Church Of Our Lady Of Perpetual Help, Bydgoszcz
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The Church of Our Lady of Perpetual Help is a wood and brick Catholic church, located on the southern heights of
Bydgoszcz Bydgoszcz ( , , ; german: Bromberg) is a city in northern Poland, straddling the meeting of the River Vistula with its left-bank tributary, the Brda. With a city population of 339,053 as of December 2021 and an urban agglomeration with more ...
in northern Poland, at 16 Ugory street.


History


Prussian period

The desire to erect a catholic church in Szwederowo district dates back to the end of the 19th century, as this village housed the main concentration of Polish Catholics in and around Bromberg. The Prussian authorities only authorized the construction of a Lutheran temple in 1906, the ''Martin Luther Church in Bydgoszcz'', fearing that new catholic parishes fostered Polish identity and resistance movements. The latter temple was burned down in September 1939, and demolished in 1945, shortly after the end of WWII.
Edmund Dalbor Edmund Dalbor (30 October 1869 – 13 February 1926) was a Polish Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as Archbishop of Gniezno and Poznań, thus Primate of Poland, from 1915 until his death. Dalbor was elevated to the cardina ...
, Primate of Poland, made up his mind in favor of the construction of a church in this suburb, after a visit to Bydgoszcz he made in 1917. To this purpose, he designated Jan Konopczyński, then vicar of St. Martin and St. Nicholas parish -only catholic parish, as responsible for the project, via the setting up of an association for the construction of churches in Bydgoszcz and the surroundings ( pl, Katolickie Stowarzyszenie Budowy Kościołów w Bydgoszczy i Okolicy). In August 1917, this association purchased plots of land in ''Father Ignacy Skorupki street'' (Nr.2/4 and 8/10) and asked local engineer Edmund Pitak to develop an initial design. However, the outbreak of World War I ground the scheme to a halt.


Projects and construction

The establishment of the
Second Polish Republic The Second Polish Republic, at the time officially known as the Republic of Poland, was a country in Central Europe, Central and Eastern Europe that existed between 1918 and 1939. The state was established on 6 November 1918, before the end of ...
in 1920 brought opportune conditions for the expected construction of the church: Szwederowo village had been integrated into Bydgoszcz city territory and Szwederowo parish of 6700 residents was one of the four newly created pastoral districts ( St. Martin and St. Nicholas parish, Parish of the Holy Trinity, Parish of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and Szwederowo). At the beginning, the lack of a church led to celebrate Sundays and holidays services in the open, whereas weekdays masses were held in the
soup kitchen A soup kitchen, food kitchen, or meal center, is a place where food is offered to the Hunger, hungry usually for free or sometimes at a below-market price (such as via coin donations upon visiting). Frequently located in lower-income neighborhoo ...
establishment at 66 Orla street. Father Konopczyński proposed the Metropolitan Curia in Gniezno two choices: either building a temporary church at the plot at the intersection of Orla and Skorupkiego streets or acquiring from the city the former Conitzer dance hall at 2 Dąbrowskiego street and adapt it to a makeshift church. The latter solution was chosen and the temporary temple was set up with the help of parishioners, comprising a main altar adorned with a painting of Our Lady of Perpetual Help which came from downtown's St. Martin and St. Nicholas parish. This make-do church was consecrated on October 10, 1920. From this time on, many individuals, craftsmen and merchants made donations, offered paintings or craft works to the church-to-be. In 1923, Bydgoszcz city council transferred the land at Orla and Dąbrowskiego streets for private construction, in exchange of which it passed a resolution giving perpetua lease for a plot where to build a church. Meanwhile, on April 10, 1924, cardinal
