Cura animarum in the Parish of Racławice from 1918 to 1939

Abstract

The Partition Era, which lasted for over a hundred years, weakened the religious and patriotic life of the Poles. The restoration of Polish statehood required a great effort from the authorities and inhabitants of the country. The Church in now independent Poland was faced with a variety of religious practices, the situation which had arisen due to the period of national slavery. Prayers, liturgical and para-liturgical rituals, holidays and days of fasting had to be unified. The article presents priests’ efforts that were supposed to deepen the religious experience of the faithful. Ministry of sacraments realized in daily activities of a parish, services, preaching and catechizing were all means to enliven the spiritual life of the faithful and deepen their religious experience, which in turn was expected to affect the living standard of the congregation. This presentation of those efforts, created on the basis of archival materials, permits one to conclude that priests in Racławice did their best to meet the challenge.