Shrine of St. Faustina (Warsaw)

The Shrine of St. Faustina () is a Roman Catholic church located in Warsaw; it is the center of the Divine Mercy and St. Faustina Parish. From 1863 to 1944 the building served as internal chapel within the Sisters of Our Lady of Mercy monastery compound; destroyed during the Warsaw Uprising, it remained a ruin until the early 21st century, when it was brought to the current condition. The church and its immediate surroundings gained nationwide fame in the 1980s; the premises became the hub of independent art, strongly flavored with opposition to the official political regime. Currently the church is known mostly as related to Saint Faustina, who entered the neighboring monastery in 1925.

Conventual chapel

A large plot framed by Żelazna, Żytnia and Wronia streets in the then half-rural part of the Wola district"Niejeden zapewne z czytelników moich nie był na ulicy Żytniej. A przecież to ulica szeroka, długa, niebrukowana, ma parę murowanych domów, kilkanaście drewnianych dworków, i dochodzi do samych wałów miasta", Józef Korzeniowski, Emeryt, [in:] Dzieła, vol. 2, Warszawa 1871, p. 296 [description probably referring to the early 1860s] was purchased by archbishop of Warsaw Zygmunt Szczęsny Feliński from Ksawery PusłowskiKsawery Pusłowski (1806-1874) descended from a noble family, originating from historical Lithuania (now Belarus). He was the first one to purchase large estates in Warsaw and surroundings; his property was e.g. the Królikarnia mansion. He dedicated large part of his wealth to charity. The Warsaw neighbourhood of Ksawerów has been named after him, Rodzina Pusłowskich, [in:] Cieślin service in 1862.Jan Dobraczyński, ,,,byśmy ten Pański dźwignęli świat, Warszawa 1980, p. 61 The same year he transferred Western part of the plot to congregation of Sisters of Our Lady of Mercy,the Eastern part was transferred to Franciscan Sisters of the Family of Mary the order freshly founded in Warsaw with the intention to provide assistance to troubled girls, commonly known as "magdalenki".Warszawa. Miłosierdzia Bożego i św. Faustyny na Muranowie, [in:] Archidiecezja Warszawska service [retrieved 8.December 2018]. The issue is not entirely clear. Another source claims that the Zytnia "magdalenki" were girls warded by another female convent located at Zytnia, Siostry św. Marii Magdaleny od Pokuty, Magdalenki, [in:] Nowa Panorama Literatury Polskiej service Retrieved 8 December 2018. Upon settling at the estate the Sisters adopted an existing wooden manor as a chapel;Hugon Bukowski, Żytnia. Kto o tym pamięta?, [w:] Biuletyn Instytutu Pamięci Narodowej 122-123 (2011), p. 73 it was consecrated on November 1, 1862.1 listopada 2017 – 155. rocznica powstania Zgromadzenia Sióstr Matki Bożej Miłosierdzia, [in:] Miresicors service 01.11 2017 [retrieved 8.December 2018] The task of developing the monastery coincided with outbreak of the January Uprising and ensuing Russian crackdown on perceived foci of rebellion; the measures applied were directed also against the Roman-Catholic Church and religious orders.Artur Górecki, Kościół katolicki w Królestwie Polskim po upadku powstania styczniowego, [in:] Christianistas service 23.01.2018 Retrieved 8 December 2018. The Sisters dodged administrative restrictions by going into semi-clandestine status and the monastery posed as "charity and relief house".Bukowski 2011, p. 73

