The Ekalaka eagle., 1915-05-07
Religious
A Visit to the Polish Mecca,


900, is typical of life under the Ger
man occupation, for the Silesians who
scrambled over the line at the crack
of the pistol-the declaration of war
and who came in at the front door "a
the Russians We're making their exit
at the back, have been there ever
since. There are also more beggars to
the square yard in Czenstochowa than
almost any other place. They have a
never failing formula for extracting
your copper money, for they all offer
10 pray for your soul at the nearby
shrine Of Jasna Cora, the famous Pau
line monastery.
Jasna Cora is the famous Polish
Mecca to which armies of pious pil-
gflms went not only from all over
Russian Poland, but from Silesia and
Galicia as we'll, while the pilgrimaging
was good, and their hundreds of thou
sands will no doubt come again as
soon as traffic conditions improve.
The attraction is the miracle work.
'e AnA"se hAo"n as Ine Black Ma
donna OF Czenstochowa,' painted. ac-
cording to the legend, by the Evangel-
lst Luke and brought there in 1877 by
one Opolski, priest. 1t is further
alleged that the face of the Madonna
was originally painted in flesh tints.
but once miraculously turned black
overnight, with the result that the
miraculous cures effected by 1t have
brought fame and profit to the mon
astery through all the ensuing CEN
turies.
The kaiser is said to have stood for
many minutes deep in thought before
the Black Madonna, rich with gold and
precious stones, and glowing strangely
by soft candle light, and afterward to
nave donated an appreciable sum Of
money to the monastery.
| OF more immediate interest to an
American reporter. writes q corre-
| spondent of the New York Times. was
| the human interest connected with the
De2gars that lined the long approach
| to the shrine, squatting on the cold
| pavement when they had legs. and
they hadn't. The old adage, 'Its an
i'll wind that blows no one good" was
borne out here, for the war had actu-
| ally improved the lot of these hideous
grotesques, these poor cripples that
streWed the court like fallen gargoyles
Before the war there We're five times
as many beggars there, but in the
| fn11nvy,n1 j,NN,-e
Germans We're conin.-@ost of them
found legs and made rJff The lame.
halt and blind who remained are
thanking their stars now that they.
| too, were not miraculously cured by
tear OF the Germans, for not only has
the fierce competition for aims been re-
moved by the flight of the faint heart
ed, but the barbarians who came to
see (and the many who came to pray).
are providing Il stream of revenue such
as never flowed from the pockets Of
poor pilgrims even in the palmy days.
Inside the lofty dome you noted that
the place was Uttered up with high
scaffolding, for in spite of war time.
repairs are being made and mural
paintings retouched. There is not an
inch of kneeling room before the mir
acle working Black Madonna. In
the semigloom you slowly make out
the picturesque, mixed war congrega-
ton - Polish women wrapped in
shawls, poorest of the poor; Catholic
German soldiers, holding their spiked
helmets before them; fervent Austri-
ans, praying before starting for the
front; very few Polish men, many
German soldiers in field gray, stand
ing, forming respectful background.
In side chamber an impressive Po-
lish priest is celebrating mass, and
here you note many better dressed Po-
lish women, many crying.
y = =
Bible In New Zealand Schools.
The New Zealand government has
introduced into the house Of repre-
sentatives of that colony Il bill to pro-
vide for referendum vote at the next
parliamentary election to determine
whether the Bible shall be read i'm the