Church of All Saints, 19th-century cemetery, rectory

Among the most important monuments in the Sadowie municipality is the Church of All Saints, which is currently located in the village of Wszechświęte. (In some publications, the local church is still described as being located in Grocholice, because in the past Wszechświęte and Grocholice were one locality, and their names were used interchangeably).

The building originally existed in 1326. The present one was erected in 1462, funded by Jakub Grocholski, a canon of Krakow, and his brother Andrzej, both of the Syrokomla coat of arms. The church was built of dressed stone in the Gothic style, featuring elements of an ancient temple, and stands on a small hill on the west side of the village of Wszechświęte. The coat of arms of the Grocholski family, Syrokomla, is placed on the buttresses reinforcing it.

According to the Annals of the Diocese of Sandomierz, from 1462 to 1902, 24 priests served as parish priests in Grocholice-Wszechświęte. The first parish priest was the church’s founder, Jakub Grocholski. In 1676, a new bell was brought in. In later years, the church was rebuilt. On November 15, 1785, during the reconstruction of the Great Altar, a brick tomb was discovered under the altar containing the larch wood coffin of the church’s founder, Jakub Grocholski, the lord of Grocholice.

Outside the church, above its side entrance, there is an erection plaque. Both porches – from the south (side vestibule) and the west were added in 1783 (the porch or vestibule, formerly also called the women’s gallery – part of the church, a vestibule preceding the entrance). The plaque reads: “Priest Szymon Opalewski, canon of Krakow, suffragan of Opatów, parish priest of Grocholice, ordered both vestibules to be built” and the year the vestibule was built. In 1882, the church in Wszechświęte-Grocholice was struck by lightning, which set the temple on fire. It was rebuilt under the parish priests Gulina and Nowakowski, and Bishop Sotkiewicz completed its holy consecration in 1892.

The original Gothic features have been significantly blurred over the centuries and are manifested only in the barrel-vaulted presbytery, the pointed arch of the chancel arch, and the buttressing of the building’s external walls. The coat of arms of the Grocholski family – Syrokomla – has been preserved on three buttresses. The church is surrounded by an old wall with chapels housing altars.

The church in Wszechświęte-Grocholice has three altars: the Great and two side ones. They date back to the 18th century. The Great one has paintings of All Saints, above St. Roch, in the side ones of the Most Holy Trinity and St. Anthony, as well as the Virgin Mary and St. Barbara. On the portal of the altar of the Holy Trinity, an inscription states that this altar stone was consecrated by Bishop Konstanty Feliks of Krakow on Szaniawy Szaniawski, Prince of Siewierz in 1737 in Kielce, who placed in it relics of St. Donatus and other martyrs. In three reliquaries, there are remains of St. Anne, relics of St. Jukunda, and St. Weneranda. One of the monstrances is dated 1806, and the brass candlesticks are much older. Noteworthy are also the historic stone portals and the interior furnishings, mainly from the last quarter of the 18th century.

The stalls (formerly wooden or stone benches) in the presbytery (the area of the church designated for the clergy, which may be separated from the rest of the church by an elevation or balustrade) and the baptismal font date back to 1777. The presbytery is narrower, barrel-vaulted. Through the pointed portal on the left side is the entrance to the sacristy, where there is a hidden entrance to the treasury and a baroque eared window with an old grille. In the southern (opposite) wall of the presbytery, there is a pointed niche for holy oils also with an old grille. In front of the altar is the entrance to the underground crypts, whose corridors lead outside the church. The polychrome is partly by Lenartowicz (late 19th century).

In the inner wall of one of the vestibules is the monument of Feliks Chocimowski, the lord of Małoszyce and Dżenkowice, who died on December 3, 1546, “a righteous man who was never unpleasant to anyone in life.” From the Latin translation, the inscription on the plaque reads: “Be merciful to him, O God. For the sake of Christ’s face, do not judge, Lord, your servant.” Here, too, are the coats of arms Topór, Poraj, Janina, and Drużyna. There was also the tombstone of the noble Felicja Chocimowska, the heiress of Rżuchów, “a blameless wife, who died on April 17, 1542.” The rococo stalls date back to 1777, funded by Fr. Szymon Opalewski, and the letters surround the coat of arms of Fr. Opalewski – Ostoja. On the baptismal font, there is also an inscription with the date 1777.

