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PRACE GEOGRAFICZNE, zeszyt 111
Instytut Geografii i Gospodarki Przestrzennej UJ
Kraków 2003
Izabela Sołjan
MARIAN CULT CENTRES
IN THE POLISH CARPATHIANS BEFORE 1772
Abstract: The article concerns the Marian sanctuaries founded in the Polish Carpathians in the
period before the Partitions, mainly in the 17th and 18th centuries. The factors determining the
genesis of the centres of this kind as well as the development and role played by Marian cult
centres in the contemporary network of Marian pilgrimage places were studied.
Key words: Marian cult centre, sanctuary / shrine, Polish Carpathians
The Carpathian Mountains are a region with rich and long pilgrimage tradition
dating back to the 11th century. Already in the 13th century one of the most important
pilgrimage centres of medieval Poland was created here – the centre of the cult
of St.Kinga in Stary Sącz. Also other centres devoted to the cult of the local saints
and blessed (among others Tropie, Kęty, Lipnica Murowana, Dukla) developed.
In the17th century the calvaries connected to the Passion cult began to play a more
important role. In 1602 the Cracow voivode Mikołaj Zebrzydowski founded the first
calvary in Poland in Kalwaria Zebrzydowska, in 1668 another calvary was built – Kalwaria
Pacławska and it was a copy of the calvary in Kalwaria Zebrzydowska. At the turn of
the16th and 17th centuries there were a few tens of centres of religious cult with different
range of social influence situated in the Carpathians (Jackowski 1995).
From the very beginning of Christianity Marian cult was one of the most important
elements of the Polish religiousness and devoutness. The first congregations
andconvents in the territory of Poland – the Cistercians and the Benedictines spread
thecult of the Holy Virgin and since the 13th century the begging congregations followed.
At the beginning the cult was manifested mainly in the Marian invocations of churches
and in numerous images of the Holy Virgin. The pictures then, however, did not yet
work miracles.
At the beginning of the 15th century the then rare cult of miraculous images
andfigures started to develop. This process was influenced both by the active contacts
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PRACE GEOGRAFICZNE, ZESZYT 111
of the king Władysław Jagiełło with Ruthenia (the cult of icons) and by the Bohemian
Hussitic movement and its iconoclastic ideas (Fijałek 1902). The first Marian sanctuaries
were built in this period as well and their popularity started to outgrow the characteristic
medieval cult of saints. Yet the culmination point of the cult of miraculous images
wasgoing to happen in the 17th and 18th centuries and it was a basic element and
acharacteristic feature of the baroque spirituality and religiousness. There were at least
several religious political and social reasons for the development of this phenomenon.
At the end of theMiddle Ages crucial changes in the Marian theology and iconography
took place. The Holy Virgin was more and more considered the Mother of all people
and the Refuge of sinners or the Consoler of the afflicted. The interceding function
of the Blessed Virgin Mary both in the cases of the Church, nations, countries or cities
and families began to play a leading role. The cult of the Holy Virgin – Mediatress
– Guardian – Advocate was very well expressed in the increasing (since the 16th century)
cult of the miraculous images (Datko 1982). The important religious events also
influenced the development of this cult – Reformation and the following schism
in theWestern Church as well as of the Catholic Church answer to that in the form
of attempts of reviving the Catholicism. The Council of Trent (1543−1563) together
with the Counterreformation activity were events of crucial significance as well. Marian
cult was also strengthened by the Turkish impendency over Europe and Christianity.
The victories of the Catholics at Lepanto (1571), Chocim (1673) or Vienna (1683)
were attributed to the mediation of the Holy Virgin. Catholic nations and countries
began to devote themselves to the Mother of God: France in 1638, Austria in 1647,
Portugal in 1648 and Poland in 1655 by the famous Lwów vows of the king Jan Kazimierz
(Datko 1982). Holy Virgin the Queen from an abstract notion of a mistress of the world
became the Queen and mistress of a particular nation. The phenomenon became even
more visible when particular cities committed themselves to the Holy Virgin’s care.
The atmosphere of this kind certainly encouraged the cult of images that were considered
unusual or miraculous. At the end of the 16th century a habit of coronation of the most
worshipped miraculous pictures of the Holy Virgin was introduced according to a papal
law and it developed even more in the following centuries. In the 17th century Marian
cult prevailed all over Europe yet it was strongest in the territory of Poland (Litak 1994).
In Poland the numerous religious and defence wars certainly did influence the increase
of the phenomenon together with the so−called sarmatism the resistance against
theProtestants and also. The ideas of the Polish character and Catholicism grew closer
and they became almost identical, creating a picture of a Pole−Catholic (Catholic Pole).
A typical for the baroque period theatralisation of all aspects of life affected religious
phenomena as well. The cult of images together with the dressing and ornamenting
of the pictures and figures, colourful processions and pilgrimages must have been very
well placed in the then religiousness. It seems probable that the 17th and 18th century
cult of miraculous images was the main factor in the process of creation of the majority
of Marian cult centres in the territory of Poland. Over 300 Marian pilgrimage centres
with different range of influence were founded then (Witkowska 1986).
