The Jesuit Church ( pl, Kościół Jezuitów), also known as Church of the Gracious Mother of God (''Kościół Matki Bożej Łaskawej''), is an ornate church within the Old Town precinct in

Warsaw Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officia ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...

. The temple stands on , adjacent to

St John's Cathedral :''This list is for St. John the Evangelist Cathedrals. For St. John the Baptist Cathedrals, see St. John the Baptist Cathedral (disambiguation)'' St. John's Cathedral, St. John Cathedral, or Cathedral of St. John, or other variations on the name ...

, and is one of the most notable

mannerist Mannerism, which may also be known as Late Renaissance, is a style in European art that emerged in the later years of the Italian High Renaissance around 1520, spreading by about 1530 and lasting until about the end of the 16th century in Ita ...

-style churches in Warsaw.

History

The Jesuit Church was founded by King

Sigismund III Vasa Sigismund III Vasa ( pl, Zygmunt III Waza, lt, Žygimantas Vaza; 20 June 1566 – 30 April 1632 N.S.) was King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1587 to 1632 and, as Sigismund, King of Sweden and Grand Duke of Finland from 1592 to ...

and '' Podkomorzy'' Andrzej Bobola (the Old) at

Piotr Skarga Piotr Skarga (less often Piotr Powęski; 2 February 1536 – 27 September 1612) was a Polish Jesuit, preacher, hagiographer, polemicist, and leading figure of the Counter-Reformation in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. Due to his oratoric ...

's initiative, in 1609, for the

Jesuits , image = Ihs-logo.svg , image_size = 175px , caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits , abbreviation = SJ , nickname = Jesuits , formation = , founders = ...

. The main building was constructed between 1609 and 1626 in the Polish Mannerist style by Jan Frankiewicz. Kosciol Jezuitow drzwi Mitoraja

In 1627 the church was encompassed with three chapels, and in 1635

Urszula Meyerin Urszula Meyerin (also, ''Meierin''; 1570–1635) was a politically influential Polish courtier and mistress to King Sigismund III of Poland. Her real surname may have been ''Gienger'' (or ''Gienger von Grünbüchl''), but that remains in dispute; ...

, a great supporter of the

Society of Jesus , image = Ihs-logo.svg , image_size = 175px , caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits , abbreviation = SJ , nickname = Jesuits , formation = , founders ...

, was buried within. Meyerin funded a

silver Silver is a chemical element with the symbol Ag (from the Latin ', derived from the Proto-Indo-European ''h₂erǵ'': "shiny" or "white") and atomic number 47. A soft, white, lustrous transition metal, it exhibits the highest electrical ...

tabernacle According to the Hebrew Bible, the tabernacle ( he, מִשְׁכַּן, mīškān, residence, dwelling place), also known as the Tent of the Congregation ( he, link=no, אֹהֶל מוֹעֵד, ’ōhel mō‘ēḏ, also Tent of Meeting, etc.), ...

for the church. She was also King Sigismund III's mistress, and was politically influential. Her grave was plundered and destroyed by the Swedes and

Brandenburg Brandenburg (; nds, Brannenborg; dsb, Bramborska ) is a state in the northeast of Germany bordering the states of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Saxony, as well as the country of Poland. With an area of 29,480 sq ...

Germans, in the 1650s, during the

Deluge A deluge is a large downpour of rain, often a flood. The Deluge refers to the flood narrative in the Biblical book of Genesis. Deluge may also refer to: History *Deluge (history), the Swedish and Russian invasion of the Polish-Lithuanian Com ...

. A vestibule was added to the interior of the temple in 1633, and a choir was added three years later. An altar made of silver was installed by Cardinal Charles Ferdinand Vasa in the 1640s. The interior of the church was damaged and looted in 1656. An

icon An icon () is a religious work of art, most commonly a painting, in the cultures of the Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, and Catholic churches. They are not simply artworks; "an icon is a sacred image used in religious devotion". The most ...

Our Lady of Graces Our Lady of Graces (Italian: ''Madonna delle Grazie'' or ''Nostra Signora delle Grazie'') or Saint Mary of Graces (Italian: ''Santa Maria delle Grazie'') is a devotion to the Virgin Mary in the Roman Catholic Church. Several churches with this d ...

(''Matka Boża Łaskawa''), a gift from the

Pope Innocent X Pope Innocent X ( la, Innocentius X; it, Innocenzo X; 6 May 1574 – 7 January 1655), born Giovanni Battista Pamphilj (or Pamphili), was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 15 September 1644 to his death in Januar ...

