Lumen 2018

as Podgrodii , i.e., Podgrodzie. 11 In the records of the Piarist Fathers from the years 1662-1666, we see the names: Podgrodensis and Pod- grodiensis . 12 Sometimes the name Podgrodia Sandecensis can be found because Papczynski’s native village was located near Sacz (today Stary Sacz). 13 It is also possible to come across a statement that Fr. Papczynski was born in Podguriae in oppido Sandec 14 or in oppido Sandecz . 15 The Catholic faith reached this region early, for it was already dur- ing the reign of King Boleslaus Chrobry (992-1025). The poor folk sought solace in religion and in the protection of the rich and adhered to the traditional Catholic religion — simple and free from any hypocrisy. While other tribes resisted evangelization, Podegrodzie had its own church already in 1014, and the local parish is the oldest in the Sandetian Valley. The first church was made of wood. The part of the settlement around the church was initially called “the settle- ment by the church,” then a castle [”grod” — EStJ], and finally Podegrodzie Koscielne. 16 The year 1448 was a turning point in the history of Podegrodzie. It was then that Zbigniew Olesnicki (1430-1493), the Bishop of Cracow, raised the parish of St. Margaret in Nowy Sacz to the rank of a collegiate church, created the Sandetian Archdiaconate, and as- signed the parish in Podegrodzie as part of its endowment. With that date, the local parish ceased to be an independent unit. Each archdeacon of Nowy Sacz automatically became its pastor. However, the chapter did keep its own assistant pastor 17 at the church in Pode- grodzie. It was only in 1791 that Podegrodzie regained the status of a parish. 18 According to John Dlugosz’s chronicle, the parish of Podegrodzie numbered 23 villages. Later, in the years of 1596-1618, that number grew to 44. 19 An entry in the record of baptisms in Podegrodzie, dated 1710, demonstrates how solemnly the sacred rites were once celebrated here. The best students of the local school, the organist, the cantors, the musicians, the liturgical servants — all participated in them. The author of this entry also recalls an epi- demic, which raged in the Sandetian Valley at that time, and the great 45 Stanislaus Papczynski’s Childhood and Youth