The Miracle Working 'Black Madonna'

My Icon of 'Our Lady' with real amber

Years ago, when my daughter was four, we spent part of our summer in Lithuania.  The city of Vilnius was beautiful and fascinating. Historically, it had nine city gates, but the Russians destroyed all but one in the early 1800s. The remaining gate is called 'The Gate of Dawn' and that is where the miracle working 'Black Madonna' lives. She is called 'Our Lady of the Gate of Dawn' or Aušros Vartų Dievo Motina in Lithuanian. The stairs leading up to the chapel were narrow and made of marble and deeply grooved by the years of pilgrims coming to worship her. My daughter was obsessed with 'our lady' and asked to see the 'Black 'Oodana' everyday!

---

THE GATE OF DAWN

There are at least 500 Black Madonnas in Europe. They are shrouded in mystery and many have pilgrims that visit them for their miracle working abilities. They are either carved or painted   (mostly between the 11th and 13th centuries) and have a dark complexion. Many people believe that these are not just representations of the Virgin Mary, but actually veiled  figures of much older goddesses. Most often they say that she is actually the Egyptian goddess Isis (sometimes with baby Horus). But many are thought to be connected to other ancient religions as they are located at the former shrines of pagan goddesses such as Diana, Artemis and Cybele.
Some of the Black Madonnas have taken on the soot of votive candles over the years, but many more were actually carved out of dark materials or painted to have a dark complexion. This makes sense if they are really connected to the ancient goddesses of Africa and the Mediterranean. I place my picture of 'Our Lady of the Gate of Dawn' in a prominent place on my altar...but my catholic mom hangs hers on the wall. The deep, mysterious feminine force of the Black Madonnas transcend religion. 

---