What was then the situation of the Carpathian centres? The record of the pre−Partition
Marian loca sacra in this region seems to confirm the hypothesis about the 17th and
MARIAN CULT CENTRES IN THE POLISH CARPATHIANS BEFORE 1772
271
18th century origin of those places. The main factor in the development of the centres
was certainly the cult of miraculous images and figures. The list of those places was
made onthe grounds of various different source materials, data and available works.
In the first place the 17th century prints including the first Polish lists of the sacred places
were used. The oldest prints of this kind were: a special guide of the sacred places
written by P. H.Pruszcz (1662) entitled Morze łaski Boskiey...., and Latin poems of
M. Krasuski (1669) and S. J. Piskorski (1698). The 17th and 18th century visitation acts
were also a valuable source of information. Later works were most of all the manuscripts
of P. Żegota (Teki P. Żegoty) and the works of E. Nowakowski (1902) and A. Fridrich
(1903−1911).
The presence of a miraculous, miracle performing or especially worshipped image
of the Holy Virgin in a given sanctuary was the basic criterion in the recognition
of theplace as a Marian cult centre. According to the existing data other classification
was not possible as the pilgrimage records had not been made and the information about
the then developing cult was fragmentary or sometimes even chaotic.
According to the conducted research there were 97 Marian centres recorded
in the area of the Polish Carpathians and they were built until the 1780s, among which
73 were situated in the area of the then Cracow, 23 in the Przemyśl and 1 in the Wrocław
dioceses (Wrocław diocese was then outside the borders of the Commonwealth of Poland)
(Cieszyn in the Cieszyn Land). The big number of Marian centres in the Cracow diocese
was connected to the Carpathian area and range of the then diocese (bigger than
the present day diocese) as well as the pace of its development (much quicker than
the Przemyśl diocese). The Wrocław diocese covered only a small area in the Carpathians.
As mentioned above the majority of the analysed centres are of 17th and
18th century origin. The earliest come from the 15th−16th centuries. Despite the fact that
tradition often places the beginning of some centres in the 13th or 14th centuries there
is no historical evidence to prove it.
By analysing the way in which they were founded and the primary development
of the centres two basic types can be differentiated:
– Centres founded as a result of the spreading cult of a miraculous image, most often
in the place where the picture was brought to or in the place of an unusual event
connected to the object of cult. In this kind of centres the cult existence of the image
somehow imposed the building of a church / shrine which from the very beginning
had a function of a sanctuary. In the group of the pre−Partition Carpathian centres
thistype is considerably rare and it can be applied to only a few places built usually
in the 15th and 16th centuries (e.g. Borek Stary, Gdów, Stara Wieś, Rzeszów).
– Centres with their previous sacred functions (churches, chapels) which later acquired
an unusual charismatic importance either after placement of miracle−performing images
or after accouncing the already existing images miraculous. This is the type that
prevails in the Carpathian pilgrimage places built in the 17th and 18th centuries.
An important issue in the development of the pilgrimage centres is the description
of their role and rank in the then network of the Marian loca sacra in regional scale
or inthe scale of the whole territory of Poland. Such a hierarchisation based on
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thecontemporary principles i.e. the importance and range of influence of a particular
centre seems impossible due to the lack of proper data. It must be taken into consideration
that in the period of the 16th−18th century regional and local pilgrimages began to develop,
most of the sanctuaries had just been built and the aspects and manifestations of the cult
were not always documented. That is why four groups of centres were distinguished
to put the collected material in some order and to define the approximate role
of theparticular centres (Fig. 1), the groups are as follows:
Group one – sanctuaries with records found in the 17th century prints, probably
dueto their greatest fame and popularity. Also the crowned according to papal law
(until 1772) centres were included in this group and the cult images that were officially
approved then1 .
Group two – sanctuaries known from later sources and works coming from thesecond
half of the 19th century or from the beginning of the 20th century (Teki P. Żegoty,
theworks of A. Fridrich and E. Nowakowski). The centres in this group must have
existed already in the 17th and 18th centuries and the fact that they were included
in this group shows only the continuity of the cult and the development
of thesanctuary in the years that followed.
Group three – centres found in the Marian sacred places records not earlier than thesecond
half of the 20th century. The beginning of these places, however, can be traced
back to the 17th and 18th centuries.
Group four – Centres noted only in the 17th and 18th century visitation acts and
notoccurring in any later sources or works. They probably were small local cult
centres not known during their period of flourishment and very quickly forgotten.
There are 17 centres classified in the first group. They must have had a strong
position already in the pre−Partition period and they must have functioned in the common
mind because they were listed among the best−known sacred places of the then Poland.
