59 Apostolate or Contemplation: 1677-1723 Mary, on what was called Zion. However, a change took place following the agreement between the concerned parties, and with the bishop’s consent, the Dominican Sisters went to the House of Mary, while the Dominicans settled in the monastery of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary in the city center; and in November 1677 the Marians took over the poorest church of the Cenacle, located in the marshy area. The foundation act is dated November 22, 1677.14 In Casimir Wyszyński’s opinion, based on witnesses’ testimony, Fr. Papczyński had an opportunity to choose other, better sites in Góra. Still, he chose the Cenacle because “this holy place in Jerusalem was closely related to the life of Mary, who remained in the Cenacle in the Holy Land after the death of Christ the Lord, and she fell asleep there.”15 The monastery came with a meager, swampy piece of land. The founding act lists various assets included in this donation: “We generously assign, give and donate to the Clerics mentioned above [Marians] the Church of the Lord’s Last Supper along with a lake, extending behind the Cenacle to the Holy Cross Mountain [...], with pieces of land around and near the lake, also the serfs, the farm and the forest, along with all the buildings and the gardens located there.”16 It was a less-than-modest foundation situated amidst marshes, about 1.5 km from the city. This was also why the Dominicans and the Dominican nuns did not accept it. The incomprehensible location in such an unfavorable place resulted from the overall plans, according to which New Jerusalem, intended to be a faithful copy of Jerusalem in the Holy Land, was designed. When planning the sanctuary layout, they relied on a reconstruction of the Holy City from the time of Christ by the Dutch scholar Christian Kruik van Adrichem. The reconstruction included detailed descriptions of sacred places, chapels, stations, and pathways and specified exact distances between them. When founding New Jerusalem, Bishop Wierzbowski tried to closely adhere to the descriptions, dimensions, and spaces provided in the above work, even though they weren’t entirely reliable. This explains why the Cenacle was placed in that particular location. 14 Positio, Papczyński, pp. 378-382; see: T. Rogalewski, Stanisław Papczyński, pp. 226-227. 15 Positio, Papczyński, s. 379; Wyszyński, Stróż, s. 108-109. 16 Jan Bukowicz [Ed.], Dokumenty mariańskie XVII i XVIII wieku, P. 164, Puszcza Mariańska 2004, pp. 86-87.
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