Kościół pw. Świętego Mikołaja z Tolentino
Churches of Kraków
Church (Roman Catholic), Bieżanów-Prokocim district. Date according to Wikidata: 1890. A listed monument (heritage register).
History
The rectorial church of St Nicholas of Tolentino is in the Bieżanów-Prokocim district, on Górników Street. It all began with a building that at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries served as a stable for carriage horses and stood next to Erazm Jerzmanowski's palace. After his death his widow Anna sold the estate to the Augustinian friars. As early as March 1910 the friars decided to convert the building for religious use, and the resulting chapel was blessed on 13 August 1911; it was dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary.
In 1950 the Augustinian order in Poland was dissolved and its property was taken over by the state. The chapel, however, remained at the disposal of the parish of Our Lady of Good Counsel. Catechism rooms were created in it, where pupils from Prokocim and from the new Na Kozłówce estate had religious education lessons. In 1989 the Augustinians recovered their property in Prokocim, and from 1 January 2001 they again celebrated Mass in the chapel. On 10 September 2002 it was blessed as a rectorial church and given a new dedication - to St Nicholas of Tolentino.
The church's patron was an Italian friar of the Augustinian order. He died in 1305 in Tolentino, and in 1446 Pope Eugene IV declared him a saint. The faithful pray to him as the patron of newborn babies.
Did you know?
According to tradition, Nicholas of Tolentino healed the sick by giving them bread known as St Nicholas bread, over which he asked for Mary's blessing. In art he is usually shown with a basket of bread rolls.