Czerna Carmelite Monastery and Sanctuary of Our Lady of the Scapular

Po polsku: Sanktuarium Matki Bożej Szkaplerznej w Czernej

Did you know that the monks here once enclosed 80 hectares of forest with a wall more than 4 km long? The Discalced Carmelite monastery in Czerna is one of the larger pilgrimage centres in northern Małopolska, the region around Kraków. It stands next to the Kraków Valleys Landscape Park (Dolinki Krakowskie), and it has a scenic Way of the Cross and the Eliaszówka Valley (Dolina Eliaszówki) close by.

History and devotion to Our Lady

The story of the Discalced Carmelite monastery (Karmelici Bosi) in Czerna goes back to the early 17th century. In 1625 Agnieszka Firlejowa, wife of the Kraków voivode (a regional governor), founded an eremus, a hermitage, for the Carmelite fathers. A church soon followed. The whole monastery was under klauzura (enclosure), which meant it was closed to the faithful. The monastery church of St Elijah (kościół św. Eliasza) was consecrated in 1644.

Devotion to Our Lady of the Scapular (Matka Boska Szkaplerzna) grew in the middle of the 19th century, when the enclosure was lifted and the church was opened to visitors. A scapular, in simple terms, is a small devotional cloth worn by Catholics and traditionally linked with the Carmelites. The painting of Our Lady of the Scapular, from the middle of the 18th century, became especially important. The Carmelites spread her cult through scapular services and Rosary devotions.

The cult was helped by two events of the mid-19th century: the pope’s proclamation of the dogma of the Immaculate Conception, and later the news of the apparitions in Lourdes. Devotion to Mary also had a patriotic side. Among those who prayed before the painting were insurgents of the January Uprising (Powstanie Styczniowe). Around the painting, the faithful began to hang wota (votive offerings) as thanks for graces received, such as healings and conversions.

Father Rafał Kalinowski had special merit in the growth of Marian devotion in Czerna. He took part in the January Uprising and later served as prior of the Carmelites at the end of the 19th and the start of the 20th century. Pope John Paul II first beatified him and then canonised him in 1991.

In 1988 the painting of Our Lady of the Scapular was crowned with papal crowns. The sanctuary is also a place of closed retreats for young people.

The monastery in its setting

The monastery is built on a quadrangle plan, with the church in the middle. A cemetery lies next to the buildings.

The complex stands in the Eliaszówka Valley and is surrounded by the Dolina Eliaszówki nature reserve. It sits on the slope of a hill 430 m above sea level, covered with forest. In the woods you can find remains of former monastery buildings.

The whole area covers 80 hectares. It was once enclosed by a wall more than 4 km long and 2.5 m high, and ruins of this wall survive today. Twelve hermit houses were also built, but only four of them left any traces.

One of the hermit houses, called the hermitage of St Agnes, was rebuilt in 1966. The ruins of the Hermit Bridge (Most Pustelniczy), also known as the Devil’s Bridge (Diabelski Most), have survived as well.

On the hillside, the stations of the Way of the Cross were built between 1986 and 1990, with sculptures by Alfred Kotowski.

The well in the monastery courtyard was cut into solid rock between 1644 and 1651. It is 21.5 m deep and 2 m across. Later, a shingle-covered dome supported by eight columns was built over it.

Along the forest paths you will notice hollows in the ground. These mark filled-in mining tunnels where galman (calamine) ore was extracted at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries.

The church

The church of St Elijah is the place of devotion to Our Lady of the Scapular and to St Raphael Kalinowski. It was built on a Latin cross plan in the early Baroque style and is decorated with black Dębnik marble (czarny marmur dębnicki). The altars, floor, candlesticks and the portal leading into the church are made of this stone. The founder of the monastery is buried beneath the floor near the entrance. Two chapels adjoin the church: one of St John of the Cross and one of St Raphael Kalinowski, where his remains are kept.

The main altar holds a painting of St Elijah from 1640. In a side altar hangs the revered 17th-century painting of Our Lady of the Scapular.

In front of the church there is a square with a monument of the prophet Elijah. Next to it is a heart-shaped spring with a sculpture of the raven that, according to the Bible, brought him food.

On the hillside rising in front of the church stands an open-air altar. Above it, since 2005, there is a viewpoint.

Services at the monastery

The most important feast days at the sanctuary are 16 July (the feast of Our Lady of the Scapular) and 20 November (or the first Sunday after that date), the feast of St Raphael Kalinowski.

This is a working place of worship, so please be quiet and respectful, especially during services. My tip: if you plan to walk the forest paths and the Way of the Cross, wear comfortable shoes.

More guides: Kraków & Małopolska in English.

Łukasz, Niezwykła Małopolska