A few years have passed since I stopped in Wadowice to go sightseeing. A lot has changed, above all my beliefs. I have abandoned my modernist credo in favour of traditionalist. Because of that I began to perceive the wadowicean reality in completely different way. The lion's share of the reality is of course John Paul II, who is for the town a real vain of gold. There are famous papal fondants, souvenirs, museums... It is strange that Wadowice has not become the most wealthy commune in Poland yet. The most significant place for all admirers of the pope is of course the church , in which Karol Wojtyła was baptised. It was this place, where I was astonished the most.
The minor basilica of the Offering of the Blessed Virgin Mary, in the current look, was erected in the end of XVIII century in the late-baroque style, firstly dedicated to all Saints. Once it surely was a beatiful church, but today... Today it is different. Like in every catholic place of worship built before the revolution of 1962 AD besides the main altar, there is a table on which the New Mass is celebrated. It is, however, the tiniest fault. The bigger one is polychromy. In the beginning I have not drawn attention to it, thinking it presents byblical scenes, which may be found practically in every church. And it does, but after taking the second look at ornaments, I saw that the scenes describe the titles of the encyclicals of JP2, which are written at the edge of each fresco! in that, named Laborem exercens - about human work, we may see citizens of a village devoted to their duties; in the other, Dives in misericordia - about God's mercy there is an episode from Gospel painted, where Jesus saves an adulteress from stoning. So, the whole church is a monument created to honour a man, not God. The most dreadful place and also "the spiritual centre" of the monument is the chapel of blessed John Paul II. At the wall there is a decent altar with a painting and relics, which is however deformed by a carving, standing next to it. It was to present the blessed Wojtyła, but chisel had to went out of the "artist's" control, because the wooden pope absolutely does not resemble the original one (vodka does good only for a strong head, as Zagłoba, hero of Sienkiewicz's Trilogy, used to say). Moreover, someone decided to create in the chapel the second Vatican and put wooden stairs on the right side leading under the ceiling, where maybe new papal apartments will be built (dummies of Swiss guardsmen are already there). The whole chapel is presented in extraordinary grotesque way.
Yet, I would not be honest to me and each of You, if I did not appreciate few undoubtedly catholic elements of the basilica. The one I liked the most was the altar in the right aisle, where in the place of tabernacle relics of four saints were put: fr. Pio, fr. Kolbe, Simon of Lipnica and Stanislaus Casimirus. Before the altar on the one of the first pews another reliquary with the relics of st. fr. Pio was placed to kiss. Another mainstay of catholicism in the church is a painting of the Blessed Mary, Mother of Perpetual Aid, the Mother of dwelllers of Wadowice, hanged in a chapel.
To conclude I publish a few photos:
The nave.
Something above one of entrances.
The altar with the relics of four saints.
Reliquaries.
The reliquary of st. fr. Pio.
The painting of Mary, Mother of Perpetual Aid.
P.S. In connection with the recent vogue to create prophecies, usually bound with the date of the end of the world, during the trip I thought up my own, namely:
Modernism in the Catholic Church shall end when the chapel of the Brotherhood of Saint Pius X will be erected in Wadowice. Amen.
P.S. In connection with the recent vogue to create prophecies, usually bound with the date of the end of the world, during the trip I thought up my own, namely:
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