Our Lady of Lesna Podlaska
Poland (1683)
On September 14, 1683, two shepherd boys investigating a shining light found an image of Mary in a pear tree. The circular stone icon, carved in low relief, became an object of pilgrimage and the recipient of rich gifts from the nobility.
Catholics and Orthodox both have translated the anniversary date into the modern calendar, but with a different reckoning. The Catholics, who venerate an image still at the original site in Poland, celebrate the feast of the Blessed Mother of Lesna on September 26.
The Orthodox believe the original image is now at a convent in France, where it is honored on September 27. The Polish Madonna, Patroness of Podlasia, is enshrined in a baroque basilica. Stefan Cardinal Wyszynski crowned the image on August 18, 1963.
Text and image used with permission.
Source: "365 Days with Mary" by Michael O'Neill
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