Some of them were even placed among the best known Christian sacred places
in theworld. Three Carpathian pictures (Bochnia, Myślenice and Tuchów) were included
in the Gumppenberg’s atlas printed in Munich in 1672 describing 1200 miraculous
images of the Holy Virgin in the Christian world (Gumppenberg 1672). P. H. Pruszcz
in his list of the Marian loca sacra – next to the above mentioned – put also the centres
in Borek Stary, Jasło and Zakliczyn (Pruszcz 1662). Krasuski wrote also about the famous
figure in Przemyśl and the pictures of the Mother of God in Krosno and Zagórz . In his
poem he also mentioned for the first time the images in Gaj, Gosprzydowa and Kalwaria
Zebrzydowska (Krasuski 1669). Images in the following centres were announced
miraculous until theend of the 18th century by the bishop’s decrees: Bochnia, Borek
Stary, Myślenice, Rzeszów, Tuchów, Przemyśl (Both the figure of Our Lady ‘Jackowa’
in the church of theDominicans and the picture of the Immaculate Virgin Mary
in thechurch of the Franciscans) and Rychwałd. Two of those images were crowned
according to papal law: the figure of Our Lady of the Assumption in the church
1
The custom of the coronation of the images of the Holy Virgin in the discussed form developed
in Poland at the beginning of the 18th century. Until 1772 27 images were crowned, from among
which one in Rzeszów and one in Przemyśl.
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of the Bernardines in Rzeszów (1763) and the figure of Our Lady ‘Jackowa’ in Przemyśl
(1766). The pictures of Our Lady in Hyżne and Tuligłowy were announced miraculous.
Assuming that the mentioned above centres were the most attractive and with
the biggest range in the Carpathian region in the period right before the Partitions
thepatronage of those places must be taken into consideration (Fig. 2). Two thirds
of thecentres were under care of various congregations what is the evidence for the
statement that the congregational centres were better prepared for receiving pilgrims
that the diocese ones (Witkowska 1986). Because of the importance of those centres
inthe period before the Partitions a more detailed description of the centres and images
worshipped there seems most appropriate and it will be done further in the article.
The second group consists of 25 centres. Smaller popularity of those centres
in the period before the Partitions was probably a result of the reasons for creation
of thecentre and its development in the first phase of its existence. The cult was usually
not based on a singular miraculous event (as it was in the case of the first group) that
made it possible to attribute miraculous function to the image (e.g. tears falling from
apicture or mass recoveries, rescues or victories) and caused a rapid fame of the centre.
The development of the centres from this group was not so dynamic and the increase
of the cult was a result of the growing cult of an image. Already at the end of the 18th century
the following centres were certainly more prominent in the Carpathian region: Czarny
Potok, Limanowa, Ludźmierz, Rymanów, Jodłówka, Stara Wieś. Except for a few
thecentres of this group survived until today.
The third group consists of 28 centres. They were built in the 17th and 18th centuries
yet they have not been mentioned in either pre−Partition works about Marian cult centres
or in works of this king from the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries. They gained a bigger
popularity only in the present day. The fact that they were missing in the literature from
the period before the Partitions can be explained by a smaller intensity of the cult and
due to that – smaller fame. The lack of the description of those centres in the works
of A. Fridrich and E. Nowakowski is probably the evidence of the decrease of the cult
in the period of Partitions that was overcome not earlier than after 1945.
The last – fourth group consists of 26 centres known only from the 17th and
18th visitation acts. The note about a miraculous image occurs sometimes only on the
occasion of one visitation. Later sources do not mention those centres and that is why
they can be considered forgotten. Most of them supposedly existed within a short period
of time andwas connected to a baroque tendency of creating numerous special cult
centres. Because the marking of the exact time of their disappearance seems impossible
anassumption has to be made that they ceased to exist not later than middle 19th century
what makes them insignificant in the Carpathian network of pilgrimage centres.
By analysing the spatial distribution of the pre−Partition Marian cult centres
inthearea of the Polish Carpathians a significant condensation in the Dunajec river
valley and in the region of Brzesko and Bochnia can be seen. The explanation can be
found in the development of the then parish network system and in the way of foundation
of the majority of baroque cult centres. The discussed area had the highest concentration
of parishes in the Carpathian region what was a result of the settlement and population
processes. Each parish wanted to have a worshipped image that would unite the life
274
a – state border; b – the Polish Carpathians border; c – the first group (I); d – the second group (II); e – the third group (III);
f – the fourth group (IV)
Source: own data
Fig. 1. Our Lady’s worship centres in the Polish Carpathians (as of 1772)
Fig. 2. Patronage of Our Lady’s worship centres in the Polish Carpathians (as 1772)
a – state border; b – the Polish Carpathians border;
City: c –sanctuaries under the patronage of convents; d – sanctuaries under the patronage of diocese priests;
Village: e – sanctuaries under the patronage of convents; f – sanctuaries under the patronage diocese priests
275
Source: own data
276
277
ofthe local parish community. Sometimes the ministration activity of the parish priest
and the devoutness of the faithful were enough to create a centre. Considering all this
the fact that a highest concentration of the cult centres occurred in the areas with
better−developed parish network seems easily explained.
