Niepokalanów - sanctuary, ("Mary's Castle"), located in the village of Paprotnia in the municipality of Teresin, about 40 km west of Warsaw, was founded in 1927, on the lands ofiarized by Prince Jan Drucki Lubecki. Due to its nature, it can be said that it is a monastery-publishing house. The place of activity of the Franciscan saint Fr. Maximilian Maria Kolbe. The current guardian is Fr. Stanislaw Piętka. Niepokalanów has a basilica, the Museum of St. Maximilian Maria Kolbe, the National Headquarters of the Militia of the Immaculate, the Publishing House of the Franciscan Fathers, which publishes, among other things, the Knight of the Immaculate, the headquarters of Radio Niepokalanów and the Franciscan monastery (OFMConv). Niepokalanów is an important pilgrimage center in central Poland, with the Warsaw Academic Metropolitan Pilgrimage on its way to Jasna Góra every year. Niepokalanów is home to the Catholic High School and the Franciscan Friars Gymnasium. visits include the Sanctuary of Niepokalanów has a peculiar character. Pilgrims ask in vain about the miraculous statue, image or spring with healing water. These are not found here. Nor did Saint Maximilian build a large church. On August 6, 1927, 45 km from Warsaw on the road to Szymanow, a statue of Our Lady Immaculate was consecrated. In the autumn of 1927, the Franciscan Friars erected a simple chapel on the Teresian land, which was, as it were, the transmitter of two Franciscan traditions: poverty and love for the Mother of God. Fr. Maximilian celebrated the first Mass on Saturday, November 12, 1927.The people knelt on the bare ground, speckled here and there with traces of stubble. The floor was not yet in place and the meager shed brought to mind the stable of Bethlehem. The poor man of Assisi would not have been ashamed of such great poverty. Today the chapel is only a part of the great monastery. The smallest, but also the most expensive, because it is dedicated to the honor of Our Lady Immaculate. This oldest building in Niepokalanów, dignified in its simplicity, breathing the holiness of the Founder, compels those who pray in it to trust Immaculately. Here one still seems to hear St. Maximilian's exhortation: rebuild my dearest part, my Portiuncula. Inside it you will find peace and solace, in its silence you will hear the will of the Immaculate, in the creaking of the floor you will feel the secret of love for the suffering, in its narrowness you will find the great world of people awaiting truth, justice and grace, in its altar you will understand Christ, who gave his life for man.... The Shrine of Our Lady Immaculate and St. Maximilian Kolbe is one of the newest in Poland, and yet one of the most popular. This is primarily due to the cult of St. Maximilian, canonized in 1982.The monastery was founded in 1927. At that time, the Franciscan Maximilian Maria Kolbe (1894-1941) founded a monastery in Paprotnia in the Teresin municipality near Warsaw. The land was donated by Prince Jan Drucki-Lubecki. Father Maximilian moved there the headquarters of the Knighthood of the Immaculate - an association of lay people engaged in the apostolate under the sign of Mary. He also established a Small Missionary Seminary there. In honor of the Immaculate, Father Kolbe gave the center the name Niepokalanów. The fact that Niepokalanów became an important place of pilgrimage was determined primarily by wartime events. Arrested by the Nazis, Maximilian Kolbe died in Auschwitz, giving his life for that of another prisoner. His heroism caused the cult of St. Maximilian to become widespread after the war. Today, therefore, pilgrims come not only to the Basilica of the Blessed Virgin Mary All-Mediatrix of Graces, but also to see St. Maximilian's religious cell. According to Fr. Maximilian's intention, Niepokalanów was to carry out the apostolic mission through the printed word. The character of Niepokalanów, as defined by the Founder, has survived to the present day, although the monastery has undoubtedly undergone external transformations. Of the former barracks, only some have been preserved in their original state, including the chapel now known as the Hall of Fr. Maximilian's Memorabilia, the former administration house, which contains the Saint's cell, the first Seminary building and the radio building. Others underwent so-called "major renovation" to serve the publishing house. An important role in the work of new evangelization is played here today not only by the Knight of the Immaculate, founded by Fr. Maximilian, but also by Niepokalanów Television. The heart of the Sanctuary is, of course, the church. It was erected in