Trump to visit National Shrine of Our Lady

[Denise]

Former President Donald Trump is going to visit the National Shrine of Our Lady of Czestochowa(the Black Madonna) in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, this weekend, according to recent reports.

It gets its name "Black Madonna" from the soot residue that discolors the painting. The soot is the result of centuries of votive lights and candles burning in front of the painting. With the fall of communism in Poland, pilgrimages to the Black Madonna have increased dramatically.

https://catholicvote.org/trump-to-visit ... o5kyJZnLzg

[MarieT]

oh my are there 2 scratch marks on the right side of the icon?

may our lady protect President Trump
way too many assassination attempts already

[Johnna]

I've read that the damage to the icon will not go away. It's a mystery, but the scratches return.

Artists over the years have repeatedly tried to fix the original image, but every attempt fails. The scars miraculously reappear every time, and so artists have given up trying to repair the image, recognizing that the Virgin Mary wants the scars to be there.

https://aleteia.org/2017/08/26/why-does ... n-her-face

[MarieT]

its very baffling, the significance of these scars, why they would be there or why she would want them there

one could hypothesise battle scars?, but even sate wouldn't get close enough to inflict that
he would flee from the blinding brilliance

[Denise]

And there is this

The Black Madonna, also known as Our Lady of Częstochowa, has two parallel scratches and a third horizontal cut on her right cheek, and six scratches on her neck. The scratches are said to have come from an incident in 1430 when Hussites attacked the monastery where the icon was kept, stole it, and slashed it with swords:

The attack

The Hussites stormed the monastery, stole the icon, and put it in their wagon to leave. When the horses refused to move, the Hussites threw the icon to the ground. One of the Hussites then slashed the icon twice with his sword.

The aftermath

The Hussites were unable to leave with the icon, and the soldier who slashed it fell to the ground and died. The icon was recovered and returned to the monastery.

The scars

Artists have tried to repair the scars, but they keep reappearing. Some believe the scars are a sign from the Virgin Mary that she wants them to remain, and that they have multiple meanings:
A warning: The scars may warn others who might want to steal the icon.

A reminder of suffering: The scars may symbolize the Virgin Mary's suffering on earth, similar to the scars on Jesus' resurrected body.

A reminder of Poland's history: The scars may represent the difficult history of Poland, and that the Virgin Mary suffers with her people