Characteristics of the main Marian pilgrimage centres
before 1772 – included in group one
Cracow diocese2
Bochnia
The picture of Our Lady of Bochnia is one of the earliest copies of the icon of Jasna
Góra and it comes probably form the 15th and 16th centuries. According to tradition at first
it used to be a property of a citizen of Wieliczka Krzysztof Bąkowski who gave thepicture
to the Dominican Friars in Bochnia after he had been miraculously rescued from fire
byvirtue of the picture around 1622. Since 1633 when on the Holy Virgin’s face tears
ofblood appeared (28 July 1633) the picture have begun to be specially worshipped.
The phenomenon repeated in the presence of a special ecclesiastical commission that
came from Cracow (on 15 May 1637). In 1638 the Cracow bishop issued a decree
onmiraculous nature of the picture. The pilgrims came from more and more distant
places not only from the area of Southern Poland but also from Silesia, Moravia, Slovakia
or Hungary. The sanctuary flourished in the 17th and 18th centuries, it was then listed
among the most important Marian cult centres in Poland and in the world.
Gaj
According to tradition the beginning of the Marian cult in Gaj is linked with
thepicture of the Holly Virgin placed by the Benedictines in the newly built church
of the Assumption of the BVM in 1277 to commemorate the miraculous Apparition
ofthe Virgin Mary on an oak3. The picture comes probably from the 15th century and
it began to be specially worshipped during the plague and during the Swedish war. It was
then when the centre flourished the most. The bishop visitation acts recorded numerous
votive offerings brought in thanksgiving for the graces received (about 120 offerings).
The votive offerings were later offered for the sake of the Polish Uprisings and
theremaining ones were confiscated by the Austrian Partition authorities (Gaj… 1963).
Gosprzydowa
The picture of Our Lady worshipped in Gosprzydowa is a copy of the Bochnia
picture and it was painted at the turn of the 16th and 17th centuries. The oldest record
about its miraculous powers is a poem of a Cracow academic S. Wolski from 1698,
in which he mentions the tears of blood on the picture and the numerous miracles
2
Situation in the second half of the 18th century.
3
Gaj belonged then to the Benedictine Abbey in Tyniec.
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performed by the image4 . A canon visitation of 1730 announced the picture miraculous
and ordered the parish priest to record miracles. In the visitation protocol about
50 votive offerings were listed. Bishop’s visitations of 1748 and 1773 also provide
evidence of the cult. During the latter visitation the Cracow bishop K. Sołtyk reprimanded
the parish priest not to neglect the famous cult of Our Lady of Gosprzydowa but todevelop
and spread it around (Prus 1983).
Jasło
The centre originated as a result of the worship of a gothic statue of the HolyVirgin
that according to tradition was brought from Hungary around 1400 for the Carmelite
foundation in Jasło. Soon after the figure had been placed in the convent church
and it became famous due to numerous graces, the chroniclers of the monastery already
in 1437 called it miraculous (Vinea Domini … 1662). Pilgrims from all over Carpathian
Foothills used to come here as well as the pilgrims from Hungary and Slovakia.
TheCarmelites recorded the received graces and the votive offerings yet all the record
has been destroyed during numerous fires of the monastery. The development
of thesanctuary was ceased in 1785 when after a fire of the church and the monastery
theAustrian authorities closed the place down and the miraculous figure (that survived
the fire) was given to the Religious Fund (Fundusz Religijny). The cult of the statue
was revived in the nearby Tarnowiec where the figure was placed in 1789.
Kalwaria Zebrzydowska
The cult existence of Our Lady of Kalwaria (a replica of the Myślenice picture)
began in 1641 when the tears of blood were noticed on the picture (3 May 1641).
Thepicture was then a property of an inhabitant of Kopytówka who soon gave
it to theBernardine Fathers from the nearby Kalwaria Zebrzydowska. The monks placed
the picture in the altar of St. Ann in the main church what made it easy to make thepicture
famous. Due to the increasing cult the diocese authorities started the investigation
explaining the character of the picture. Because of the lack of sufficient evidence
toannounce the picture miraculous an order was issued to seal the picture and place
intemporarily in the treasury chamber. Yet thanks to the efforts of the Bernardines
theCracow bishop T. Oborski consecrated the picture in 1642 and allowed
thearrangement of the altar in the presbytery. In 1658 the picture was eventually placed
in the church and since then the worship of this image has developed continuously.
In the middle 18th century the indulgence feast on the day of the Assumption of theHoly
Virgin was much more solemn that the Holy Week indulgences.
