Poland’s most popular shrine could receive a record number of pilgrims in 2024, according to local media.
The shrine of Our Lady of Częstochowa, at Jasna Góra Monastery in southern Poland, received as many as 4.5 million pilgrims a year before the COVID-19 pandemic, when annual visitors dropped below 1 million.
But pilgrim numbers have bounced back since 2020, rising to 2.5 million in 2022 and 3.6 million in 2023.
The Polish Catholic news agency KAI reported that the shrine could be on course to set a new visitor record this year.
The shrine’s press office said that since the pilgrimage season began in May, 112 walking groups consisting of 14,000 pilgrims had arrived at the site containing the revered icon of the Black Madonna of Częstochowa.
More than 160 cycling groups with a total of 6,000 pilgrims have also visited the shrine, which has played a vital role in Polish history since the monastery was founded in 1382.
Groups of foot pilgrims from all over the country will converge on Częstochowa for the Aug. 15 feast of the Assumption. Some pilgrims cover almost 400 miles over several weeks, sleeping in tents.
In addition to walking and cycling groups, there are pilgrims on horseback and even rollerblades. Others opt for running pilgrimages to the shrine.
Jasna Góra, which means “Bright Mountain,” is one of several European pilgrimage destinations reporting an uptick in numbers. In some cases, shrines are returning to pre-COVID-19 pilgrimage levels, but others are reporting unprecedented levels of visitors.
For example, a record number of people took part in this year’s traditionalist pilgrimages to Chartres in France and Covadonga in Spain.
The number of people making a pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela, in northwestern Spain, reached a new high of 446,035 in 2023.
According to Santiago de Compostela’s pilgrim office, almost 289,000 people have already made the trek so far in 2024, a 13% rise from the year before.
The rector of the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Fátima in Portugal reported a 26.5% rise in pilgrims visiting the shrine between January and April this year, compared to the same period in 2023.
The authorities at the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes in southwestern France expect to see a rise in visitors this year, from 3.1 million in 2023. Over the Easter period, there was a 6% increase compared to the year before.
The Black Madonna of Częstochowa, which depicts the Virgin Mary and the Christ Child, is traditionally attributed to St. Luke and is considered a miracle-working icon.
The two scars on the Virgin Mary’s right cheek are said to have been inflicted by Hussites, who attempted to steal the icon in 1430. When the Hussites — members of a proto-Protestant group in what is now the Czech Republic — loaded the icon onto their wagon, their horses reputedly refused to move. They slashed the icon but were forced to leave it behind.
The Jasna Góra Monastery is closely associated with Polish nationhood. During a siege by Swedish forces in 1655, it was the only major Polish stronghold that the invaders failed to capture. The incident was seen as a miracle attributed to the Black Madonna.
Poland, a country of around 38 million people, has 1,050 sanctuaries, including 793 dedicated to the Virgin Mary, who is officially designated as the Queen of Poland.
The most frequently visited sanctuaries besides the Jasna Góra Monastery are the Divine Mercy Sanctuary in Łagiewniki, associated with St. Faustina Kowalska, the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Fatima in Krzeptówki, Zakopane, and Kalwaria Zebrzydowska, which is known as the “Polish Jerusalem” and connected to St. John Paul II.
