Lumen 2018

S TANISLAUS P APCZYNSKI 294 were to support themselves from commerce and handicraft. 160 The bishop’s foundation under the name of Nowa Jerozolima was ap- proved by the Polish Diet in 1673 and by Primate Czartoryski on April 4, 1674. As has been mentioned above, Bishop Wierzbowski invited vari- ous religious congregations to Nowa Jerozolima and entrusted the local churches and chapels to their care. In 1671, the Oratorians took possession of the stone Church of the Holy Cross, along with the parish. But they had to leave as early as1683 due to lack of vocations. The bishop entrusted this post to the care of the Priests of Com- munion, 161 who were brought here from Bavaria. The Priests of Communion ran a seminary for six alumni and a house for the eld- erly. With the passing of time, the buildings of the church and the monastery were destroyed. They were abandoned in 1791 and taken down in 1797. There is a cemetery at this spot today, enlarged at the beginning of the 19th century. 162 The Franciscan Friars of the Regular Observance, in Poland called the Bernardines, received the wooden parish Church of the Annun- ciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, rebuilt by the bishop, together with a small stone monastery. They were solemnly led into the church on Palm Sunday 1670. In 1679, the bishop changed the title of the church to that of the Dedication of the Blessed Virgin Mary. In the years 1756-1760, a new Baroque church (under the same title as the original one) was built right next to it. It was founded by the Marshal of Poland, Francis Bielinski (1683-1766), and built accord- ing to a design of an Italian architect, Jacob Fontana (1710-1773). Above the side altars, there are paintings by Simon Czechowicz (1698-1775). The monastery was expanded in the years 1760-1766, and the Bernardines remained there until the cassation in 1864. Around 1879, the church was given the title of the Immaculate Con- ception — after the seat of the parish was moved here from the church at Gorka. The church is home to the miraculous icon of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Gora, the Gracious Mother of Consolation, dating back to the beginning of the 17th century. In the 18th cen-