Kościół pw. Matki Bożej Nieustającej Pomocy (ul. Mariana Hemara)
Churches of Kraków
Church (Roman Catholic), Bronowice district.
History
The Church of Our Lady of Perpetual Help stands in Mydlniki, on Hemara Street. The story of pastoral care here begins in 1913, when the first chapel was set up in a former inn. The first Mass was celebrated there on 15 August 1914. During the First World War the chapel was looked after by missionaries from Czarna Wieś, between the wars by clergy from St Stephen's parish, and from 1939 by Capuchins from Olszanica.
The parish was established in 1951, and the chapel was moved to the former 19th-century Stelmach manor house. In 1952 the manor was thoroughly renovated and adapted for the liturgy. Work on the foundations of a new church began in 1966 but progressed very slowly. Main construction started on 1 January 1975, and on 12 May that year the foundations were blessed by the Metropolitan of Kraków, Cardinal Karol Wojtyła. The roof went up in 1977, and in 1980 the altarpiece was blessed. The unfinished main nave was blessed in December 1980 by Cardinal Franciszek Macharski, and from then on regular services were held here. The consecration took place on 17 June 2001, on the 50th anniversary of the parish's foundation.
The church draws on Neoclassicism. It is a single-nave masonry building with a transept, and a tower rises where the nave and transept cross. The main altar holds a copy of the image of Our Lady of Perpetual Help painted by Leopold Kubica. The stained-glass windows are by K. Szczekan. Beside the church stands a bell tower from 1987 with three bells, and beneath the church are the grotto of St Mary Magdalene and the Chapel of the Merciful Christ. Wooden Stations of the Cross have been placed in the surrounding park.
Did you know?
Within the parish, on Balicka Street, stands a Baroque column with a statue of the Virgin Mary from the end of the 18th century. According to a tradition not confirmed by sources, the column was originally a pillory on the Main Market Square in Kraków.