Geneza i treść Ślubów Jasnogórskich

Abstract

Pledges made at the Marian sanctuary of Jasna Gora in Częstochowa have a religious and patriotic theme. Their most comprehensive example is the Covenant of Jasna Gora by the Polish Nation”, made on the 26th of August 1956. This was an initiative of the Primate of Poland, Cardinal Stefan Wyszyński, linked to the celebrations of a thousand years of Christianity since its acceptance in Poland in the year 966. But the concept of such vows is part of a long tradition. One of the most important events occurred on the 1st of April 1656. Then, Jan Kazimierz King of Poland made a solemn promise to the Holy Virgin that he would do everything in his power to secure Catholicism in Poland against the threat posed by Swedish Protestant invading armies. He declared that the Mother of Christ would henceforth be the Queen of Poland. The key intention of the Covenant made some four hundred years later was to restate this concept of the Holy Virgin as Queen. A further development came many years later during the first pilgrimage made by Pope John Paul II to Poland. He re-emphasised previous acts of dedication to Mary through the “Act of Faith and Trust” that he made on the 4th of June 1979. The traditional way of making such vows, and so continued by Cardinal Wyszyński, was a dedication to Mary in a ‘servitude born of love’. John Paul II modified this to become a dedication based on ‘complete trust’, so removing any negative connotations linked to historical ideas of ‘enslavement’. What is clear, nonetheless, is the practical effect of every such covenant made at Jasna Gora regardless of the way it has been phrased.