It is also worth mentioning as a curiosity that on the church in Wszechświęte there was a turret made of dressed stone, which was struck by lightning during a storm in 1734 and destroyed the turret. In 1799, for the third time, the remains from the graves under the church were transferred. A year later, in 1800, Jan from Dukla Małachowski was the founder of the church organs.

The subsequent history of the church includes the construction of the bell tower at the cost of 26 red zlotys, which was erected in 1816 by Count Jacek Małachowski, the lord of the Bodzechów estates, who died on March 21, 1821, in Bodzechów. This bell tower was renovated in the second half of the 19th century. It is built of brick, on a square plan, with two stories divided by a cornice. The corners are framed by pilasters. The roof is tent-shaped, shingled. (A pilaster is a pillar set against a wall – or partly embedded in it – slightly projecting from the face of the wall. It serves both a structural and decorative function).

The equipment of the church in Wszechświęte-Grocholice includes a historic monstrance probably from 1796, funded by Count Jacek Małachowski, the great crown chancellor. There is also a neoclassical monstrance from the first half of the 19th century, a lead reliquary in the Regency style, and a copper cauldron from 1820.

The life of Witold Gombrowicz and his family was connected with the church in Wszechświęte-Grocholice. It is there, in the parish register, that the birth record of Marian Witold Gombrowicz is found. Between the main nave and the presbytery on the right side is the baptismal font where the writer was baptized. Further in the depths of the presbytery, also on the right, is a wooden bench where the Gombrowicz family sat during Mass. “… Hipolit, who had been a lord with hidden anger and passion, just not to give in, now calmed and noble, sat on the collator’s bench and nodded to the steward’s family and Ikania sitting opposite. …” The quoted “Pornography” also captures the atmosphere of the Gothic church in Wszechświęte. “… But when the twilight absorbed us, into which burning candles were embedded, filled with the stuffiness of fearful, whispering singing, resonating with this popular, rustic and hunched mass …then the lurking ambiguity disappeared – as if a hand, stronger than us, restored the dominant order of worship. …”

The history of the rectory is also very interesting.
The vicarage, or the house of the vicars, originally stood close to the church. The vicar priests went to the church from it via a wooden bridge thrown over a ravine. The rectory stood in Boguczyn, as the author of the Opatów deanery writes, “beyond the ponds on a great hill,” on the northwest side of the church. However, this rectory burned down during a fire on August 29, 1763. Two years later, in 1765, a new rectory was built at the cost of 5,330 Polish zlotys. Where the rectory is now, there once stood a Grocholice hospital. On the wall on the side of the church choir, there was once an inscription: “Lord, I have loved the habitation of Your house, the place where Your glory dwells” – translated from Latin. In the parish church of Wszechświęte-Grocholice, there are the coats of arms Syrokomla, Topór, and Oksza, thus the coats of arms of the Grocholski and Chocimowski families and the coat of arms of Fr. Szymon Opalewski Ostoja.

19th-century cemetery in Wszechświęte

Near the Church in Wszechświęte, on its western side, there is an old 19th-century cemetery, where many interesting stone monuments with epitaphs engraved on tombstones, which are hardly found on contemporary monuments and cemetery tombstones, have been preserved. Some of the old epitaphs are still clear and can be read.

The Opatów deanery states that among others, the mother of two priests from Grocholice, Antonina née Majewski – Jan and Ignacy, is buried here. The latter, as evidenced by the obelisk located in the Denków cemetery, was the parish priest in Denków. Father Fl. Łoniewski is also buried in the old cemetery in Wszechświęte.

Among the monuments stands out a beautiful sculpture of St. Emilia and a monument standing on the grave of the Piwnicki family, as well as a coffin-shaped monument decorated with flower wreaths of Bernard Pyzowski. On its plaque is the inscription: Late Bernard Pyzowski. “He loved God, trusted Him, and worked to bring relief to his neighbor“. The Wielgus cross monument stands out with an interesting verse:


Cross of Christ, defense of the soul
Be a dear memory in my troubles
And when the Day of Judgment stirs my bones
Let me then stand under Your shadow

Many monuments are very interesting, both in terms of their shape and form, as well as their content on the plaques. From these inscriptions, it appears that families such as Jopowicz, Majewski, Piwnicki, Pyzowski, Kań, Przysuch, Cybul, Fijasiński, Medrecki, Szymański, Kwaśniak, Czub, and others lived in Grocholice and Wszechświęte in the last century.