Edmund Dalbor Edmund Dalbor (30 October 1869 – 13 February 1926) was a Polish Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as Archbishop of Gniezno and Poznań, thus Primate of Poland, from 1915 until his death. Dalbor was elevated to the cardina ...
erected officially the Szwederowo's parish of Our Lady of Perpetual Help. Finally in January 1926, Father Konopczyński acquired, on behalf of the Metropolitan Curia, a property at 8/9 Ugory street (present day 16 Ugory street) for the construction of the parish church. Originally, timber framing technique was supposed to be used, but following Poznań architect Stefan Cybichowski's advice, it was decided to build a
reinforced concrete Reinforced concrete (RC), also called reinforced cement concrete (RCC) and ferroconcrete, is a composite material in which concrete's relatively low tensile strength and ductility are compensated for by the inclusion of reinforcement having hig ...
nave and enlarge the church by one
span Span may refer to: Science, technology and engineering * Span (unit), the width of a human hand * Span (engineering), a section between two intermediate supports * Wingspan, the distance between the wingtips of a bird or aircraft * Sorbitan es ...
. Design was completed in May 1926, and construction works began in October. Thanks to a daily voluntary help of 150 districts inhabitants, the walls, roof and tower were finished in 1927. During the whole period of the construction, it has been a constant struggle to finance the project. Many times in 1927, the local press informed about the issue and the local newspaper ''Dziennik Bydgoski'' never ceased campaigning for the completion of the church, regularly calling for donations. Szweredowo residents organized performances, church fraternities and associations from all over Poland joined the movement, such as the Conference of the Ladies of Mercy of Saint Vincent de Paul ( pl, Konferencja Pań Miłosierdzia św. Wincentego ci Paulo), the Brotherhood of Christian Mothers ( pl, Bractwo Matek Chrześcijańskich) or the Catholic Society of Polish Workers ( pl, Katolickie Towarzystwo Robotników Polskich). Youth from local junior high schools also joined the campaign, the city of Bydgoszcz funded through loans the furnishing of the interiors. Other loans contracted in 1926-1927 and fundraising in neighboring voivodeships contributed as well to the construction of the church. In the end, even the supply of building materials at minute prices, let alone free handed, participated to the success of the project: 10,000 bricks donated by an individual from Potulice, half-price supply of timber, gravel handed over for free to the local brick factory. However, due to the lack of funds, the original architectural plans were not fully implemented, especially for the interiors. A new presbytery was erected according to Stefan Cybichowski's design, which enabled the sale of the ancient one at 4/5 Skorupkiego street to the city authorities. The embellishment and furnishing of the church lasted a decade more (1937). The building site was visited by cardinal August Hlond (March 7, 1927) and by bishop
Antoni Laubitz Antoni Laubitz (7 June 1861 – 17 May 1939) was a Polish bishop of the Roman Catholic Church, a social activist, and an auxiliary bishop in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Gniezno. Early life Laubitz was born in Pakość. He attended sch ...
(May 19, 1928) who also financially supported the construction. Warsaw's Metropolitan Curia offered in 1927, a 14th-century church bell, '' Saint John the Apostle'' (approx. 300 kg), which had been recovered from a non-extant church in the Eastern Borderlands. A second bell, '' Our Lady of Perpetual Help'' (approx. 500 kg), was cast from a purchased 17th century one, coming from a steeple in Pustelnik.


