In honor of Our Lady of Czestochova – the Black Madonna, her feast day is celebrated today:
In Italy, she is referred to with reverence as La Madonna Nera (the Black Madonna), and there is a song that has been floating around in my head all day. I’ve embedded it below for your listening pleasure.
I’ve translated the words of the song:
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There is a land most silent
where everyone wants to return to,
to a land and a sweet face
upon which lies two signs of violence;
an intense gaze full of compassion
that asks you to entrust
your life and your world into her hands.
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Madonna, Black Madonna, how sweet it is to be your child!
Oh, let it be, Black Madonna, that I may live close to you!
She is calm and reassuring, she frees you from evil because she always has a great heart for each of her children.
She enlightens your journey if you offer a bit of love, if every day you would speak this way of her. (Madonna…)
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This world falling into darkness, what could it offer to all people? Only the face of a Mother could give a peace that is real.
We are seeking in your gaze to find that smile of the Lord that awakens a bit of good deep in the heart. (Madonna…)
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With our world – as the song says – falling into darkness, what can it offer to us? Yet, God gave us His mother at the foot of the cross (John 19:27) in the words, “Ecce Mater Tua”. That is, “Here is your Mother”. We have recourse to her with our worries and concerns for our family and our world, and being the mother of the Lord, she certainly shares our concerns with her Son, interceding to Jesus on our behalf. Mary, Madonna of Czestochova, Pray for us.
nunspeak 