Source: Sadowie Municipality Website [sadowie.com.pl]

550 years of the Church in Wszechświęte funded by the Grocholski family from Grocholice

550 years of the Church in Wszechświęte funded by the Grocholski family from Grocholice (open PDF)

History of the Parish Church of Wszechświęte in Grocholice

This church built of dressed stone was erected by Fr. Jakub Grocholski and his brother Andrzej, owners of Grocholice estates in 1460. The church has a Gothic style with a brick vault in the presbytery and a wooden one in the nave. On the corner pilasters at the front of the church are the coats of arms of the founders, Syrokomla. The erection plaque is on the southern wall above the small vestibule. Both vestibules were built by Fr. Szymon Opelewski in the 18th century.
In the underground are crypts containing three coffins – one contains the remains of Jakub Grocholski, another of Szymon Opelewski, and the third of Felicja Reklewska – the owner of Obręczna and the founder of the Church in Strzyłowice. The Romanesque altars date back to the 18th century. In the large vestibule is the monument, the plaque of Chocimowski – and in the small, his wife, the owner of Małoszyce, Drzenkowice, and Rzuchów.
The stalls in the presbytery and the baptismal font date back to 1777. In 1882, the church was burned and rebuilt under the parish priests Gulina and Nowakowski. In 1892, it was consecrated by Bishop Sotkiewicz. The church owned the property Bogucice (44 mrg.) donated by Bogucki and seized by the tsarist government. The parish priests lived in Bogucice; only Fr. Gulina built the rectory by the church in 1887.
From old memorabilia, the following remain:
Documents: church description, inventory list, deanery visitation book, breve of Pius VII;
Books: theological Gothic book and ìAlimonia Spiritualis 1743;
Old Polish drum of unknown origin, used during solemn processions.
The bell tower was built in 1816 by Chancellor Jacek Małachowski and the bells date from 1924 under Fr. Grzebalski.
LIST OF PARISH PRIESTS FROM THE PARISH’S FOUNDATION
1480 – 1531 Jakób Grocholski, church founder,
1531 – 1535 Paweł Krassowski, canon of Krakow,
1535 – 1560 Michał Zaleski, canon of Opatów,
1560 – 1644 Karol N.,
1644 – 1678 Paweł Hercyusz, former doctor,
1678 – 1689 Jan Ledóchowski,
1689 – 1689 Jakub Studzieński,
1689 – 1714 Andrzej Budziński,
1714 – 1726 Samuel Szwykowski,
1726 – 1731 Michał Herczyński,
1740 – 1760 Michał Awendyk, canon of Krakow,
1760 – 1761 Marcin Arwaji,
1761 – 1763 Józef Piekarski,
1763 – 1806 Szymon Opelewski, canon of Liw,
1807 – 1820 Szymon Jaklewicz, canon of Opatów,
1820 – 1832 Wincenty Biegański,
1832 – 1848 Jan Plichta (buried by the church),
1853 – 1865 Jan Jopowicz,
1866 – 1879 Ludwik Tarłowski,
1880 – 1883 Henryk Mroczkowski,
1883 – ???? Józef Gulina (built the rectory),
???? – ???? Jan Nowakowski,
???? – ???? Bolesław Raczkowski (built the well by the rectory),
???? – 1909 Stanisław Wiśniewski (established the new cemetery),
1910 – 1916 N. Kacperski,
1916 – 1920 Roman Cieszkowski – prelate,
1920 – 1922 Stanisław Rudkiewicz,
1922 – 1924 Piotr Bitny,
1924 – 1930 Władysław Grzebalski (built the rectory barns),
1930 – 1936 Józef Borowiec
1937 – 1954 Stanisław Skurski (fenced the rectory),
1954 – 1957 Stanisław Orlik,
1957 – ???? Józef Bil.