LITHOGRAPH OF SAINT HEDWIG
Dates: 1374-1399
Feast Day: October 16
Patron Saint of brides, death of children, difficult marriages, victims of jealousy, widows, and duchesses
St. Hedwig has been acclaimed a saint in Poland since her own era, but not formally canonized until 1997. Queen, peacemaker, and bridge-builder between the East and West, for centuries she has been a national icon.
Crowned at age ten, Hedwig later married the Grand Duke of Lithuania. He was baptized before the wedding, promising to Christianize his people. Their union created a state capable of withstanding both Germany and Moscow and established a 400-year alliance between Poland and Lithuania.
During her reign she strengthened the Church and used diplomatic means to resolve political conflicts. She was known for her charity and personal penances. Dying in childbirth she asked for her possessions to be sold and the money given to the University of Cracow, so firmly did she believe in the importance of education.
SAINT HEDWIG
The lithograph was created by Polish artist Jozef Mecina-Kresz (1860 - 1934). He was known for his historical scenes, religious art, and partraits. Among others, he studied in the years 1877-1884 at the School of Fine Arts in Krakow Władysław Łuszczkiewicz and Florian Tinker. In the years 1882-1884 he was a student of Jan Matejko.
In 1884, the National Department received a scholarship, and in 1886 he left for further studies in Paris, where he studied at the school of Jean-Paul Laurens. He worked as an illustrator for magazines "L'Illustration" and "Figaro Illustre." In 1888, he married a French painter Marie Louise Barat. From 1894, he was a member of the board of the Universal Association of Polish Artists, and in 1913 the Union International des Beaux-Arts et des Letters in Paris.
He traveled through Europe, visiting Italy, Germany and England. In 1894, he returned to Krakow and in 1901 settled in a villa on Dębniki. In the years 1914-1916 he lived in Prague, and since 1921 in Poznan.
In 1931 he was awarded the French Legion of Honor, and in 1932, the Gold Cross of Merit.
ST. HEDWIG PARISH, LAKEWOOD, 1905
The first Polish-Catholic residents of Lakewood, Ohio began arriving in the early 1890s, settling around Madison Avenue and West 117th Street. Coming from similar societal backgrounds and interacting daily at the National Carbon Company, the Poles joined the Slovak-CD Catholics in celebrating the Eucharist at SS. Cyril & Methodius Parish. Over the next three years, the city's Polish population grew. In December 1909, Bishop John R Farrelly responded to the requests of the Polish-Catholic community for their own nationality parish and established the St. Hedwig Parish, appointing Father Thomas Czarkowski its first pastor.
During the next nine years, the fledgling community welcomed a number of priests, who celebrated Mass in a variety of locations, including a Protestant church, a former motion picture house, and a private home on Halsted Avenue. The community soon purchased property on Madison Avenue between Halsted and Dowd Avenues and began construction of a wood-frame church. Completed that summer, the first St. Hedwig Church was dedicated by Father Charles Ruszkowski on August 6, 1914. Father Czarkowski's pastorate was a short one, lasting only until August 1915. During the next nine years, the parish welcomed three other pastors, Father J. T. Kasinski (1915-1918), Father Joseph Zielinski (1918-1919), and Father Francis Kozlowski (1919-1924). On July 4, 1924, the parish welcomed its fifth pastor, Father Michael Konwinski.
During Father Konwinski's pastorate, St. Hedwig Parish, like many other Polish parishes in the Cleveland Diocese, experienced a degree of internal conflict. In February 1925, the community split over the election of the parish council. Two years later, the tensions rose again, when four councilmen resigned over a dispute regarding control of daily parish affairs. While it teemed with internal dissent, the parish continued to grow, building a new combination church/school (1927) and welcoming teachers from the Sisters of St. Joseph of the Third Order of St. Francis (1927).
On April 18, 1929, Father Stanley Sobienowski replaced Father Konwinski. Dissent continued in the parish, leading Father Sobienowski to write to Bishop Schrembs in May 1932, suggesting that he might be more useful to the Diocese at another parish. Father Sobienowski left St. Hedwig Parish on July 26, 1933, leaving the parish to the temporary care of the Franciscan Fathers. On March 3, 1934, the parish welcomed its next pastor, Father Joseph C. Rutkowski. During Father Rutkowski's pastorate, the parish purchased a four-suite apartment building, which it used as rental property. After seeing the community through the difficult years of the Great Depression, the Second World War, and the advent of the Cold War, Father Rutkowski left St. Hedwig Parish on September 4, 1957.
Under the direction of its next pastor, Father Bruno Ejchost, St. Hedwig Parish continued to develop, purchasing a two-family home on an adjacent piece of property which was converted into a convent for the sisters. Father Ejchost's tenure as pastor came to an untimely end with his death on May 26 1963. The community's new pastor, Father Edmund Kuczmarski administered to a community in the midst of change. With costs constantly rising, Father Kuczmarski was forced to close the parish school in 1968. Father Kuczmarsk died on February 5, 1973, and was succeeded by the parish's current pastor, Father John J. Bryk. One of the first issues addressed by Father Bryk was the conversion of the community's upper hall into a church. After the construction of a new facade, and the installation of chandeliers from the old church, new mosaic Stations of the Cross, and stained-glass windows, Bishor James A. Hickey rededicated the building on June 1, 1975. In the last two decades, the St. Hedwig Parish has continued in the spiritual and communal tradition of its founding families, while becoming an increasingly diverse faith community.