountains...

History

Ludźmierz

Ludzmierz

is the oldest Roman Catholic parish in Podhale

Podhale

. Its history stretches back to the 13th century. In 1234 Teodor Gryfita began raising a simple wooden church with a shingled roof

Shake (shingle)

A shake is a basic wooden shingle that is made from split logs. Shakes have traditionally been used for roofing and siding applications around the world. Higher grade shakes are typically used for roofing purposes, while the lower grades are used for siding purposes...

and three altars in Ludźmierz

Ludzmierz

, after obtaining permission from the bishop of Kraków

Kraków

Kraków also Krakow, or Cracow , is the second largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in the Lesser Poland region, the city dates back to the 7th century. Kraków has traditionally been one of the leading centres of Polish academic, cultural, and artistic life...

. To encourage settlement in the uninhabited area, Gryfita brought in Cistercian Monks from France

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

, Italy

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

and nearby Jędrzejów

Jedrzejów

Jędrzejów is a town in Poland, located in the Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship, about 35 km southwest of Kielce. It is the capital of Jędrzejów County. It has 18,069 inhabitants ....

.

A simple wooden monastery was erected soon after, along with a number of other buildings used in agriculture. These buildings which burnt down in 1796, had been practically abandoned since 1245 due to the high frequency of raids by bands of Tatars

Tatars

Tatars are a Turkic speaking ethnic group , numbering roughly 7 million.The majority of Tatars live in the Russian Federation, with a population of around 5.5 million, about 2 million of which in the republic of Tatarstan.Significant minority populations are found in Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan,...

and thieves and the monks moved to nearby Szczyrzyc

Szczyrzyc

Szczyrzyc is a village in Poland, located in the Lesser Poland Voivodeship, Limanowa County, Jodłownik Commune. Geographically it is located in the Beskid Wyspowy, in the Stradomka river valley...

. However the Cistercians ministered to the parish in Ludźmierz

Ludzmierz

until 1824, when it came under the care of Diocesan priests.

In 1869-77 the old wooden church was dismantled, and in its place the current Neo-Gothic edifice was raised, and the Rococo

Rococo

Rococo , also referred to as "Late Baroque", is an 18th-century style which developed as Baroque artists gave up their symmetry and became increasingly ornate, florid, and playful...

altar with the figurine of Our Lady of Ludźmierz was moved into the new church. Pope John Paul II

Pope John Paul II

Blessed Pope John Paul II , born Karol Józef Wojtyła , reigned as Pope of the Catholic Church and Sovereign of Vatican City from 16 October 1978 until his death on 2 April 2005, at of age. His was the second-longest documented pontificate, which lasted ; only Pope Pius IX ...

visited the sanctuary in 1997. In 2001 the church was declared a Minor Basilica

Minor basilica

Minor basilica is a title given to some Roman Catholic churches. By canon law no Catholic church can be honoured with the title of basilica unless by apostolic grant or from immemorial custom....

Papal Prophecy

Perhaps the most well-known story regarding the shrine is an incident during the crowning of the statue by Cardinal

Cardinal (Catholicism)

A cardinal is a senior ecclesiastical official, usually an ordained bishop, and ecclesiastical prince of the Catholic Church. They are collectively known as the College of Cardinals, which as a body elects a new pope. The duties of the cardinals include attending the meetings of the College and...

Stefan Wyszyński in 1963, attended by the future Pope John Paul II

Pope John Paul II

as Bishop

Bishop

A bishop is an ordained or consecrated member of the Christian clergy who is generally entrusted with a position of authority and oversight. Within the Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox Churches, in the Assyrian Church of the East, in the Independent Catholic Churches, and in the...

of the Archdiocese of Kraków. The statue accidentally slipped during the ceremony and the future pontiff caught the scepter which had fallen out of the statue's grasp, a scene that was later interpreted as a prophecy of the young Bishop's future selection as Pope

Pope

The Pope is the Bishop of Rome, a position that makes him the leader of the worldwide Catholic Church . In the Catholic Church, the Pope is regarded as the successor of Saint Peter, the Apostle...

Statue of Our Lady of Ludźmierz

The figurine of Our Lady of Ludźmierz, which has drawn throngs of pilgrims since the Middle Ages

Middle Ages

The Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...

was originally placed in one of the church's side altars, and it wasn't until 1776 that the statue made its way into the main altar. The statue of Our Lady of Ludźmierz is thought to be about 600 years old. The wooden statue itself is about 125 cm in height, and a replica is situated next to the "miraculous spring" next to the sanctuary.

Multiple copies of the figure have spread all over the world, from the Pfarrkirche of St. Johannes Baptist in Baindt

Baindt

Baindt is a municipality in the district of Ravensburg in Baden-Württemberg in Germany.-Sister cities: Brest, Belarus...

to the church of St. Mary of Częstochowa in Cicero

St. Mary of Czestochowa in Cicero

St. Mary of Częstochowa in Cicero - historic church of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago located in Cicero, Illinois.It is a prime example of the so-called 'Polish Cathedral style' of churches in both its opulence and grand scale. A sculpture of Christ the King by famed sculptor Professor...

. Most of the spread in devotion to Our Lady of Ludźmierz can be traced back to the outmigration of the Góral

Goral

Goral may refer to:* Three species of Asian ungulates in the genus Naemorhedus.* The Gorals, a people living in southern Poland, northern Slovakia and the Czech Republic....

community out of their native Carpathian

Carpathian Mountains

The Carpathian Mountains or Carpathians are a range of mountains forming an arc roughly long across Central and Eastern Europe, making them the second-longest mountain range in Europe...

homeland.

Medieval Legend

There is a medieval legend from about 1400 that refers to the Shepherdess of Podhale or the Gaździna Podhala which refers to a Hungarian merchant on his way to Nowy Targ

Nowy Targ

Nowy Targ is a town in southern Poland with 34,000 inhabitants , and the historical capital of the mountain region . The town is situated in the confluence of the rivers Biały and Czarny Dunajec, in a valley beneath the Gorce Mountains. It's in Nowy Targ County, Lesser Poland Voivodeship...

who after having lost his way in the nearby swamps, was miraculously led out by a mysterious lady to the church. When he understood that this mysterious figure had been Mary, the mother of Jesus, he attempted to kneel to give thanks in prayer when a miraculous spring burst forth. He pledged to commission a statue that would depict Mary as he'd seen her and bring it back to the church

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