Parish of the Assumption of the Holy Virgin Mary in Przyłęki – Historical Outline
The 100-year-long history of our shrine dates back to 1915-1916, when Father Edward Becker, head of the oldest church in Bydgoszcz, had a chapel constructed in Przyłęki, which soon became the focus of religious life in our area. Despite certain misinterpretations attributing the origins of our church to an Evangelical community, Fr Becker was actually a Catholic priest.
In January 1920, after Bydgoszcz was incorporated into the revived Republic of Poland, a need emerged to divide the vast parish of Bydgoszcz with almost 80,000 people and erect local filial shrines into parish churches. The same year bore witness to the establishment of four pastoral care districts and two deaneries. The chapel in Przyłęki, part of Szwederowo district, was headed by Canon Father Jan Konopczyński, who later served as parish priest of the Church of Our Lady of Perpetual Help in Bydgoszcz.
On 10 April 1924, Cardinal Edmund Dalbor published a decree dividing Bydgoszcz parish into five new territorial entities. Those included the Parish of the Assumption of the Holy Virgin Mary in Brzoza-Przyłęki, which encompassed Brzoza with a community on Lake Jezuickie, Ciele, Emilianowo, Łażyn, Piecki, Prądki, Przyłęki, Stryszek and Zielonka; as well as areas hitherto part of Łabiszyn parish: Kobylarnia, Olimpin, Antoniewo, Smolno and Wałownica.
The first administrator of the chapel in Przyłęki was Fr Stanisław Budrys, who assumed office in 1924 and worked here until 1927; he was then replaced by Fr Feliks Kaszuba, who actively provided pastoral care and established among others a local branch of the Living Rosary Association and a church choir. In 1933, management was entrusted to Fr Franciszek Ksawery Laczkowski, who from early days took efforts to expand the small chapel with a view to accommodating an increasing number of the faithful. Following advice from local authorities, Fr Laczkowski decided to build a church in Brzoza which, besides serving God and helping people reach salvation, provided a bastion for Polish culture in the process of restoring Polish national identity in the area. The outstanding priest witnessed the establishment and further dedication of Brzoza parish church in 1937-1938 as well as the inauguration of a filial church in Przyłęki in 1937. Two years later, in October 1939, Fr Franciszek Ksawery Laczkowski was arrested by Germans and executed in the Death Valley of Fordon.
During World War II, the shrine in Przyłęki at first served as a place of worship for Polish people, but was soon closed by the German occupying authorities.
In 1945-1946, pastoral care in Brzoza-Przyłęki parish was provided by Fr Jan Jarocki, who came here every Sunday from Nowa Wieś Wielka, and by its subsequent administrator Fr Edward Kaczyński. On 15 February 1947, Fr Stanisław Mocny (formerly an assistant priest in the Holy Trinity Church in Bydgoszcz) assumed the office of pastor in Przyłęki while simultaneously taking care of the Parish of Our Lady of Sorrows in Ciele until 1963. He continued his pastoral service for 38 years until 1985. Two subsequent heads of Brzoza-Przyłęki parish were Fr Ryszard Kiełczewski and Fr Jan Graczyk. From June 1989 parochial duties were performed for many years by Fr Bogusław Kűhn, now retired and resident in the Parish of Our Lady of the Gate of Dawn in Bydgoszcz.
A turning point in the history of Przyłęki parish was 7 October 2009, which coincided with the Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary in the Year for Priests under the patronage of St John Mary Vianney. On that day, Bishop Jan Tyrawa, the then head of Bydgoszcz Diocese, issued a decree to establish a new parish dedicated to the Assumption of the Holy Virgin Mary, thus satisfying requests from local residents who had been gathering in the small chapel in Przyłęki. The new entity had a population of about 1,000 and encompassed – apart from Przyłęki – Stary Olimpin, Nowe Dąbie and part of Zielonka. At the same time, the task to organize religious life in the new parish was entrusted to Fr Zdzisław Lahutta, who had previously provided pastoral service in the Church of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus in Bydgoszcz. It did not take him much time to win the hearts of local residents through his profound engagement in pastoral care as well as numerous renovation projects in the chapel grounds and two small graveyards in the vicinity.
