Shrine of Our Lady of Leśniów in Żarki

According to tradition, in 1382 Duke Władysław of Opole, who was carrying the Black Madonna icon to Jasna Góra, stopped in the forest near Żarki and prayed for water – and a spring gushed from beneath a stone. The Shrine of Our Lady of Leśniów, Patroness of Families is today a Pauline monastery complex with a church, a chapel over the spring and a woodland park with wayside shrines. It lies on the route of some 40 walking pilgrimages heading for Częstochowa.

History: the statue that stayed in the forest

In gratitude, the duke is said to have left a Gothic statue of the Virgin and Child, about 70 cm tall, in the local wooden chapel. In 1559, Jan Koryciński, castellan of Oświęcim, installed it in a church built especially for it – its oldest part combines Gothic and Renaissance features. In 1706 the owner of Żarki, Józef Męciński, handed the church over to the Pauline Fathers. The late Baroque monastery was built from 1755, a porch was added in 1762 and the nave lengthened in 1791.

After the January Uprising against Russian rule, in 1864 Tsar Alexander II dissolved the order and the Paulines had to leave; they only returned in 1936, and a year later their novitiate moved here. On 13 August 1967 Cardinal Stefan Wyszyński and Cardinal Karol Wojtyła – the future Pope John Paul II – crowned the statue.

What to see

• The high altar with the 14th-century statue of Our Lady of Leśniów, late Baroque altars from the first half of the 18th century and Rococo choir stalls from 1782.
• The Chapel of Our Lady of the Angels over the spring, built on an elliptical plan, from which the Leśniówka stream flows.
• 15 rosary shrines in the park (1984–1986), 14 Stations of the Cross along the wall and an outdoor altar from the 2000 Jubilee.
• The Rococo portal in the west front from the second half of the 18th century and the free-standing bell tower of 1994.

The high altar was altered in 1856 and restored in 1956, and the present wall paintings date from a 1988 renovation marking the shrine's 600th anniversary. Before that, in 1963–1967, the church was thoroughly modernised.

Did you know?

• On 2 December 2010 the crowns from 1746 used for the coronation were stolen from the shrine. New crowns were blessed by Pope Benedict XVI, and the statue was re-crowned on 2 July 2011.
• Since 1706 the Paulines have kept a book of graces, which records several hundred.
• In 1999–2000 alone the shrine welcomed more than 900 pilgrim groups.

Tripto tip

The shrine is in Leśniów, a district of Żarki, within the Eagles' Nests Landscape Park and on the Eagles' Nests Trail. Allow about an hour for the church, the spring chapel and a walk in the park. The busiest times are summer, the season of pilgrimages to Jasna Góra, and the feast of Our Lady of Leśniów on 2 July.