St. Stanislaus Kostka Church (Winona, Minnesota)
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The Basilica of Saint Stanislaus Kostka (
Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Polish people, people from Poland or of Polish descent * Polish chicken * Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin ...
: ''Bazylika Świętego Stanisława Kostki'') is a historic church of the
Roman Catholic Diocese of Winona Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of Roman civilization *Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...
in
Winona, Minnesota Winona ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Winona County, Minnesota, United States. Located in bluff country on the Mississippi River, its most noticeable physical landmark is Sugar Loaf (Winona, Minnesota), Sugar Loaf. The population was 2 ...
, United States, and a prominent fixture on the city's skyline. Within the diocese it is known as Saint Stan's. It was listed on the
National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...
in 1984 as Church of St. Stanislaus–Catholic. It was designated as a
Minor Basilica Basilicas are Catholic church buildings that have a designation, conferring special privileges, given by the Pope. Basilicas are distinguished for ceremonial purposes from other churches. The building need not be a basilica in the architectura ...
of the
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on November 10, 2011 by
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.


History of Saint Stanislaus Kostka Parish

The congregation dates back to April 2, 1871, when leaders of Winona's Kashubian Polish community formally declared its intent to organize a parish under the patronage of St. Stanislaus Kostka. Prior to this they had been attending Mass at either the "Irish" (Saint Thomas) or the "German" (Saint Joseph) Catholic church, but they wished to worship in their own language and to be led by a Kashubian or Polish pastor. Accordingly, a small wooden sanctuary was constructed at the corner of Fourth and Carimona Streets in 1872. From its very beginning, the new Saint Stanislaus Kostka Parish served as the religious and the civic center for Winona's Kashubian Poles. The first permanent pastor was the Reverend Joseph Juskiewicz, who was succeeded in January 1875 by the Reverend Alexander Michnowski. In 1875, the Reverend Jan Romuald Byzewski (1842–1905), a Kashubian-born Franciscan forced to emigrate from German Poland due to the
Kulturkampf In the history of Germany, the ''Kulturkampf'' (Cultural Struggle) was the seven-year political conflict (1871–1878) between the Catholic Church in Germany led by Pope Pius IX and the Kingdom of Prussia led by chancellor Otto von Bismarck. Th ...
, arrived and served as pastor until 1890. Winona grew rapidly during the 1880s and 1890s, and the continuation of the
Kashubian diaspora The Kashubian diaspora resulted from the emigration of Kashubians mainly in two waves occurring in the second half of the 19th century. The majority of Kashubian emigrants settled in the United States; others emigrated to Canada and Brazil. An onlin ...
played a major part of this population boom. By 1893, Saint Stanislaus Kostka Parish had completely outgrown its old sanctuary. Creation of a satellite Polish parish on Winona's West End was considered; indeed, such a parish, Saint Casimir, would be established in 1906. The congregation was bitterly divided on the question of whether to build a new church or expand the old. But as a matter of religious and civic pride, the parishioners of Saint Stanislaus Kostka decided to build a larger, grander 1800-seat structure on the site of their present church.