particularly difficult times for sacred building according to the design of Eng. arch. Zygmunt Gawlik. The decoration of the interior continues to this day. The building is oriented from east to west. The tower (47 m) houses four bells, whose tones harmonize into a single chord, and a clock mechanism with five dials, including one inside the church. The clock was constructed by the clockmaker brothers headed by Br. Vladimir Blaszczyk, according to a design by Br. Lawrence Podwapinski Behind the apse of the basilica is a field altar, and below it are halls where religious meetings are held. To the right of the church's pediment is a vocation center, and to the left is a room designed for film screening. In the niche of the front of the church shines a statue of Our Lady Immaculate. Higher up, in the attic, one can see the statues of the Franciscan saints Bonaventure, Francis and Anthony of Padua. Similarly, above the pediments of the side chapels. On the south side are placed figures of holy women: Elizabeth of Hungary, Clare of Assisi and Salomea of the Piast family. The figures placed on the northern side are venerators of the Mother of God: St. Bernard of Clairvaux, St. Louis Grignion de Montfort and Blessed James Strzemie. Beneath the basilica's chancel is the Chapel of Our Lady of Czestochowa with Wlastimil Hoffman's Hail Mary paintings. A granite staircase leads up to the basilica. On three pairs of massive double doors are 24 bas-reliefs in copper depicting images of the Mother of God from the world's major Marian shrines. On the right side of the doors is located a bas-relief depicting John Paul II. All the copper sculptures were made by Br. Maurycy Kowalewski. In the right nave is the altar of St. Francis of Assisi against the openwork wall separating the nave from the chancel. The figure of Francis is set in the surround of a mandorla carved from copper. In the side chapel dedicated to St. Joseph the Spouse, a statue of the Saint with the infant Jesus is situated above the altar. Next to it, groups of figures offering the harvest of their labor to God. On the left is a mosaic depicting the scene of the baptism of Prince Mieszko I. The Latin inscription proclaims: Prince Mieszko baptizes himself Poland always faithful. Lower down is a marble baptismal font. Opposite it is a stained glass window of Our Lady Queen of Poland. In the left nave is the altar of St. Anthony of Padua. Right next to it, the chapel of St. Maximilian Maria Kolbe. Above the altar is a marble-wrought statue of the Saint in a gesture in which he gives the globe to the Immaculate. To the left is another devotee of the Mother of God, Cardinal Stefan Wyszynski, receiving the Jasna Gora Vows from the nation, and to the right is Pope Pius XII, consecrating humanity to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. The circular mosaic depicts a scene in which Fr. Maximilian preaches a sermon in the Auschwitz camp. The stained glass window opposite is an image of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Both designs are the work of Mieczyslaw Koscielniak. Above the side chapels on the side of the nave are two mosaic paintings the left one depicts the scene of St. Maximilian's canonization, while the right one shows the proclamation of the dogma of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The author of the project is visual artist Bogdana Drwal. In the nave, the pulpit of Carrara marble with bas-reliefs of the Holy Trinity, Evangelists and Christ teaching from a boat draws attention. The main altar does not have a settee, as the statue of the Immaculate can be seen in perspective. On the altar is an artistically made metal tabernacle. On the other side is another altar mensa, and above it is a painting of the Queen of Poland by Piotr Stachiewicz. In the windows of the side aisles we see stained glass windows, depicting the Blessed Virgin Mary, designed by Lukasz Karwowski. Embedded in the walls are the Stations of the Cross, the work of Br. Maurycy Kowalewski. In 1980, Pope John Paul II gave the church the title of basilica minor. The huge three-nave temple can accommodate about 5,000 people. A solemn event in the history of Niepokalanów was the visit (June 18, 1983) of the Holy Father John Paul II, which helped to make this Sanctuary famous throughout the world. During a homily delivered at the time, the Pope said: Niepokalanów speaks of the discovery of the New Beginning of humanity in God. Niepokalanów: the great workshop of the Franciscan apostolate. Monastery of the Franciscan Fathers NIEPOKALANÓW Sanctuary of Our Lady Immaculate and St. Maximilian M. Kolbe
22.08.2013
