The village of Wisielub in Belarus, which is known from the oldest (the first half of the 15th century) preserved in this country until today, is present in the church of St. The parish priest gathered more than 20 testimonies of healing, mostly from infertility, after sincere prayer in the face of the figure of Our woman of fresh Life.
The past of the figure began in Poland. On the Christmas Eve of the presumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary of 2016, Wanda Żarycz, of Polish origin, parishioner of the sielub parish, visited Calvary in Pacław. While praying before the celebrated miracles of the parent Listening, the female heard a voice in her heart encouraging her to organize a general renovation of the historical church in her hometown.
Wanda Żarycz asked for aid from a acquainted couple from Poland. It turned out to be related to the Knights of Columbus, who are involved, among others, in the renovation of churches. shortly the delegation from Poland arrived in the sielubia and assessed the work to be carried out.
The government of Belarus is not willing to put on renovations of historical buildings belonging to the Catholic Church. Therefore, the collection for renovation was carried out in Poland. The believers were so generous that the full sum needed to repair the church was collected in a short time.
During the renovation, Fr Witold Cybulski, parish priest, visited a pilgrim who advised him to order the figure of Our woman of Brzemienne to the church. The priest couldn't halt reasoning about it until he yet took the advice. The sculpture was made of lime wood by Polish artist Marek Kozak. The name of this sculpture work – “The parent of God of fresh Life” – was given by Archbishop Adam Szal, who devoted the sculpture on August 14, 2018. On March 4, 2019, it took an honorary place in a fresh Marian sanctuary.
The arrival of the figure to the Church was besides a consequence to the requests of the parishioners, who expressed their desire to become parents during pastoral visits, which was not possible for wellness reasons. Fr Cybulski gave each of these marriages a prayer which, through the intercession of Our Lady, is the supplication of God for the gift of conception.
Childlessness is simply a very serious problem in Belarus. The population of this country has fallen by about 700,000 over the last 20 years and is now under 9 million citizens.
The oldest church in Belarus
The church of St. Casimir in the village of Wisielub in the Nowogrod region is the oldest preserved Catholic temple in Belarus. In 1433, Jan Niemira, the coat of arms of Jastrzębiec, the politician of Polocki, founded its construction. The past of the temple is highly rich, and the most tragic events took place here during planet War II. In 1942, for hiding judaic children, Fr Józef Kuczyński, parish priest, was shot here by Germans. The witness of his death recounted that in order to rise the spirits of the sentenced together with him to the death of 60 inhabitants of Novogródek, before the execution of Fr Kuczyński and another large priest, Michał Dalecki, whose Germans besides destroyed that day, courageously infused the song “At Your Door I Stand Lord”.
After 1945, the temple in Vsielub was closed, and in the tragic for local Catholics in 1960, the communists liquidated the parish. The church in Belarus did not recover it until 1990. This was thanks to the efforts of Fr Antoni Dziemiańko, who is now a bishop.
Today, the 35th anniversary of the revival of the structures of the Church in Belarus is celebrated in our east neighbour. The key minute here was on 13 May 1991, erstwhile Pope John Paul II restored the full ecclesiastical structures, creating the Minsk-Mogilev metropolis and the Minsk, Grodno and Pinsk dioceses. In 1999, the Diocese of Vitebsk joined them. It is symbolic that this date coincides with the day of the apparitions of Fatima.
In the last 35 years many historical temples have been rebuilt, many have been renovated, fresh churches have been built, any 300 priests have been educated in seminars, spiritual communities have developed, apostolic movements and Caritas charity activities. Clearly, the Blessed parent watches over the Church in Belarus.
Adam Białous
