Open Writing

Jack and Elsa were married in London in 1959. Jack originally came from Durham, and Elsa had been a Polish refugee. Two quiet, reserved young people, they met one another during a performance of Verdi's La Traviata at Sadlers Wells Theatre. Jack, hearing a long drawn-out sigh, stole a sidelong glance and saw this beautiful dark-haired girl sitting beside him, her face radiant. She was completely lost in the magic of the music.

Jack had never believed in love at first sight, but when she turned and gave him an apologetic smile he was lost. Such a powerful feeling of tenderness swept over him, that momentarily he felt totally drained of strength. Smiling, he recalled Robert Burns’s poignant words: 'To see her is to love her, Love but her and love forever' and realised he was overwhelmed by love.

Their courtship was not without problems, but love and desire became the spur and within a year they were married. Both were tall - she with that exquisite face and cloud of dark, shining hair, he, fair, broad-shouldered and handsome; they made the ideal couple.

Wanting to start a family, and not considering London the best place to bring up children, they moved to Harpenden in Hertfordshire. Jack, who was an industrial chemist by profession, soon found a position in a nearby town and Elsa continued teaching. They found Harpenden a pleasant place to live. It had the atmosphere of a large, friendly village.

Their house, while not large, was a comfortable size, quite big enough for a family. They enjoyed being married. For them life was a continual transport of delight in one another's company, and their happiness drew people to them. Very soon they became part of a close circle of friends, mostly young married people like themselves.

However five years into marriage, their one deep regret was that they were still childless and they had no desire to adopt children. This was long before IVF, but they had consulted specialists who could discover no cause or reason why Elsa should not conceive.

One night Elsa had a dream, so vivid and dramatic that she awoke trembling with excitement. She shook Jack vigorously awake - "Jack! Jack! We must go to Poland to Czestochowa to visit the Black Madonna."

Jack gazed sleepy-eyed at her. "The who? Where? What for?"

"The Black Madonna, my darling, is in a monastery at Jasna Góra in Poland. She will give us a child. I saw it all in my dream. I was there looking up at this picture of the Madonna holding the Christ-child and she held the baby out to me, and then I woke up."

Jack held her in his arms: "Alright, my love. We'll go to Czestawotsits, anywhere you desire. I'd love to go to Poland. I've never been there, and we'll explore the land where you were born."

She laughed, "And I've longed to take you there. Tomorrow I'll contact the embassy about visas, it shouldn't take long. I'll phone Uncle Stanislas, Mama's brother in Warsaw, and tell him that we're coming. He's always asking her when we are going to visit them."

When she told Uncle Stan the reason for the visit, he was delighted. "Of course you must go to visit the Black Madonna, but why have you waited five years? Making babies is a speciality of the Black Madonna. You could have had one at any time."

She smiled at her Uncle's quaint remark, and hoped it was true.

Two months later they boarded an aircraft at Heathrow for Warsaw. Elsa had left her homeland as a baby in 1939. Her father had served in the RAF and he'd been killed in 1943. Recently her mother had remarried and now lived in Canada. Because of this Elsa's links with Poland had become tenuous.

When she was younger her mother had told her stories about the Black Madonna. She was looking forward to the visit, thrilled at the prospect of her forthcoming encounter with the sacred painting.

Obtaining a visa had seemed a slow process. From the embassy she had received information concerning the Black Madonna, most of which she already knew. The painting was kept in the Monastery of Jasna Gora, the spiritual centre of Poland in Czestochowa. It was reputed to have been painted by Saint Luke the Evangelist on part of a table from the home of the Holy Family. Whilst painting the picture Mary told him about the life of Jesus, which he had later incorporated into his gospel.

As a child she had accepted it as a lovely story. Now, as a grown woman, she realised that it might very well be a myth. But she knew that the Black Madonna is accepted as the designated Queen and Protector of Poland, and this portrait attracted over five million pilgrims every year.

Glancing round the plane, she wondered how many of her fellow passengers were pilgrims. There were a number of frail looking children aboard, accompanied by anxious looking parents, and nurses were present to aid the handicapped. She realised many of the passengers were destined for Jasna Gora and the shrine of the Black Madonna.

*

To be concluded next week.