Our Lady of Skępe

Located in the Church of the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, in the Bernardine Fathers' monastery in Skępe (Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodship), the Gothic statue of the Virgin Mary by an unknown sculptor dates back to the end of the 15th century. It depicts the figure of a pregnant young woman standing in contrapposto with her hands on her chest folded in prayer. In 1755, thanks to contributions from the inhabitants of the Dobrzynski area, the statue was crowned and covered with a sheet metal mantle. From then on, the image of Our Lady of Skępe as a queen wearing a long mantle covering her entire figure, richly decorated with floral tendrils, with a closed crown on her head and a sickle of the moon at her feet became established in iconography. The way it was presented did not change even after the 1950s when the heavy tin coat was removed from the statue during restoration. Our Lady of Skępe is the patron saint of pregnant women and couples unable to have children. The Kujawy and Mazovia regions are under her protection, in particular the Dobrzyń and Płock areas. According to tradition, the statue was brought to Skępe in 1496 and immediately became famous for its graces. A chapel was built for her and the Bernardine Fathers were brought here, whose church was completed in 1511. Miniature copies of the miraculous statue, made by numerous local craftsmen, were bought by crowds of pilgrims, who placed it in the chamber, in a place with a domestic altar called the holy corner. It was also given to women who had given birth and young married women on their wedding day. The statue of Our Lady of Skępe, which is housed in the National Museum in Szczecin, was given as a gift by a resident of the county of Gryfice. It is a typical image of the Virgin Mary purchased at the Sanctuary in Skępe in the 1st half of the 20th century. Iwona Karwowska