Lumen 2018

1649, a church under the name of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary stood there. In 1657, the village and the church were destroyed by the Cossacks and the Hungarians led by George II Rakoczy, an ally to the King of Sweden, Charles X Gustavus. The pestilence did the rest. In 1666, Stephen Wierzbowski, the Bishop of Poznan, purchased the ravaged Gora and the adjoining properties — in part from brothers Nicholas and Constantine Gorski and in part from Anne Niemierzyna (nee Cieciszewska). 153 On February 26, 1670, he obtained the municipal rights for his new foundation from King Michael Korybut Wisniowiecki. The king gave the town the laws of Magdeburg and allowed the merchants and artisans to settle there. He also allowed a town hall and shopping stalls to be built. He permitted the use of a seal with an image of a cross for of- ficial business. He gave Nowa Jerozolima the right to organize fairs and exempted it from various fees and services for fifty years. In the years 1676 and 1680, King Michael’s successor, John III Sobieski, expanded the existing privileges and endowed Nowa Jerozolima with all the privileges enjoyed by the royal cities. 154 When Bishop Wierzbowski began to invite various religious orders to the city, he also turned his attention to the Marians. Father Pa- pczynski gladly responded to the bishop’s invitation and, on April 30, 1677, took possession of the Chapel of St. Martin in Nowa Jero- zolima (60 kilometers away from the Korabiew Forest) on behalf of his Congregation, the chapel which he had earlier received from Kra- jewski as procurator of the Congregation. 155 Soon, at Bishop Wierzbowski’s request, he moved there himself. Bishop Wierzbowski decided to transform his foundation after the model of Kalwaria Zebrzydowska near Cracow, so that the region of Mazovia would also have its own Calvary. He obtained a map of Jerusalem and, using it as a guide, he built churches and chapels which were Stations of the Cross at the same time. The floor plans and di- mensions of the buildings were the same as those of their counterparts in the Holy Land. 156 The name of “Nowa Jerozolima” did not be- come generally accepted and, in practice, the name of “Gora,” later S TANISLAUS P APCZYNSKI 292