In 1873 the abbess mother Teresa, in private countess Ewa Potocka,W niedzielę konsekracja kościoła na Żytniej, [in:] Archidiecezja Warszawska service 20.04.2017 Retrieved 8 December 2018., details on Matka Teresa Ewa z książąt Sułkowskich hr. Potocka, [in:] Faustyna service Retrieved 8 December 2018. dedicated her own money to construction of a new chapel. It was designed by Władysław Kosmowski, an architect involved in a number of religious projects in Warsaw.see e.g. Paweł Giergoń, Warszawa – kościół p.w. św. Kazimierza, [in:] Sztuka service Retrieved 8 December 2018. Made of bricks and replacing the previous wooden construction, the new chapel was outlined as a rather modest building. To deceive the Russian administration the small, 8x17m rectangular one-nave building was covered with a flat roof; main entrance was from an internal yard and a small apse, reaching towards the Żytnia street, was camouflaged wrapped within residential premises.Franciszek Mróz, Szlakiem św. s. Faustyny Kowalskiej, [in:] Peregirnus Cracoviensis 9 (2000), p. 29 The interior is described as adhering to a neo-Romanesque style, though there is no photographic evidence remaining.Zofia Sowińska-Bania, Kościół p. wezw. Niepokalanego Poczęcia Najświętszej Maryi Panny w parafii św. Jakuba w Warszawie, [in:] Nasza przeszłość. Studia z dziejów Kościoła i kultury katolickiej w Polsce 64 (1985), p. 190

The chapel kept serving the Sisters of Our Lady of Mercy and their protégés, "fallen and neglected girls",the corrective institution ran by the sisters was well known in Warsaw and made it to one of the most popular novels of Polish literature, Lalka by Bolesław Prus, serialized in the press in the late 1880s; "Nie pójdziesz do żadnego pana, tylko do magdalenek. Albo wracaj na miejsce. — Magdalenki mnie nie wezmą. Trzeba zapłacić dług i mieć poręczenie… — Wszystko będzie załatwione, jeżeli tam pójdziesz". Prus also referred to the institution in his journalistic work, see e.g. "co to są "Magdalenki"? Są to osoby, dla których "nieopatrzny przykład lub namiętność stały się przyczyną upadku" a które cofnęły się z niebezpiecznej drogi do portu położonego przy ulicy Żytniej, gdzie zawsze mają dozór i opiekę, ale, jak mówi hr. St. Al., nie zawsze wiedzą co jutro będą jadły", Bolesław Prus, "Magdalenki" - wyprzedawanie ziemi, [in:] Kurier Codzienny 336 (1897) boarded in a dedicated ward;the internal regime was very strict; "during working hours, which is nearly the whole day", young women "pray loudly or sing"; there were some 200 girls admitted each year, Keely Stauter-Halsted, The Devil's Chain: Prostitution and Social Control in Partitioned Poland, New York 2016, , p. 200 outsiders were admitted only once in a year, on Easter.Hanna Dzielińska, Żytnia. Historia pewnej ulicy, [in:] Temidium 87 (2016), p. 68; the same information in Ilustrowany Przewodnik po Warszawie, Warszawa 1893, s. 169: "kaplica ta otwartą jest dla publiczności tylko raz do roku - na groby" The best-known Polish mystic later to be known as St. Faustina entered the convent in 1925 and lived there on the on-and-off basis until 1933.see e.g. Franciszek Cegiełka, Siostra Faustyna - Szafarka Miłosierdzia Bożego, Warszawa 2003, Grzegorz Górny, Janusz Rosikoń, Ufam. Śladami Siostry Faustyny, Warszawa 2015, There were no major architectural changes registered for 63 years, though it is likely that during this period the interior décor was being systematically adjusted; its main feature was an old copy of Black Madonna of Częstochowa painting."w zakładzie jest kaplica z pięknym obrazem starym N. M. Panny Częstochowskiej w sukience zupełnie naśladującej oryginalną obrazu częstochowskiego", Ilustrowany Przewodnik po Warszawie, Warszawa 1893, s. 169 The building underwent major refurbishment in 1936–1938.until 1939 the compound still served as a corrective institution for minors, operated by the Order but supervised by the official state structures; it was one of 8 juvenile custody centers in the country, Stanisław Lipiński, Historia resocjalizacji nieletnich, [in:] Jacek Błeszyński, Ditta Baczała, Józef Binnebesel (eds.), Historyczne dyskursy nad pedagogiką specjalną, Łódź 2008, , p. 251 The main nave was extended by few meters, an aisle was added along the Western wall, the chancel was slightly broadened and a bell-tower was built next to the South-Western corner of the temple; the chapel turned into a small church and as such is referred to in some sources.Mróz 2000, p. 29

