A few kilometres from Krakow
The ancient compound, dating back to 1210, is home to a community of cloister nuns. But the building is decrepit and it requires expensive renovation work. The women religious are working day and night to raise the much-needed funds, growing flowers and vegetables, fishing in the nearby pond, raising chickens and producing jams. But their efforts are not enough, and the winter cold is growing unbearable. The Superior, Mother Stefania Polkowska counts on the generosity of the faithful and on the support of public authorities
By the end of the year fourteen Benedictine nuns in Staniatki, a few kilometres east of Krakow, must put together 3 million zlotys (about 715 thousand Euros) needed for the redevelopment of the monastic complex. The abbey, founded in 1210, is the oldest Benedictine convent of cloistered nuns in Poland.
Below-zero temperatures. The first snowflakes fell on the abbey at the end of November, whitening the roofs of the three buildings, of which only one is accessible, and of the adjacent parish church. “We dress warmly”, assured the Mother Superior Stefania Polkowska, when asked about the cold winter season with temperatures that drop well below zero.
“Luckily the cells of the sisters, with vaulted ceilings, small windows and thick walls, warm up more easily”;
but “in winter the temperature in the long corridors, which are also very high, does not exceed 10 degrees Celsius” said the Mother Superior. “A 26-ton coal container is needed every six weeks to operate the boiler”, and it does not meet the heating needs of the whole abbey: in fact it’s just enough to warm up the church and the areas where the nuns live.
The orchard, fishing, jam production… Almost all the Benedictines of Staniatki are over fifty, and for some time there have been neither novices nor postulants. The youngest nun is more than thirty years-old. They have to work to make ends meet. The eldest nun, 95, takes care of the chickens, the other nuns are in charge of the rearing of the cattle and of the donkey, which Mother Stefania said is “very amiable.” There are also household chores and the kitchen. While the four dogs of the convent –“two large and two small ones”- get mired in the courtyard’s mud,
some nuns are busy fishing carps in the pond of the large park,
in order to sell them, especially during Christmas, as they constitute an essential ingredient of the traditional Christmas eve dinner. During the rest of the year the nuns are busy growing chrysanthemums, tomatoes, and preparing jams and pastries, also for sale at the convent.
Conspicuous investments. But all of these activities are barely sufficient to meet their daily needs. The meagre sums earned so far are not enough to cover the costs of reconstruction and renovation works, which require conspicuous investments. They’re not even sufficient to repair the water-leaking roofs, nor to strengthen the foundations of the red brick building whose construction began before the war and was never completed, and whose access
“is severely forbidden” for safety reasons, warns a placard hanging from the scaffolding.
The structure adjacent to the parish church and to the convent housed a primary school until the 1950s. It was eventually closed by order of the Communist authorities. The few years of didactic activity enabled the Benedictine nuns to preserve Staniatki from the repression of the regime, while the Benedictine friars of the Tyniec abbey did not succeed.
Priceless heritage. Thus in the convent of Staniatki – which in September last year, with the participation of Cardinal João Braz de Aviz, Prefect of the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life, celebrated the 800th anniversary of its foundation – are preserved priceless relics: ancient liturgical vestments, about twenty thousand manuscripts and volumes of great historical value – many of which were never catalogued; several collections of sacred hymns and ancient scores, as well as paintings of immense artistic value, as is the monastery itself.
Public co-funding. In 2016 the nuns obtained the authorization to rebuild the structure and use the external buildings as a museum, a library, and as reading and study rooms. At the end of June regional authorities, in the framework of the operating programme 2014-2020, allocated 7 million zloty (1.7 million Euro) to the convent, in the form of a co-funded grant that covers up to 70% of the total expense.
The remaining 30% must be covered by the nuns’ own funds.
But to date the nuns have not yet collected the entire sum. While more money is needed for major renovation works.
Online appeal. Mother Stefania said it “would be a shame if we failed to solve this problem. Moreover, the library and the museum would provide a steady source of income to our community, whose incomes are only sporadic.”
The Mother Superior thus turned to “all men and women of good will” with a pressing appeal posted online.
The final deadline is December 29. But sometimes the courage of the Mother Superior – who abandoned her cybernetics studies to enter the convent – is rewarded. One such occasion was when, with one of the sisters, she rode her bicycle all the way to Brzegi during last year’s World Youth Day to attend the liturgy with Pope Francis. Or when at the convent they ask the scouts to give a helping hand to the nuns … “They are coming to bring the coal for our burner”, she said with a smile, bidding farewell.
