YOUNGSTOWN — Polish Youngstown and St. Columba Cathedral are honoring the feast day of Eastern Europe’s most beloved Marion icon, Our Lady of Czestochowa, with a special Mass 11 a.m. Sunday at the cathedral, 159 W. Rayen Ave., Youngstown.

The Rev. Msgr. Robert J. Siffrin, cathedral rector, will serve as celebrant, and other Diocesan Slavic priests will be invited to participate.

Traditional Polish hymns will be part of the English-language Mass, including a “community sing” of Czarna Madonna.

Free parking is available in all lots surrounding the facility. Because of the Panerathon, access is recommended from the north from Fifth and Wick avenues.

After Mass in the parish hall, the Rev. Joseph Rudjak will be the keynote speaker on the miracles associated with the “Black Madonna” and her role in Catholic lives today.

His talk is free.

The icon of Our Lady of Czestochowa has been intimately associated with Poland for more than 600 years.

In every Polish church, there is a reproduction of the Black Madonna. When Poles emigrated, they brought their devotion to the Mother of God, creating home altars and innumerable churches, chapels, and shrines in her honor. A special place is always reserved for her.

In 2010, then-Bishop George V. Murry enlisted Polish Youngstown’s help to initiate an effort with St. Columba Cathedral to renovate the baptistery into a shrine to Our Lady of Czestochowa to welcome the parishioners of St. Casimir and St. Stanislaus into the cathedral parish upon the closure of their churches.

Financial campaigns and contributions raised from PolishYoungstown, the St. Casimir Society and Cathedral parishioners made this effort a reality.

Event organizers said the parishioners of St. Stanislaus Kostka bestowed their mosaic icons as the shrine’s centerpiece.

The shrine was dedicated Oct. 30, 2012, with guests from around the region.

The shrine is open to the public, offers prayer cards and recordings, and is available for devotion whenever the cathedral is open.

The icon of Our Lady of Czestochowa is housed in the Monastery of Jasna Gora in Czestochowa, Poland.

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