The Basilica of Saint Stanislaus Kostka

The Basilica of Saint Stanislaus Kostka was designed during the winter of 1893–4 in the Polish Cathedral Style (it has also been attributed to the Romanesque style) by the Winona architectural firm of C.G. Maybury and Son, which had also designed Sacred Heart-Saint Wenceslaus Church in nearby Pine Creek, Wisconsin. The old church was demolished in the spring of 1894, under the direction of then-pastor Reverend Antoni Klawiter. While the new one was built, the parishioners worshiped in the nearby
Bohemia Bohemia ( ; ; ) is the westernmost and largest historical region of the Czech Republic. In a narrow, geographic sense, it roughly encompasses the territories of present-day Czechia that fall within the Elbe River's drainage basin, but historic ...
n parish of Saint John Nepomucene. The foundation stone was laid by the new pastor, Reverend
Jakub W.J. Pacholski Jakub Wałenty Jan Pacholski, better known in America as Monsignor James W.J. Pacholski, was born on May 24, 1862, in the village of Pączewo, located in the Polish region of Kociewie. Biography Pacholski was educated at Pelplin and Wejherowo, and ...
, on October 28, 1894. The Basilica was dedicated on Thanksgiving Day November 28, 1895, by the Most Reverend Joseph B. Cotter, Bishop of Winona. From the very beginning, the Basilica's great golden dome dominated the skyline of Winona, testifying to the piety and thrift of the Kashubian Polish community which built it at the then-exorbitant cost of $86,000. The Basilica's interior has undergone many changes over time. It is adorned with beautiful stained glass windows dedicated to various saints and devotions particularly cherished by Kashubian Poles, with inscriptions in Polish. On Thanksgiving Day 1920 the parish celebrated the Basilica's dedication by consecrating a massive marble altar with a canopy supported by marble pillars. New sanctuary furniture, new confessionals, and a pipe organ were installed by Reverend Pacholski's successor as pastor, the Reverend Jozef Cieminski (a parishioner in his youth) – along with landscaping of the entire church property. Some of the Basilica's original furnishings, along with many contemporary furnishings preserved from other churches in the diocese, can be viewed at the nearby Polish Cultural Institute and Museum. At 7:40 pm on Sunday, June 5, 1966, lightning from a severe electrical storm struck the Basilica's dome. According to the parish's Centennial History,''St. Stanislaus Parish 1871-1971'', Winona: privately published, 1971. the dome turned bright red when the lightning bolt struck and flames burst out the windows from the wooden framework inside. After costly and expensive repairs were performed, the Basilica was re-opened on Sunday, December 11, 1966. The Basilica's exterior was once more washed and renovated in preparation for the parish's centennial anniversary celebration on May 15–16, 1971. From 1991 to 1992 another extensive renovation project resulted in the main dome and towers being covered in metal.Saint Stanislaus Kostka Basilica/St. John Nepomucene parish website
/ref> The seating capacity is now 1085 people, due to numerous renovations over the years. The Basilica was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1984 for having local significance in the theme of architecture. It was nominated for its fine architecture, a prominent manifestation of what was for decades Minnesota's largest
Polish American Polish Americans () are Americans who either have total or partial Polish ancestry, or are citizens of the Republic of Poland. There are an estimated 8.81 million self-identified Polish Americans, representing about 2.67% of the U.S. population, ...
community. The official mass of elevation of the church as a Basilica was September 9, 2012.Christenson, Jerome
Distinction and Honor
Winona Daily News, September 9, 2012
The
tintinnabulum A tintinnabulum (roughly "little bell" in Medieval Latin) is a bell mounted on a pole, placed in a Roman Catholic basilica to signify the church's link with the Pope. It consists of a small gold bell within a golden frame crowned with the papal ...
was rung at that time, but will not ring again until the visit of the pope.


Saint Stanislaus Kostka Parish School

Founded in the early 1880s by Reverend Byzewski, the first Saint Stanislaus Kostka School was a one-room frame building. Classes were taught by the first parish organist, Dominik Hamerski. The school was gradually expanded to six rooms and on September 5, 1887 it was placed in the charge of the
School Sisters of Notre Dame School Sisters of Notre Dame is a worldwide religious institute of Roman Catholic sisters founded in Bavaria in 1833 and devoted to primary, secondary, and post-secondary education. Their life in mission centers on prayer, community life and min ...
. A substantial brick convent was built for the Sisters soon afterward, to the east of the Basilica. By 1903 almost 700 students were enrolled in grades one through six, necessitating a new school to be built immediately south of the Basilica, completed in 1905. In 1966 this school building was demolished and a modern school building built in its place. This modern school building continues to serve Saint Stanislaus Elementary School to this day.


See also

*
List of Catholic basilicas This is a complete list of basilicas of the Catholic Church. A Basilicas in the Catholic Church, basilica is a church with certain privileges conferred on it by the Pope. Not all churches with "basilica" in their title actually have the ecclesia ...
*
List of Catholic churches in the United States A list is a set of discrete items of information collected and set forth in some format for utility, entertainment, or other purposes. A list may be memorialized in any number of ways, including existing only in the mind of the list-maker, but ...
*
National Register of Historic Places listings in Winona County, Minnesota This is a list of the National Register of Historic Places listings in Winona County, Minnesota. It is intended to be a complete list of the properties and districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Winona County, Minnesota, Wino ...


References


External links


The Basilica of St. Stanislaus Kostka
{{National Register of Historic Places in Minnesota Basilica churches in Minnesota Buildings and structures in Winona, Minnesota Churches in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Winona-Rochester Churches in Winona County, Minnesota Kashubian-American history National Register of Historic Places in Winona County, Minnesota Polish-American culture in Minnesota Churches on the National Register of Historic Places in Minnesota Roman Catholic churches completed in 1895 Romanesque Revival church buildings in Minnesota 19th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in the United States Minor basilicas in the United States 1895 establishments in Minnesota