After church consecration

The consecration of the church happened on October 28, 1928, and its vicar was solemnly designated on February 23, 1930. In 1933, most of the neo-baroque interior elements were installed, the main altar was completed in 1937. At this time, Stefan Cybichowski was working on the project of the church of Saint
Anthony of Padua Anthony of Padua ( it, Antonio di Padova) or Anthony of Lisbon ( pt, António/Antônio de Lisboa; born Fernando Martins de Bulhões; 15 August 1195 – 13 June 1231) was a Portuguese people, Portuguese Catholic Church, Catholic priesthood (Cath ...
( pl, Kościół św. Antoniego Padewskiego), located at the crossing of Grunwaldzka and Koronowska streets. During the years prior to WWII, the local community fervour built up its spiritual coherence: between 1924 and 1939, 19 catholic fraternities and associations were founded in the parish. During Nazi occupation the church was still active, but Polish language was banned both during services and private exchanges. Despite those threats, priests in the parish often used Polish for confessions or while preparing children for their
First Communion First Communion is a ceremony in some Christian traditions during which a person of the church first receives the Eucharist. It is most common in many parts of the Latin Church tradition of the Catholic Church, Lutheran Church and Anglican Communi ...
. At that time, the presbytery was operating as a contact cell for Home Army ( pl, Armia Krajowa, AK) and as a small scale clandestine seminary. The war caused considerable damage to the church: a majority of the nave was torn down and 60% of the roof was destroyed. Among the Polish victims of the sundry roundups and searches performed from September 5 to 30, about 300 residents of Szwederowo are recorded. On the churchyard of Our Lady of Perpetual Help at Ugory street lays a mass grave of 21 murdered Poles detained while leaving the church after a service on Sunday, September 10, 1939. Jan Konopczyński was arrested by the Gestapo in the fall of 1939, but after a few months he was released from prison and survived occupation. He was nominated to take the parish of the Sacred Heart of Jesus on September 15, 1945. Renovation works started in 1946, privately financed by Bydgoszcz citizens; interior refurbishing was led by
plastic artist Plastic arts are art forms which involve physical manipulation of a plastic medium by molding or modeling such as sculpture or ceramics. Less often the term may be used broadly for all the visual arts (such as painting, sculpture, film and pho ...
Władysław Pacholski. The newly renovated church was consecrated on June 29, 1947, by Lucjan Bernacki, auxiliary bishop of Gniezno. In the following years, many overhaul actions or ornamenting projects have been carried out, among others: * Set up of
stained glass Stained glass is coloured glass as a material or works created from it. Throughout its thousand-year history, the term has been applied almost exclusively to the windows of churches and other significant religious buildings. Although tradition ...
designed by artist Edward Kwiatkowski from Toruń, commemorating the murder on September 10, 1939, of Szwederowo residents in the church cemetery (1947); * Installation of a new bell, '' Saint Wojciech'' (approx. 750 kg), to replace those taken by Nazi forces (1947); * New organs, coming from a lutheran temple in
Mąkowarsko Mąkowarsko (german: Mönkenwerth) is a village in the administrative district of Gmina Koronowo, within Bydgoszcz County, Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship, in north-central Poland. It lies north-west of Koronowo and north of Bydgoszcz Bydgo ...
(1948); * New mission cross erected, restoring the original one from 1937 destroyed by the Germans (1949); * Renovation works, albeit not authorized by
political authorities {{Unreferenced, date=December 2009 Political authorities hold positions of power or influence within a system of government. Although some are exclusive to one or another form of government, many exist within several types. *Cabinet (government) * ...
, in the
sacristy A sacristy, also known as a vestry or preparation room, is a room in Christian churches for the keeping of vestments (such as the alb and chasuble) and other church furnishings, sacred vessels, and parish records. The sacristy is usually located ...
, boiler room and
pulpit A pulpit is a raised stand for preachers in a Christian church. The origin of the word is the Latin ''pulpitum'' (platform or staging). The traditional pulpit is raised well above the surrounding floor for audibility and visibility, access ...
. Set up of a new
Baptismal font A baptismal font is an article of church furniture used for baptism. Aspersion and affusion fonts The fonts of many Christian denominations are for baptisms using a non-immersive method, such as aspersion (sprinkling) or affusion (pouring). ...
, an additional
stained glass Stained glass is coloured glass as a material or works created from it. Throughout its thousand-year history, the term has been applied almost exclusively to the windows of churches and other significant religious buildings. Although tradition ...
by Kwiatkowski and a painting of
Jude the Apostle Jude ( grc-gre, Ἰούδας Ἰακώβου translit. Ioúdas Iakóbou) was one of the Twelve Apostles of Jesus according to the New Testament. He is generally identified as Thaddeus ( grc-gre, Θαδδαῖος; cop, ⲑⲁⲇⲇⲉⲟⲥ; ...
(1952-1956); * Roof renovation (1969-1970); * Building of a
catechesis Catechesis (; from Greek: , "instruction by word of mouth", generally "instruction") is basic Christian religious education of children and adults, often from a catechism book. It started as education of converts to Christianity, but as the ...
house (1975); * Lay down of a marble floor (1981-1982); * Reconstruction of the 1935 Commemorative Cross of the Jubilee, 50 years after its destruction by Nazis. It stands at the crossing of Orla and Ignacego Skorupki streets (1992).


Architecture

The church displays a national style, fashionable in Poland in the 1920s: a historicist platform combined with folk elements and a mix of neo-renaissance and neo-baroque influences.


Exteriors

The edifice comprises three naves and a closed pentagonal chancel, facing south, with a massive tower on its front. As such, its design mirrors another contemporaneous religious building in Bydgoszcz, ''the church of Saint and Martyr Stanislaus of Szczepanów'' located at 1 Kapliczna street. Although the use of
reinforced concrete Reinforced concrete (RC), also called reinforced cement concrete (RCC) and ferroconcrete, is a composite material in which concrete's relatively low tensile strength and ductility are compensated for by the inclusion of reinforcement having hig ...
allowed an extension of the nave length, the amount of external lining made of timber framing could not comply with the fire regulations of the time and as a consequence, the body of the building had to be plastered and the tower clad with copper sheets. The external appearance of the church is reminiscent of folk architecture, in particular the flattened onion dome steeple overhanging the main entrance
column A column or pillar in architecture and structural engineering is a structural element that transmits, through compression, the weight of the structure above to other structural elements below. In other words, a column is a compression member. ...
ed
portico A portico is a porch leading to the entrance of a building, or extended as a colonnade, with a roof structure over a walkway, supported by columns or enclosed by walls. This idea was widely used in ancient Greece and has influenced many cult ...
. A second portico has been added after WWII at the western side entrance. A ridge turret with the same onion dome style stands on top of the chancel.