Myślenice
The picture of Our Lady of Myślenice is supposed to have been brought to Poland
from Italy in 1596 by the prince J. Zbaraski. At first it was placed in the Zbaraski residence
in Cracow. It had been the property of the pope Sixtus V who gave it to the abbess
of anunnery in Venice. She gave it to Zbaraski. In 1624 during the plague in Cracow
4
The poem was printed in the work edited by S. J. Piskorski, op.cit., Ode XVIII.
279
(cholera) Marcin Grabysza from Myślenice, an official in the court of J. Zbaraski pleaded
for the picture that was then destined for burning. The official cult began in 1633 when
miraculous phenomena were observed. The picture started to shimmer with different
colours, sweat and the eyes of the Holy Virgin burst in tears. Already on 2 July 1633
priest Erazm Kretkowski, the vicar general and a Cracow official officially announced
the confirmed miraculous nature of the picture. The cult of the picture and the Myślenice
sanctuary rapidly developed in the following years. In the period of 9 years (1633−1642)
1428 graces and miracles were noted here together with 223 votive offerings. The fame
of the picture was confirmed by a rich treasury that in 1640 contained some tens
of thousands of the then złoty. Pilgrims came not only from the neighbouring places
but also from more distant cities and towns (Cracow, Rabka, Dobczyce, Muszyna,
Przemyśl, Jarosław). In the years 1642−1646 the prince S. Koniecpolski founded a splendid
baroque chapel adjacent to the church in thanksgiving for the cure of his son Alexander.
The miraculous picture was placed there. The sanctuary flourished throughout the 17th
century and the first half of the 18th century and it declined later.
Rychwałd
The beginning of the sanctuary can be dated back to 1644 when Katarzyna
(of theKomorowski family) Grudzińska, the owner of the ślemieńskie properties, donated
a picture of the Mother of God for the church in Rychwałd. In 1640 she brought thepicture
which used to be a property of the Grudziński family from the manor house of her
husband in Wielkopolska. In 1647 priest Jan Tarnowski the visitator of the church made
the first register of the votive offerings and the then parish priest Wojciech Mazurkiewicz
began to write down record the graces received through the mediation of the picture.
The number of worshippers continuously increased and until 1658 the range of the cult
covered almost the whole Żywiec region. In 1658 in thanksgiving for the rescue from
the “Swedish flood” and the plague a pilgrimage of about 2000 people went from
Żywiec to Rychwałd. Our Lady of Rychwałd was then announced the Patroness
of theŻywiec Land. In December 1658 the Cracow bishop Mikołaj Oborski issued
adecree on the miraculous nature of the picture. In the 17th century the number
of pilgrims supposedly was so big that the inhabitants of Żywiec came one day earlier
to be able to see the miraculous picture. At the beginning of the 18th century endangered
by war (Northern war) and plague all the parishes from the Żywiec decanate went on
pilgrimages to Rychwałd. On the turn of the 17th and 18th centuries also pilgrims from
Silesia, Orava, the Oświęcim County, Zator county and the Lanckorona Voivodeship
used to visit Our Lady of Rychwałd. Even repressions issued by the Austrian authorities
after the first Partition of Poland could not stop the cult.
Tuchów
The beginning of the sanctuary can be connected to the Benedictine church
of theBlessed Virgin Mary where a picture of the Holy Virgin was placed in the middle
16th century. The picture was probably painted in the years 1530−1540 in the Polish
painting school of the Master of Bodzentyn. In 1597 the picture is supposed to have
performed miracles and graces. Local people began to visit the place more and more
280
often despite the fact that the visitator forbade conducting services because of the poor
state of the church. The oldest records mention numerous recoveries and even raising
from the dead. The picture was supposed to display supernatural light and inside
of thechurch unusual singing was heard. The spreading of the cult was so rapid that
during the typhoid and cholera epidemics in 1622 the inhabitants of Tuchów but also
of Tarnów, Pilzno and Biecz commended themselves to the care of Our Lady of Tuchów.
For the indulgence celebrations on the Feast of the Visitation about 15 thousand pilgrims
not only from the territory of Southern Poland but also from Slovakia came (Piech ….).
By a decree in 1642 the Cracow Bishop Tomasz Oborski confirmed the miraculous
nature of the picture. In the 17th century a custom of visiting the sanctuary by Polish
knights (soldiers) before going to war emerged. The range of the sanctuary continuously
grew there were even pilgrims from Hungary, Slovakia and Lithuania. In the middle
of the 17th century the indulgence celebration of the Feast of the Visitation of the Holy
Virgin 60 thousand people took part. The development of the centre was stopped
at thebeginning of the 19th century due to the anti−Church and anti−congregational
policy of the Partition authorities.
Zakliczyn
Pruszcz wrote about the cult of the picture of Our Lady in Zakliczyn in his work
Morze Łaski Boskiey .... [the Ocean of the God’s Grace...] (Pruszcz 1662). Yet the history
of the picture and the centre itself remains unknown. There is no data (or no data survived)
concerning the development of the cult in the period before and after the work
of P.H. Pruszcz. Only E. Nowakowski mentions the picture of Zakliczyn yet he does not
give any information about its looks or the forms of its cult. The fact that the picture was
included by P.H. Pruszcz among the most worshipped images of the pre−Partition Poland
could be a reason to suppose that the author used poorly documented information brought
by the local worshipers of the image. The archives do not mention any Carmelite
foundation in Zakliczyn, either (Zakony męskie … 1972).
