Our Lady of the Oak was found in a tree in 1263. Although not a Black Madonna, she’s included in this index, because she shares many Black Madonna leitmotifs: a strong connection with the earth, miracle working, and repeatedly returning, by her own will, to the place in nature where she was found. Many Madonnas are associated with sacred trees, but this Dutch lady is the only one who got to keep her tree in the church that was erected for her.

Baroque rendition of the Black Madonna of Loreto in the Greek Catholic cathedral in Presov, Slovakia. The ex-voti and thanksgiving tablets attest to her miracle working power and the faith of her devotees.

There are no original Black Madonnas in Australia, but Polish immigrants honor copies of their Queen, the Black Madonna of Czestochowa, wherever they go, as do Brazilians their Black Aparecida do Norte, and other groups their dearest expressions of the divine Mother.

Our Lady of Mercy shrine in Penrose Park, Australia is dedicated to the Black Madonna of Czestochowa, the Queen of Poland. This copy of the miracle working original icon was crowned by St. Pope John Paul II in 2001. Many smaller international shrines in this sanctuary include one to the Black Madonna Aparecida do Norte, Brazil.

This Black Madonna surrounded by White saints was painted in the 15th century in the most difficult to access sanctuary in the world, a 5th century rock hewn church. Pilgrims have to climb 8,460 feet barefoot up a 90 degree cliff to pray here. Women do it in long skirts with babies on their backs! It seems the artist meant to show either that Mary was a Black woman or that her being the Black divine Mother of her Ethiopian children was more important than the historical reality that she came from the same area as many of the White men in the frescos.

Our Lady Consolation of the Dejected and Oppressed, Our Lady of the Holy Oak, Our Lady Wealth of Joys was found in a river in 1406. She insisted on residing in a sacred oak tree and performed many miracles. Most popular Madonna in Netherlands.

Our Lady of Handel shares many Black Madonna leitmotifs: a sacred tree, healing water, miraculous origins, and Heaven using animals to communicate its will. The abundant waters of the miraculous source merge into a stream one can wade into.

Madame l’Afrique is a copy of a French statue crafted in silver by the artist Edmé Bouchardon (1698-1762), which was destroyed during the Revolution…

When fans of the Black Madonna fall into a reverse kind of racism by appreciating only Black Madonnas while disparaging white ones, they would do well to remember Our Lady of Kibeho…

In 1887, Bishop Mathurin Picarda visited the mission of the Holy Ghost Fathers in Guéréo, Senegal, for the baptism of its first Catholic converts…

This is not one of those traditional, ancient European Black Madonnas with miraculous powers that begs the question…

Black Madonna in the Benedictine monastery Santa Maria de los Toldos, Ruta 65, Los Toldos, province Buenos Aires.

In 1717 three fishermen were sent to catch fish in the Paraoba River for the governor of São Paulo because it was a religious day of abstinence and he wasn't allowed to eat meat…

Though this Madonna is not black she shares important characteristics with Black Madonnas. First, her eyes and hair are so black that she is revered by her devotees as “La Mestiza”…

The Queen of Costa Rica is called Our Lady of the Angels because she was found on the day the Franciscans celebrate the feast of Our Lady of the Angels…

On February 3, 1747 the young peasant Alejandro Colindres and his eight year old nephew Lorenzo Martinez went to farm at some distance from their house…

In 1531 things were looking dismal in Mexico. In the course of ten years millions of native Mexicans had been killed by the brutality of the Spanish Conquerors and their diseases…

There are several versions of the legend of this Dear Dark One. The most common one claims that her first known owner was a Dominican priest called Frey Juan Jordán de Santa Catarina…

The history of this shrine began in 1927, when the archbishop of St. Louis requested a group of Franciscans to come from Poland to set up a nursing home in the countryside…

A copy of Our Lady of Loreto (Italy) located in Our Lady of Loretto Catholic Church in Los Angeles in Historic Filipinotown, at 250 N. Union Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90026.