Construction of the local clergy house, which took a total of 15 months, commenced on 12 May 2011 with a foundation blessing ceremony headed by the diocesan bishop. On exactly 4 August 2012 – the feast day of St John Mary Vianney, the patron saint of parish priests – Fr Zdzisław Lahutta could leave the house he had been renting from the Gadaszewski family and move into the new building, which is under the patronage of St John Paul II. The pope’s idea that “a man is great not because of what he possesses, but because of who he is; not because of what he has, but because of what he shares with others,” has always provided inspiration for all the activities within the parish, including its construction projects, while the unifying motto “Together we can accomplish more” helps strengthen spiritual devotion, worship and sacramental life.
A new institution named Kościół Naszym Domem (The Church is Our Home) soon launched operations here. Along with the Parish Financial Council and active local parishioners, the association established a committee tasked with expansion of the shrine in Przyłęki through a 10-stage construction project, which was carried out enthusiastically and effectively.
The expansion process commenced on 27 April 2014, an anniversary of the canonization of Pope John Paul II. Designed by the KONSBUD company, the project combined tradition with a modern approach. An asymmetrical nave and presbytery were added to the existing building. The interior arches point to the heavenly ceiling and help us contemplate the Assumed Mary. The heating system in the floor maintains a steady temperature of 16 to 18 degrees Celsius inside the shrine even in winter time.
In the 100th Anniversary Jubilee of the Apparition of Our Lady of Fatima, the parish commissioned a series of unique images depicting the Way of the Cross, which – besides performing liturgical functions – symbolically link the old and new sections of the church. After a blessing ceremony, two paintings of St Joseph and St John Mary Vianney, both by Piotr Badziąg, were displayed on side walls. Beneath we can see two glass time capsules: one has documents and pictures related to the original chapel building; the other contains memorabilia connected with the present-day church expansion, including stones from the Church of the Primacy of St Peter and the Holy Sepulchre Basilica collected during the parish pilgrimage to the Holy Land.
Another major challenge for the entire parish was the erection of a 23-metre-high tower, which architecturally complemented the church building. Topped with a roof and a 2.5-metre-tall cross, the tower houses a bell made by the Felczyński Foundry from Przemyśl under commission from the Church Expansion Committee. It was blessed during the Feast of the Assumption of the Holy Virgin Mary in 2017 and dedicated to St Rita of Cascia. Like the tower, the vertical character of which symbolically points to the goal of our earthly pilgrimage, St Rita of Cascia – the patroness of hopeless causes – whose motto is demonstrated in the bell inscription, continues to remind us that if we have faith in God, nothing is impossible.
During the difficult pandemic period, the church received three large stained glass windows forming a Triptych on God’s Mercy: the Creation, Incarnation and Redemption. In late 2021 and early 2022, an impressive entrance gate appeared in the church grounds; its shape resembles the architecture of the southern section of the shrine. Officially blessed on 10 May 2022 by Krzysztof Włodarczyk, Bishop of the Diocese of Bydgoszcz, the structure provides a visible sign of the invisible gate leading to the Kingdom of God. The grounds have recently-added clinker walls decorated with wrought-iron lilies.
In years to come, we intend to adorn our church with stained glass windows symbolically presenting the seven sacraments in the new part of the shrine and the twelve apostles in its historical section. If the Lord wills and local parishioners continue to demonstrate an enthusiastic approach to our plans, we wish to embellish the presbytery with a mosaic similar to that in the Basilica of the Transfiguration on Mount Tabor.
Finally, particularly noteworthy is the idea often quoted by Fr Lahutta that “the church is not only a house made of stones and gold, but the living and genuine Church is a community of hearts.” Therefore, the Church means all of us gathered around Christ in a parish community animated by the Holy Spirit and engaged in numerous devotional and apostolic activities within:
1) Women’s and Men’s Sections of the Living Rosary Association,
2) Altar Service Ministry,
3) Two communities of the Daisy Movement,
4) Kościół Naszym Domem (The Church is Our Home) Association,
5) Parish Financial Council,
6) Church Expansion Committee,
7) Parish Caritas Group,
8) Nutki Niepokalanej Children’s Choir along with Youth Church Ensemble
9) boys and girls scout teams,
10) School Caritas Branch, which links the parish and the nearby Fr Jan Twardowski Primary School through friendly cooperation
11) Revived Assumpta – Wniebowzięta Adult Community Choir
The brief historical outline of a growing religious community clearly demonstrates that even a small parish cultivating hard work and dedication can reach outstanding results if it has complete trust in God’s Providence.