, was introduced to the church and crowned in 1651. Its

veneration Veneration ( la, veneratio; el, τιμάω ), or veneration of saints, is the act of honoring a saint, a person who has been identified as having a high degree of sanctity or holiness. Angels are shown similar veneration in many religions. Ety ...

has been growing, especially since the epidemic in 1664, when

Blessed Virgin Mary Mary; arc, ܡܪܝܡ, translit=Mariam; ar, مريم, translit=Maryam; grc, Μαρία, translit=María; la, Maria; cop, Ⲙⲁⲣⲓⲁ, translit=Maria was a first-century Jews, Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Saint Joseph, Jose ...

was believed to save the city. In later years the building became more and more ornate, with baroque furnishings and

marble Marble is a metamorphic rock composed of recrystallized carbonate minerals, most commonly calcite or dolomite. Marble is typically not foliated (layered), although there are exceptions. In geology, the term ''marble'' refers to metamorphose ...

altar An altar is a table or platform for the presentation of religious offerings, for sacrifices, or for other ritualistic purposes. Altars are found at shrines, temples, churches, and other places of worship. They are used particularly in paga ...

s and floors. Two more

chapel A chapel is a Christian place of prayer and worship that is usually relatively small. The term has several meanings. Firstly, smaller spaces inside a church that have their own altar are often called chapels; the Lady chapel is a common ty ...

s were added. When the order of

Jesuits , image = Ihs-logo.svg , image_size = 175px , caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits , abbreviation = SJ , nickname = Jesuits , formation = , founders = ...

was dissolved in 1773, the church changed ownership several times. For some time it was a school church, later it was demoted to the role of the magazine of church furnishings, and then it was given to the order of Piarists. The Jesuits did not get the church back until the end of the First World War. In the 1920s and 1930s the church was renovated. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, after the Germans suppressed the

Warsaw Uprising The Warsaw Uprising ( pl, powstanie warszawskie; german: Warschauer Aufstand) was a major World War II operation by the Polish underground resistance to liberate Warsaw from German occupation. It occurred in the summer of 1944, and it was led ...

, they razed the Jesuit Church to the ground. All that remained of the four-hundred-year-old edifice was a great pile of rubble. Between the 1950s and 1973, the church was rebuilt in a simplified architectural style.

Interior

The facade is

Mannerist Mannerism, which may also be known as Late Renaissance, is a style in European art that emerged in the later years of the Italian High Renaissance around 1520, spreading by about 1530 and lasting until about the end of the 16th century in Ita ...

, although the interior is completely modern, because very few of the original furnishings of the church were preserved. Inside, there are preserved fragments of a tomb monument of

Jan Tarło Jan Tarło may refer to the following Polish noblemen: * Jan Tarło (d. 1550), standard-bearer of Lwów * Jan Tarło (d. 1572), cup-bearer of the Crown, starost of Pilzno * Jan Tarło (1527–1587), voivode of Lublin, starost of Łomża and Pilzno * ...

carved by

Jan Jerzy Plersch Jan Jerzy Plersch also Johann Georg Plersch (1704 or 1705 – 1 January 1774) was a Polish sculptor of German origin. The design of Plersch's sculptures refers to some extent to the so-called "School of Lviv" in sculpture. A symbolic tombston ...

in white and black

in 1753, together with reconstructed epitaphs of Sarbiewski, Konarski, Kopczyński and Kiliński. A painting of Our Lady of Grace brought to Poland in 1651 by bishop Juan de Torres as a gift from

is also displayed, along with a preserved wooden

crucifix A crucifix (from Latin ''cruci fixus'' meaning "(one) fixed to a cross") is a cross with an image of Jesus on it, as distinct from a bare cross. The representation of Jesus himself on the cross is referred to in English as the ''corpus'' (Lati ...

from 1383, a baroque sculpture of Our Lady of Grace, from the beginning of the 18th century, and a stone sculpture of a laying bear from the half of 18th century.

Burials

Karol Ferdynand Vasa Prince Charles Ferdinand Vasa ( pl, Karol Ferdynand Waza; 13 October 1613 in Warsaw – 9 May 1655 in Wyszków), was a Polish prince, priest, Bishop of Wrocław from 1625, bishop of Płock from 1640 and Duke of Opole from 1648 to 1655. Biograph ...

Maciej Kazimierz Sarbiewski Maciej Kazimierz Sarbiewski (in Latin, ''Matthias Casimirus Sarbievius''; Lithuanian: ''Motiejus Kazimieras Sarbievijus''; Sarbiewo, Poland, 24 February 1595 Maciej Kazimierz Sarbiewski's biography by Mirosław Korolko in: – 2 April 1640, Wars ...

(1595–1640),

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...

's most prominent

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator ( thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems ( oral or wri ...

of the 17th century.+

Memorial plaque

cenotaph A cenotaph is an empty tomb or a monument erected in honour of a person or group of people whose remains are elsewhere. It can also be the initial tomb for a person who has since been reinterred elsewhere. Although the vast majority of cenot ...

References

Images

Image:John Cathedral Jesuits Warsaw 1627.jpg, ''in 1627'' Image:Swietojanska 8 05.jpg, ''in the 1920s'' Image:Warszawa0we.jpg, ''in 2006''