Przemyśl Diocese
Borek Stary
According to a centuries long tradition the picture of Our Lady worshipped in this
sanctuary was supposed to have miraculously appeared on a tree in the place
of thecontemporary (today’s) church which then used to be an impenetrable wilderness.
1336 is the date that very often appears in traditional stories yet there is no historical
evidence to prove it. The beginning of the 15th century seems more probable,
a chronicler’s note from 1598 mentions the chapel of Our Lady in Borek Stary visited
bynumerous pilgrims (Materiały dotyczace kultu …). Until the second half
of the 17thcentury the chapel had no ministration care. The Dominicans took over
the centre not earlier than in 1670. The Przemyśl bishop S. Sarnowski in the foundation
letter of 10 February 1670 justified the necessity of the foundation by among others
a fear that the Holy Virgin might still be in such neglect’. In 1668 the Church authorities
announced the miraculous nature of the picture. Owing to the efforts of the monks
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Marian cult in Borek Stary began to revive. In 1736 the Przemyśł bishop A. Pruski
consecrated a new baroque church. Based on a foundation of the worshippers of the Holy
Virgin a chapel consisting of 6 musicians was founded that was supposed to play every
day during two services and for one hour in the morning and evening on the church
tower. In 1701 the prior father R. Mojecki issued a publication entitled: Obraz NMP
w podgórskiej krainie w Borku Starym obok Tyczyna, słynny łaskami i cudami [the Picture
of the BVM in the Foothill country in Borek Stary near Tyczyn, Famous for Its Miracles
and Graces] where he described 33 miracles from the years 1637−1670. According to
theinventary of 1738 there were 321 precious votive offerings next to the miraculous
picture. Similarly to other centres the cult in Borek Stary was stopped by the restrictions
of the Josephinism at the end of the 18th century.
Hyżne
The history of the picture has been known since 1592 when Katarzyna Wapowska
the wife of the Przemyśl castellan, donated this picture to the church under the invocation
of the BVM that she had founded. The cult of the picture started in 1624 after the repulse
of an attack of the Tartars that was attributed to the Virgin Mary from the picture.
TheTartars being unable to set the church on fire escaped in great fear and panic.
Soon after that the cures and graces received in the church began to be recorded.
In 1745 the Przemyśl bishop Wacław Hieronim Sierakowski consecrated a new church.
In the same year the bishop appointed a commission to investigate the miraculous
nature of the picture. After the investigation a verdict has been issued that “the miraculous
nature of this picture is not entirely proven by the theologians and it would be most
appropriate to await more obvious signs of the supernatural powers, yet the picture
has been considered miraculous because of the various and not indifferent records about
the graces received there as well as because of the votive gifts (offerings) collected
and the common and ancient worship of the people” (Dzieje diecezji przemyskiej … 1905).
Krosno
The cult of the picture of the “Murkow” Virgin Mary (Murkowa means
“of thewall”)5 in the Franciscan monastery in Krosno can be dated back to the second
half of the 17th century. It was most famous during the Swedish war and during
theRakoczy’s invasion in the years 1655−57. During the siege of the city the inhabitants
crowded in the Franciscan church took a solemn vow in front of the picture of Our Lady
‘Murkowa’ and chose Her to be the Patroness of Krosno. In the 18th century a prayer
book devoted to the “Murkowa” Virgin Mary was printed. In 1779 the picture was
removed from the wall to the main altar of the church. During the decane’s visitation
in 1783 the picture was described as commonly considered miraculous. The pleads
of the vicars and of the Magistrate of the city of Krosno from 1788 to the Austrian
authorities to reopen the Franciscan church (closed by those authorities during
the repressions of the Josephinism) are another evidence of a strong character of the cult.
5
The picture was primarily placed in a niche in the church wall nearby the main entrance
of the Franciscan church.
282
Przemyśl
The Dominican church
According to a legend St. Jacek Odrowąż rescued the figure of the Holy Virgin
called Jackowa from the Tartars by taking it away from Kijów in 1240. The Przemyśl
Dominicans claim that he left it in Przemyśł, the Lwów Dominicans claimed that
inLwów. There is no historical evidence for the “Przemyśl” version. The art historians
date the Przemyśl figure for the end of the 15th century and it was probably made in
either Cracow or Dutch school. It was brought from Cracow to Przemyśl by Magdalena
Dobrostańska for the new foundation of the Dominican Nuns. Around 1625 it was placed
in the Dominican church where it became famous for its miraculous powers, for performing
miracles and graces. The cult developed especially after the miraculous rescue of thecity
from the attack of the Cossacks in 1657. In 1760 the Przemyśl bishop Wacław Hieronim
Sierakowski issued a decree confirming the miraculous nature of the statue. He also
started efforts to crown the statue and it was done on 15 August 1766. After the first
Partition of Poland and the annulment of the Dominican order the miraculous figure was
moved to the cathedral in 1786.
