Temple of Mercy and Charity
Encyclopedia
Mariavite Church
The Mariavite Church is an independent Christian church that emerged from the Catholic Church of Poland at the turn of the 20th century. Initially, it was an internal movement leading to a reform of the Polish clergy. After a conflict with Polish bishops, it became a separate and independent...
cathedral
Cathedral
A cathedral is a Christian church that contains the seat of a bishop...
in Płock in central Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
. It is located near the Vistula River.
Significance
The Temple is the religious center of the Mariavite ChurchMariavite Church
The Mariavite Church is an independent Christian church that emerged from the Catholic Church of Poland at the turn of the 20th century. Initially, it was an internal movement leading to a reform of the Polish clergy. After a conflict with Polish bishops, it became a separate and independent...
and contains the tomb of its founder Feliksa Kozłowska, as well as a memorial plaque commemorating its first leader Jan Maria Michał Kowalski
Jan Maria Michał Kowalski
Jan Maria Michał Kowalski was the first Minister Generalis of the order of the Mariavites. At the time of his selection, he was the most important person in this Christian movement. He was consecrated Bishop in 1909 by the Utrecht Union Old Catholic Archbishop Gerardus Gul...
. It is also the focus of pilgrimages by followers of the Mariavite Church. The main religious celebration occurs on August 15th, the date of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary
Assumption of the Virgin Mary
Many significant works of art depict the Assumption of the Virgin Mary. They include:* Assumption of the Virgin by Francesco Botticini* Assumption of the Virgin by Titian* Assumption of the Virgin by Antonio da Correggio...
, which also coincides with the consecration of the church.
History
The church was built on the site of a small manorManor house
A manor house is a country house that historically formed the administrative centre of a manor, the lowest unit of territorial organisation in the feudal system in Europe. The term is applied to country houses that belonged to the gentry and other grand stately homes...
with two annexes that was purchased in 1902 by the sect's founder Feliksa Kozłowska. The temple's construction took place from 1911 to 1914 and was financed chiefly from collections of the Mariavite community.
Architecture
The Temple was designed in the architectural stylings of the English Neogothic, according to instructions from the sect's founder Feliksa Kozłowska through Bishop Jan Maria Michał KowalskiJan Maria Michał Kowalski
Jan Maria Michał Kowalski was the first Minister Generalis of the order of the Mariavites. At the time of his selection, he was the most important person in this Christian movement. He was consecrated Bishop in 1909 by the Utrecht Union Old Catholic Archbishop Gerardus Gul...
. Technical aspects of the plan were corrected by two other Mariavite priests, Wacław Przysiecki and Feliks Szymanowski.
The church itself is built on an E- shaped plan to symbolize the word Eucharist
Eucharist
The Eucharist , also called Holy Communion, the Sacrament of the Altar, the Blessed Sacrament, the Lord's Supper, and other names, is a Christian sacrament or ordinance...
. Perched on top of the main dome is a gigantic monstrance
Monstrance
A monstrance is the vessel used in the Roman Catholic, Old Catholic, and Anglican churches to display the consecrated Eucharistic host, during Eucharistic adoration or Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament. Created in the medieval period for the public display of relics, the monstrance today is...
adored by four angels, each measuring almost 4 feet in height. The following phrase can be read underneath: "Adorujmy Chrystusa Króla panującego nad narodami", which translates into English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
as "Let us adore Christ the King
Christ the King
Christ the King is a title of Jesus based on several passages of Scripture. It is used by most Christians. The Roman Catholic Church, together with many Protestant denominations, including the Anglican Churches, Presbyterians, Lutherans and Methodists, celebrate the Feast of Christ the King on the...
reigning over all nations". Atop each of its characteristic three towers are crowns, with three on the central tower as well as one on each of the side ones.
The exterior is gray in color, whereas the interior is done in shades of white. The interior is bare of any excessive ornament
Ornament (architecture)
In architecture and decorative art, ornament is a decoration used to embellish parts of a building or object. Large figurative elements such as monumental sculpture and their equivalents in decorative art are excluded from the term; most ornament does not include human figures, and if present they...
as well as the absence of any side altars. The focus of the building is to direct attention solely towards the main altar located in the central part of the temple
Temple
A temple is a structure reserved for religious or spiritual activities, such as prayer and sacrifice, or analogous rites. A templum constituted a sacred precinct as defined by a priest, or augur. It has the same root as the word "template," a plan in preparation of the building that was marked out...
. A gilded baldaquin resting on atop four pillars. A papal tiara
Papal Tiara
The Papal Tiara, also known incorrectly as the Triple Tiara, or in Latin as the Triregnum, in Italian as the Triregno and as the Trirègne in French, is the three-tiered jewelled papal crown, supposedly of Byzantine and Persian origin, that is a prominent symbol of the papacy...
as well as the Keys of St. Peter are fixed on the baldaquin's front face, to symbolize that for the Mariavite Church
Mariavite Church
The Mariavite Church is an independent Christian church that emerged from the Catholic Church of Poland at the turn of the 20th century. Initially, it was an internal movement leading to a reform of the Polish clergy. After a conflict with Polish bishops, it became a separate and independent...
the highest authority is to be found in Jesus, present in the church through their fervent devotion to Eucharistic Adoration
Eucharistic adoration
Eucharistic adoration is a practice in the Roman Catholic Church, and in a few Anglican and Lutheran churches, in which the Blessed Sacrament is exposed to and adored by the faithful....
. Alongside the altar are located Gothic
Gothic art
Gothic art was a Medieval art movement that developed in France out of Romanesque art in the mid-12th century, led by the concurrent development of Gothic architecture. It spread to all of Western Europe, but took over art more completely north of the Alps, never quite effacing more classical...
stalls where Mariavite clergy will be seated during religious celebrations. The doors, pews and floors of the Temple of Mercy and Charity are all carved from oak
Oak
An oak is a tree or shrub in the genus Quercus , of which about 600 species exist. "Oak" may also appear in the names of species in related genera, notably Lithocarpus...
wood.
In addition to the body of Feliksa Kozłowska, the underground of the Temple also houses the crypts of important bishops of the Mariavite Church.