“The Rise of Catholicism in South-Eastern Europe (told through the history of its 800-year old Parish, St. Stanislaus Bishop and Martyr, Dobrzechów, Poland,” by Reverend Ludwig Grzebień, S.J.
The book tells the story of the parish’s founding in 1185 AD by a group of Cistercian monks from France. The Catholic faith was planted and grew in a tiny village of uneducated peasants and then served as the “mother” parish that gave birth to many others.
Although only 80 pages in length, the book tells of the contributions of lords and peasants to the parish, both monetarily and through the labors of strong hands who, over many centuries, built and improved on the buildings and programs. One could sense the anger and tears as, over the years, occupying powers carried of many of their hard-earned treasures… yet they persevered and carried on.
An Outline of the History of Kożuchów, by Tadeusz Szetela.
A vivid description of the lives of peasant families permitted to live and farm a tiny portion of. a noble’s estate in return for farm goods and labor. Legally abolished in 1848 in the Austrian controlled sector of southern Poland, this archaic system hung on in some areas for another half-century, a period beset by disease, poverty and malnutrition. In order to survive, peasants relied on faith, family and a spirit of hard work and cooperation and in time, they were able to purchase the properties that their ancestors had farmed as tenants for generations. Freed and ambitious, they provided educational opportunities for their children and brought centralized water, electricity and natural gas to their farms. Many were helped in all this by the generosity of family members who has emigrated to America and sent back funds to liberate their loved ones.
“Under the Protection of Mother and Queen, the History of the Parish in Mędrzechów, Poland” was written by Zygmund Zimowski who was born in the neighboring village of Kupienin and who went on to become Bishop of Radom and Vatican Archbishop and President of the Pontifical Council for the Pastoral Care of Health Care Workers.
In the 20th century, Poland was rarely free from foreign occupation, wars and natural disasters … people survived only because of an inherited and cherished spirit of faith, family and mutual support. Most importantly, they held together and were strengthened by a deep devotion to Mary, the Mother of God, whose miraculous intervention spared the villages of Mędrzechów and Kupienin from devastation of wartime conflict between Germany and Russia in the last years of the Second World War
The book contains insights into how devotion to the Blessed Mother was called upon for strength and guidance in homilies and speeches by Catholic prelatemost notably by Stefan Cardinal Wyszyński and Karol Wojtyła as Bishop, Cardinal and Pope John Paul II.
Poland's Peasant Heritage 