Lagiewniki - Churches, museum and cemetery

The main church at Lagiewniki, called Sanktuarium Bozego Milosierdzia, is a huge attraction for pilgrims throughout the whole year. It is associated with 2 very important people in Poland - Saint Faustyna and Pope John Paul II (who will soon become a saint too). The pope embraced Faustyna's idea of being merciful to others (in Polish "Milosierdzie"=mercy). Faustyna had a vision of Christ with rays of light pouring out of his heart and the words "Jesus, I have trust in you". This "cult" of Faustyna is key to this church. Here is a sign in the lower level of the church. You can see Faustyna, Christ and the former pope.

The church itself has a modern design and has a separate tower from where you have fantastic views of Cracow if the weather cooperates.

I do not have any pictures of the inside of the sanctuary since it is forbidden to take photos. There is a sculpture of a tree with waving branches on the wall behind the altar. Also there is a big globe that houses the sacramental vessels. 

I attended mass at noon, quite unexpectedly. I was taking pictures of the outside when I saw a flurry of priests entering the church. I followed them. You can see them all lined up in the background.

It must have been some special occasion to have all those priests there (and a bishop). The mass was 1 1/2 hours! 

I took the elevator up to the vantage point of the tower. The view from up top was great today. There were maps with pictures so you could identify what you were seeing. Wawel Castle stood out.  It is in the background on this photo (behind the tall apartments).

On the front of the tower is a statue of Pope John Paul II. Here is a view of him from behind as I was descending the stairs of the tower. In the background (red brick buildings) is the cloister.

Under this main church are many small chapels. No photos allowed, so no pics here. There was a chapel with Saint Faustyna's picture, as well as other chapels funded by Hungarians and Italians.

Note - this is a free bathroom on this lower level near those chapels. 

There is a cemetery on the grounds where many nuns were buried. The graves are simple. Some are from the early 20th century (on the left).

Here is a view of the cemetery from the tower.

Saint Faustyna's grave used to be here. There is still a place in this cemetery where she is remembered. It is the large slab in the far corner. You can see it in both pictures above. Now her tomb is in a chapel around the corner from the cloister. It is a small chapel. No photos allowed. To the left side of the main altar is a smaller altar with a picture of Jesus with the light rays and to his left a picture of Saint Faustyna. To his right are relics of Faustyna. Here is a picture of a picture...

I was not able to see up close very well, but I did see people constantly going up to the railing and kissing a relic of Saint Faustyna. Must be a Catholic thing to do. It is quite foreign to us Protestants!

The Centrum Jana Pawla II (John Paul II Center) was just opened a month ago. It is in an area to the right of the main church.  You can see there are a lot of steps to climb to get to a park that is in front of the Center.

The main complex currently includes a museum about John Paul II (on the left), the John Paul II Church (in the middle) and a building with a cafe (on the right). As you can see, they are still working on a new building (where the fence is on the left).

The museum (on the left) is very similar to the Archdiocese Museum in downtown Cracow. There are papal vestments, a mock up of his bedroom at the Archbishop's residence (Franciszkana street #3) and gifts from all over the world. I am wondering about the legality and value of gifts from Africa made of ivory. There were many and some were big. I noticed that some were donated as late as 1998. 

On walls were contemporary paintings of the pope.

In the middle of the photo is the church dedicated to John Paul II. On the main floor is a sanctuary with a huge mosaic behind the altar and others higher up on the wall encircling the sanctuary.

The real treasure is found a floor below. There is another sanctuary in form of a rotunda. The altar is in the middle. Benches encircle it. On the wall are large paintings.

In the circular corridor surrounding this room are many mini chapels for worship and reflection. One had a painting of the black Madonna with child (famously found in a church in Czestochowa). The most unusual chapel was dedicated to Saint Kinga, the same saint who was honored in the chapel at Wieliczka salt mines. This chapel is a smaller version of the one in Wieliczka. You can see in this photo a statue of Kinga, chandeliers and engraved pictures on the walls - all of which are made with salt.

Here is more of a close up of the engravings.

Another unusual chapel contained a sculpture of an open bible with a relic of John Paul II (a drop of his blood!). Again there was a long line to go up and kiss it. It was not appropriate to take a picture as you can imagine. 

A lot has changed at Lagiewniki since I have been there last (over 8 years ago). There will be more additions in the coming years. I highly recommend a visit here on a sunny day!