Picture of Our Lady of Perpetual Help

The image of Our Lady of Perpetual Help has been sculpted and painted on a square board, x , and placed on the steeple, welcoming the believers. It is a reminder of the icon that stands overhead the main altar. The icon portrays the following holy figures: the Virgin Mary, Jesus as infant and archangels Michael and Gabriel. They are associated with Greek letters inscribed in the backdrop of the board: * ''ΜΡ - ΘΥ'', for '' Mother of God'', ( gr, Μήτηρ του Θεού); * ''ΙϹ - ΧϹ'', for Jesus Christ, first and last letters of each Greek word for Jesus Christ (''ΙΗϹΟΥϹ ΧΡΙϹΤΟϹ'' or gr, Iησοῦς Χριστός); * ''ΟΑΜ'' for archangel Michael ( gr, O Ἀρχάγγελος Μιχαήλ); * ''ΟΑΓ'' for archangel Gabriel ( gr, O Ἀρχάγγελος Γαβριήλ, ΟΑΓ). Colors have died out a bit, but a one can notice on Mary's figure: * a navy blue mantle, worn by mothers in
Palestine __NOTOC__ Palestine may refer to: * State of Palestine, a state in Western Asia * Palestine (region), a geographic region in Western Asia * Palestinian territories, territories occupied by Israel since 1967, namely the West Bank (including East ...
; * a red tunic, symbolizing in Byzantine iconography the color of the empress; * a blue headdress covering her hair and forehead. The
gold ground Gold ground (both a noun and adjective) or gold-ground (adjective) is a term in art history for a style of images with all or most of the background in a solid gold colour. Historically, real gold leaf has normally been used, giving a luxurious ...
represents heaven. Baby Jesus, crowned as his mother, has his right sandal undone and falling, leaving one foot naked: it figures that although a God, he is also a man. Both angels bear the tools of Christ's crucifixion: the cross for Gabriel, the reed, the sponge and the spear for Michael.


Interior

Interiors have a neo-baroque twist. Naves are separated by
stucco Stucco or render is a construction material made of aggregates, a binder, and water. Stucco is applied wet and hardens to a very dense solid. It is used as a decorative coating for walls and ceilings, exterior walls, and as a sculptural and a ...
ed arcades, embellished with Rococo ornamented cartouches. The three naves, the chancel and the three apses boast
barrel vault A barrel vault, also known as a tunnel vault, wagon vault or wagonhead vault, is an architectural element formed by the extrusion of a single curve (or pair of curves, in the case of a pointed barrel vault) along a given distance. The curves are ...
s and
lunette A lunette (French ''lunette'', "little moon") is a half-moon shaped architectural space, variously filled with sculpture, painted, glazed, filled with recessed masonry, or void. A lunette may also be segmental, and the arch may be an arc take ...
s. The chancel is enclosed with six monumental Ionic style
capital Capital may refer to: Common uses * Capital city, a municipality of primary status ** List of national capital cities * Capital letter, an upper-case letter Economics and social sciences * Capital (economics), the durable produced goods used f ...
column A column or pillar in architecture and structural engineering is a structural element that transmits, through compression, the weight of the structure above to other structural elements below. In other words, a column is a compression member. ...
s. Columns also support an triforium gallery standing above the main entrance. Large polychromes have been realized by the artist Leon Drapiewski, from Poznań. Overhead the main altar stands on the wall a painting of '' Our Lady of Perpetual Help'', made in the 1930s in Bavaria. A sculpted version is placed high on the main steeple to remind parishioners.


Gallery

File:Bdg kscMBNP 10 07-2013.jpg, [Western facade File:Kościół rzymskokatolicki pw.Matki Bożej Nieustającej Pomocy - panoramio (2).jpg, View from the quare File:Bydgoszcz Kościół MBNP wieża 1.jpg, Steeple File:Bdg kscMBNP 5 07-2013.jpg, Sculpted icon on the main tower File:Bdg kscMBNP 13 07-2013.jpg, Ridge turret File:Bydgoszcz Ołtarz w kościele MB Nieustającej Pomocy.jpg, Icon of ''Our Lady of Perpetual Help'' File:Bdg kscMBNP 20 07-2013.jpg, Vaulted roof File:Szwederowo Bydg kościół zima 02-2013.jpg, The church in winter


See also

*
Bydgoszcz Bydgoszcz ( , , ; german: Bromberg) is a city in northern Poland, straddling the meeting of the River Vistula with its left-bank tributary, the Brda. With a city population of 339,053 as of December 2021 and an urban agglomeration with more ...
* Our Lady of Perpetual Help


References


Bibliography

* * * * *


External links

*
Site of the parish
{{Bydgoszcz churches Freedom Square in Bydgoszcz Churches in Bydgoszcz, Our Lady of Perpetual Help Roman Catholic churches completed in 1928 20th-century churches in Poland