The Franciscan church under the invocation of St. Mary Magdalene
The image of the Blessed Virgin Mary is supposed to have performed miracles
in1659. According to ancient records the picture began to shimmer with different colours
and the Infant Jesus turned His head away from the Holy Virgin when He saw theentering
enemies, the people gathered then in the church received numerous graces. A special
fraternity of the Immaculate Conception of the BVM was founded for the propagation
of the cult. A church commission announced the miraculous nature of the picture
on 30 October 1760. Also the efforts in the direction of the coronation of the picture were
made. Already in 1762 the pope agreed on the coronation yet it took place not earlier
than in 1777 after a new Franciscan church had been built.
Rzeszów
The cult began in 1513 when the Holy Virgin appeared to a poor peasant Ado.
In the place of the Apparition a small chapel was built and a figure of Our Lady was
placed there. Because of a great number of pilgrims coming to the chapel it was rebuilt
into a small wooden church under the invocation of the Dormition and Assumption
of Our Lady. The first official document confirming the cult of Our Lady of Rzeszów was
the foundation act of the new church and Bernardine monastery issued by M. S. Ligęza
in 1624. In the period until the coronation approximately 170 miracles and other graces
were recorded in the sanctuary (Chronologiczne opisanie zjawienia się obrazu … 1829) .
The Roman congregation issued an agreement for the coronation already in 1754 yet
the death of J. Lubomirski; the main initiator of the coronation made it impossible.
At the end of the 18th century a considerable decline in the development of the cult took
place and it lasted until the beginning of the 20th century.
283
Tuligłowy
Folk tales state that the picture of the Holy Virgin was brought to Tuligłowy
by theinhabitants of a village in Podole region who settled in Tuligłowy in the 14th century
escaping the Tartars. In 1399 the worshipped picture was placed in a new church founded
by the owner of the village M. Murowski. In 1446 the Canons Regular were to take over
the ministration care of the centre. The cult of the picture increased after 1624 when
it began to be connected with the repulse of an attack of the Tartars. The commission
appointed by the bishop Wacław Hieronim Sierakowski did not, however, consider
the picture miraculous but only ‘full of grace’.
Zagórz
According to tradition the picture of the Annunciation of the BVM in the chapel
in Zagórz was a gift of the king Kazimierz Wielki commemorating an Apparition
of the Holy Virgin the king experienced in this place. Mary appeared to the king before
the expedition to Ruthenia. She promised to help and asked for a chapel in this place.
After the victorious return the king sent the picture to the already built chapel and since
then it has been greatly worshipped. In 1750 the bishop Wacław Hieronim Sierakowski
erected a parish there and ordered to record the miracles. In that time the picture was
ornamented with around 180 votive offerings. For centuries the Greek Catholics together
with Roman Catholics took part in the indulgence celebrations.
References
Chronologiczne opisanie zjawienia się obrazu Najświętszej Maryi Panny cudowney w Rzeszowie, cudów
przez ofiarujących się do Niej w różnych utrapieniach y smutkach doznawanych. Erekcja Kościoła
WW. OO. Bernardynów. Koronacya obrazu y ciąg dalszy cudów, 1829, Archiwum Prowincji
OO Bernardynów w Krakowie, signature XII−e−4; Miraculorum Clarissimae Miraculis
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Compactum A.D. 1739, Archiwum Prowicji OO Bernardynów [the archives of the Bernardine
Fathers / friars province] signature XII−e−3.
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Dzieje diecezji przemyskiej obr. łacińskiego (Wacław Hieronim z Bogusławic Sierakowski
herbu Ogończyk. Biskup przemyski od roku 1742−1760), Kronika Diecezji Przemyskiej,
1905, 2, 59.
Fijałek A., 1902, Królowa Korony Polskiej, Historia kultu Matki Bożej w Polsce średniowiecznej w zarysie,
Przegląd Kościelny, vol. 1, 1, 38−54.
Fridrich A., 1903−1911, Historye cudownych obrazów Najświętszej Maryi Panny w Polsce, Kraków.
Gaj, [in:] Ankiety sanktuaryjne. Sanktuaria maryjne Archidiecezji Krakowskiej, 1963, Kraków, Archiwum
Kurii Metropolitalnej w Krakowie.
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origines, Monachii.
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człowiek i jego działalność, Kraków, 198−199.
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Krasuski M., 1669, Regina Poloniae augustissima Virgo Mater Dei Maria in Regno Polonorum beneficenta
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Klasztorne OO. Dominikanów w Krakowie, signature B.54.