In course of the battle of Warsaw in 1939 the Sisters cared to soldiers wounded in combat.Tomasz Urzykowski, Po przebudowie kościoła żal osmalonych ścian, [in:] Gazeta Wyborcza 23.04.2017 Retrieved 8 December 2018. During the Nazi rule the compound kept serving its original purpose and unlike in case of many other religious orders, the Sisters have not been evicted. Since 1940 the buildings were in immediate vicinity of the Ghetto wall; there are known cases of fleeing Jewish girls either assisted or going into hiding in the monastery.Bukowski 2011, p. 73 On August 2, 1944, during the second day of the Warsaw Uprising, the Sisters admitted into their premises detachments of the Parasol battalion, the insurgent unit which controlled the area; the rebels took part in the afternoon mass in the church.73 lata temu przed rozpoczęciem walk modlił się tam Batalion "Parasol". 2 sierpnia uroczysta Msza św. w intencji Powstańców, [in:] Archidiecezja Warszawska service 25.07.2017 Retrieved 8 December 2018., Agnieszka Kurek-Zajączkowska, W 73. rocznicę Mszy św. Batalionu "Parasol" w kościele na Żytniej zapoczątkowano modlitwę za powstańców, [in:] Gość Warszawski 03.08.2017 Retrieved 8 December 2018.

German troops captured the area on August 9, 1944;Maria Machowska, Virtuti na habitach, Warszawa 2005, , p. 32 none of the sources consulted clarifies whether the chapel or the monastery was damaged during combat.some claim that there were underground sewage transport routes from the chapel to other insurgent defense strongholds, though no evidence has been provided, J. Rostworowski, Spotkanie z historykiem sztuki [in:] Dialog Kościoła z kulturą, Kraków 1986, p. 79 The Nazis evicted all Sistersaccording to other sources „most sisters" were evicted, Kościół na Żytniej. Tu się wszystko zaczęło, [in:] Stacja7 service Retrieved 8 December 2018. and their 200 protégés, herding them towards a concentration camp; one nun was shot at the spot for refusing to leave.Bukowski 2011, p. 73 Soon afterwards the entire compound was purposely burnt down by the Germans. The church lost all wooden and metal equipment, including interior and the roof; what was left was charred, partially damaged walls.compare Google Earth layer of December 1945

Ruin

After the war, and for several decades, the compound remained a fenced moonscape, hosting ruins, half-demolished houses, and provisional wooden structures. Some of the buildings were subject to further destruction as bricks and other construction materials were pilfered by city residents trying to rebuild around it. Once the Sisters of Our Lady of Mercy managed to re-claim the plot, they focused conservation efforts on the main convent building and the ward. The authorities refused to grant the building permit needed to commence reconstruction of the church;W niedzielę konsekracja kościoła na Żytniej, [in:] Archidiecezja Warszawska service 20.04.2017 Retrieved 8 December 2018. for their own needs the Sisters arranged for one of the larger rooms in the neighboring convent house to serve as a chapel.Remigiusz Malinowski, Żytnią do nieba, [in:] Niedziela 17 (2006) Retrieved 8 December 2018. Over time the site, including the church ruins, became overgrown with self-sown trees, their branches gradually reaching over the roofless walls.Bóg go ocalił jako znak, [in:] Gazeta Wesoła s.a. Retrieved 8 December 2018. Until the early 1970s, the dilapidated ruins were the only pre-war Warsaw temple which had not been restored. The compound and surrounding quarter stood out among neighboring sections, developed with large condo-type residential buildings.W niedzielę konsekracja kościoła na Żytniej, [in:] Archidiecezja Warszawska service 20.04.2017 Retrieved 8 December 2018.