The shrine is dedicated to Our Lady of Rogalinek. In 1964, it was given the name of the Marian Sanctuary of Mary the Support of the Faitfhul by the archbishop Antoni Baraniak. The sculpture of Mary and Child, made in c. 1700 and incorporated into the Late-Baroque main altar of the church, is believed to have miraculous properties and remains an object of religious worship.

The Parish Church of Saint Michael the Archangel, having a wooden log structure, has retained its original form, characteristic of Greater Poland, to this day, and is a valuable example of ecclesiastical architecture.

History

A local parish in Rogalinek was mentioned in written records for the first time in 1404. The first church in the village was built in c. 1639. The present church (which probably replaced the previous church building) was built in the years 1700-1712; it was an initiative by Hieronim Wierzbowski, a Poznań suffragan bishop. In 1893, the church structure was reinforced with five raking shores on the outside. The church fittings come from the same period. Since 1962, the church has carried the name of St Michael the Archangel and Mary the Support of the Faithful. In 1964, Archbishop Antoni Baraniak granted the church the title “Sanctuary of Mary the Support of the Faithful". In 1968, conservation works were carried out on the interior: the pulpit, the baptismal font, and the Stations of the Cross were replaced (the works were supervised by Józef Berdyszak from Śrem and Stanisław Bobrowski from Rogalinek). The altar used to incorporate a worshipped sculpture of Mary with Child from c. 1700, referred to as “Our Lady of Rogalinek”. The sculpture, stolen in May 2002, was replaced with a copy made by the sculptor Roman Dworak from Poznań.

Description

Rogalinek is a village in the Poznań District, 4 km to the east of Mosina. The Parish Church of Saint Michael the Archangel and Mary the Support of the Faithful, surrounded by a graveyard, is situated on a small hill located in a picturesque meander of the Warta River.

The church has a rectangular floor plan. The chancel, oriented to the west and terminating in a semi-hexagon, is adjoined by a sacristy on the south side and a porch on the east side. The main body of the church and the porch are covered with gable roofs and the sacristy is covered with a three-pitched roof. All the roofs are covered with wood shingles. In the front, the building is surmounted by a steeple with a lantern topped with a Baroque onion-shaped cupola, covered with sheet metal.

The building has a wooden log structure; the walls are covered with weatherboards. The segmental-arched doors and windows feature decorative chamfered surrounds. The church has one nave (with no aisles), covered with a flat ceiling with a modern counter ceiling. In the eastern part of the nave, there is a music gallery enclosed with a balustrade, bulging out in the centre, supported by two decorative posts. The church fittings, dating from the late 18th century, include the main altar and two side altars. The main altar incorporates the worshipped wooden sculpture of Mary the Support of the Faithful, regarded as having miraculous properties, and wooden sculptures of St Stephen and St Lawrence. The side altars incorporate paintings of Jesus the Merciful, St Michael the Archangel, and St Mary Magdalene. The side walls of the nave are adorned with sculptures (originally components of the side altars) of St John the Baptist, St Veronica, and an angel with symbols of the Passion of Jesus from the 17th century, of Our Lady of Sorrows from the 17th/18th century, of two angels — from the 1st half of the 17th century, and a Rococo sculpture of St Benno.

By the church, there is a wooden bell tower from 1893, topped with a gable roof. It has a post-and-beam structure and is partially covered with weatherboards.

The church is open to visitors. More information, including the Holy Mass schedule, is available on the website of the Poznań Archdiocese: www.archpoznan.pl

compiled by Radomiła Banach, Regional Branch of the National Heritage Board of Poland in Poznan, 15-10-2015.

Bibliography

• J. Łukaszewicz, Krótki opis historyczny kościołów parochialnych w dawnej diecezji poznańskiej, Poznań 1858, t. I, s.346-7.
• Drewniane kościoły w Wielkopolsce, koncepcja, teksty i wybór fotografii P. Maluśkiewicz, Poznań 2004, s. 219.
• Katalog zabytków sztuki w Polsce, t. V, z. 25: powiat śremski, Warszawa 1961, s.44-45.