Nowakowski E. (Wacław z Sulgostowa, kapucyn), 1902, O cudownych obrazach w Polsce
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Pruszcz P.H., 1662, Morze Łaski Boskiey, które Pan Bóg w Koronie Polskiey po różnych mieyscach
przy obrazie Chrystusa Pana i Matki Jego wylewa, Kraków.
Sanktuaria diecezji tarnowskiej, 1983, Tarnowskie Studia Teologiczne, t.9.
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Witkowska A.,OSU, 1986, Staropolski „Atlas Marianus”, Roczniki Humanistyczne, vol. 34, 34, 5.
Witkowska A. OSU, 1995, Maryjne loca sacra na ziemiach dawnej Rzeczypospolitej w początkach
XIX wieku, [w:] Jackowski A., Witkowska A., Jabłoński Z., Sołjan I., Bilska E., Przestrzeń
i sacrum. Geografia kultury religijnej w Polsce i jej przemiany w okresie od XVII do XX w.
na przykładzie ośrodków kultu i migracji pielgrzymkowych, Kraków.
Zakony męskie w Polsce w 1772 roku. Materiały do Atlasu hisorycznego chrześcijaństwa w Polsce,
1972, L. Bieńkowski, J. Kłoczowski, Z. Sułowski (red.), Lublin .
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Streszczenie
Tradycje pielgrzymkowe w Karpatach Polskich sięgają XI−XIII w. i początkowo
wiązały się głównie z ośrodkami poświęconymi pochodzącym z tego regionu Świętym
i Błogosławionym (np. Tropie nad Dunajcem, Stary Sącz, Dukla). Jednak najwięcej
ośrodków pielgrzymkowych, związanych głównie z kultem maryjnym, powstało
w Karpatach, podobnie jak w całej Polsce, w XVII i XVIII w. U podstaw tych ośrodków
leżał niewątpliwie, popularny w całej Europie, kult cudownych obrazów i figur.
Na podstawie przeprowadzonej kwerendy w regionie karpackim odnotowano
97 ośrodków maryjnych powstałych tutaj do lat 70. XVIII w. W celu pewnego
285
uporządkowania zebranego materiału oraz przynajmniej przybliżonego określenia roli
poszczególnych ośrodków w omawianym czasie dokonano ich podziału na cztery grupy.
W grupie pierwszej sklasyfikowano 17 ośrodków. Musiały one mieć już wówczas
mocno ugruntowaną pozycję kultową i funkcjonować w szerszej świadomości społecznej
skoro wymieniane były wśród najbardziej znanych miejsc świętych ówczesnej Polski,
a niektóre z nich znalazły się nawet wśród najbardziej znanych tego typu miejsc
na świecie. W wydanym w 1672 r. w Monachium Atlasie Gumppenberga opisującym
1200 cudownych obrazów maryjnych świata chrześcijańskiego uwzględniono trzy
wizerunki karpackie: z: Bochni, Myślenic i Tuchowa.
Druga grupa liczy 29 ośrodków. Fakt mniejszej ich popularności w okresie
przedrozbiorowym mógł wynikać z samego sposobu powstania ośrodka i jego rozwoju
w początkowym okresie. Otóż u podstaw kultu na ogół nie spotyka się tutaj,
wprzeciwieństwie do większości sanktuariów pierwszej grupy, jakiegoś jednego,
niezwykłego wydarzenia pozwalającego natychmiast przypisać wizerunkowi znamiona
cudowności. Rozwój ośrodka zaczynał się raczej mniej dynamicznie, a nasilenie kultu
wzrastało wraz z pogłębiającą się czcią wizerunku.
W grupie trzeciej, obejmującej 25 ośrodków, znalazły się sanktuaria powstałe
wXVII i XVIII w., które jednak nie zostały zamieszczone ani w przedrozbiorowych
pracach dotyczących ówczesnych maryjnych miejsc kultowych, ani też w tego typu
pracach pochodzących z przełomu XIX i XX w. Szerszą popularnością zaczęły cieszyć
się dopiero w czasach współczesnych.
W ostatniej, czwartej grupie umieszczono 26 ośrodków, o których wiemy głównie
z XVII i XVIII−wiecznych akt wizytacyjnych, przy czym czasami wzmianka o łaskami
słynącym wizerunku pojawiła się tylko podczas jednej wizytacji. Późniejsze źródła
na ogół nie wymieniają tych miejsc. Przypuszczalnie większość z nich istniała bardzo
krótko i wiązała się z barokowym trendem do zakładania licznych miejsc szczególnego
kultu. W niektórych z nich do ożywienia kultu doszło dopiero w czasach współczesnych.
W drugiej części artykułu przedstawiono ośrodki mające największe znaczenie
w okresie przedrozbiorowym na obszarze Karpat Polskich (zaliczone do pierwszej grupy).
Izabela Sołjan
Institute of Geography and Spatial Management
Jagiellonian University
Cracow
Poland
Translated by Maria Skiba
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