The Catholic Church Cathedral dedicated to St. Francis Xavier is unofficially called the Farn Church in Grodno. A service is held daily in the temple, and its doors are open from early morning until late at night for both believers and numerous tourists. The church in the city center is famous for its Baroque architecture, unusual tower clocks, ancient carved altars and a particularly unique multi-figured central altar complex. Miraculously, the interior and the entire construction of the cathedral remained unscathed, having survived the world wars of the 20th century and the massive ruin of religious buildings during the years of Soviet rule.
Why "farny"?
Where did this name come from? In Belarus, so-called some Catholic churches, which are parish. The word “far” comes from “paraphilic,” that is, a parish, and means that the temple is the main one in the city, it belongs not to the monastic order, but to the church parish (paraphy). The church in Grodno became a headlamp unofficially named after 1783. Until that time, the temple belonged to the most influential and richest Jesuit order in Poland, which built an extensive monastery complex with a church.
Jesuit Temple History
After the lands where Grodno was located in 1569 were ceded to the Principality of the Commonwealth of Lithuania, Stephen Batory, the King of Poland, decided in 1584 to establish a Jesuit collegium in the city, an educational institution of the monastic order. By an August command, 10,000 zlotys were allocated from the treasury for the construction of a monastery and a Catholic church in Grodno, the construction of which was postponed due to the sudden death of the monarch.
The Order founded a missionary station in Grodno in 1622, a year later opened a grammar school, and by 1630 formed a musical bursa, which, with the addition of a class of poetry and rhetoric, became a school that rose in 1664 to the level of a full collegium. In the period from 1677 to 1744, the Jesuit Order erected a large monastery complex with stone buildings of the collegium, where the Jesuit Grodno pharmacy was opened in 1687. By 1764, the income of the collegium was about 8062 zlotys, and the institution could contain up to 38 studying monks.
The Grodno Jesuits laid the foundation of their own church in 1678. Services began in an unfinished temple since 1700. After the construction was completed in 1705, the cathedral was solemnly dedicated to Catholic Saint Francis Xavier, one of the first Jesuit missionaries in Japan, Goa, and India. The dedication ceremony was attended by August II, King of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and Russian Tsar Peter I. A year later, a chapel was added to the church, where the monks transferred the wonderful image of the Mother of God Congregate, presented to the church by the pope.
By 1772, the teaching staff of the collegium was 42 people, including eight professors. At the establishment there was a library with about 2300 books, as well as its own printing house. Theology, philosophy, mathematics, foreign languages, other subjects were taught in a closed educational institution, a student theater worked.
For the Jesuits, 1773 became fatal when Pope Clement XIV issued a bull on the final and complete prohibition of the order. In the same year, the Grodno collegium came under the leadership of the Commission on National Education, and the prosperous educational institution was transformed into a district school. Since 1783, the cathedral became a parish and informally began to be called the Farn Church in Grodno. Since the 19th century, the city’s prison has been located in the former monastery and college building.
Years of socialism
Under Soviet rule, like most churches, the Cathedral of St. Francis Xavier was subject to demolition. Such a fate repeatedly threatened the church. Parishioners defended their shrine. On duty around the clock in groups at the building, they were not allowed to blow up the church. For over twenty years there has not been a rector in the cathedral. Resisting the oppression of the authorities, believers maintained order in the church, maintained its property, and themselves served in the church of Grodno until 1988, when the Catholic priest Tadeusz Kondrusiewicz was assigned to the cathedral.
During the war, the temple miraculously survived. It hit the only fascist shell that did not explode. However, an explosion near the church broke glass, the fragments of which, together with metal particles, penetrated deep into some of the wooden altars and damaged the carvings. During the recent restoration of the 300-year-old altar of the Mother of God of the Rosary, specialists found many pieces that made the work of the craftsmen very difficult.
Modernity
Now the Cathedral belongs to the Grodzyn Catholic Diocese (diocese). In December 1990, the pope of the Roman Farn Church was awarded the honorary position of the Lesser Basilica. When in April 1991 the Grodno diocese established from the Vilnius Archdiocese was established by the Bull of Pope John Paul II, the cathedral received the status of a cathedral. Service in the church of Grodno is held daily.
In the building, where a Jesuit pharmacy has been operating since the 17th century, today there is a pharmacy museum that has become the only one in Belarus. And the cathedral is on the list of historical and cultural state values.
Architectural features
The cathedral was built with a slight grace of the Baroque style, in which its architectural and interior appearance is sustained. Columns, porticos, arches, ornate stucco elements - all correspond to the best examples of Baroque architecture. The three-story facade is crowned with belfries, which together form two 65-meter towers, completed in 1752.
On the parapet of the two-flight staircase in front of the main entrance to the church of Grodno the figure of Christ carrying the cross is installed. A similar composition is located in front of the Warsaw Basilica of the Holy Cross. The Latin inscription under the sculpture SURSUM CORDA means "Ascend the Hearts." A sandstone figure was placed at the entrance to St. Francis Xavier Cathedral in 1900 thanks to the efforts of Aoyza Elerte, then dean. He persistently sought permission to install it before the Grodno governor, who constantly refused, under the pretext that "the population of the city and its environs is not entirely Catholic." Coordination with Vilnius was required for the statue to be finally installed. During the turbulent years of the 20th century, the figure suffered significantly. In addition to the multiple minor injuries hidden under a layer of paint, the right arm of the figure of Christ, stretched forward, was broken off and lost, which was expertly replaced by a piece of wood. The paint hides the difference in materials, and in this form the sculpture appears before the entrance to the church today.
Clock
One of the temple towers, the northern one, has been decorated with a pendulum clock since 1725. They are preserved from the dilapidated tower of the Jesuit College. They are considered to be perhaps the oldest working watches in Europe. Mentioned as far back as 1496 in the acts of "Grodno privileges" as "antediluvian", that is, very old. During the restoration work of 1995, a two-wedge connection was discovered in the watch, a device of the 12th century that is not observed anywhere else. It turned out that the Grodno clock mechanism is much older than the famous Prague chimes.
Altars
In the interior of the church there are 12 delightful side altars made of wood with delicate carvings and gilding. But a real masterpiece of Baroque art is the central altar (1736–1738) with a three-tiered multi-figured composition.
The best photos of the Farny Church in Grodno convey the beauty of this amazing creation, but do not reflect its grandiose grandeur. Sophisticated carved structure reaches a height of 21 meters, which is comparable to a seven-story building. All elements, columns and more than forty ensemble figures are made of solid wood tables, mainly linden. The altar was designed by K. Pauker, the Prussian sculptor, and the work of carvers was led by J. Schmitt. A complex composition of supporting pillars, pilasters and supporting columns of the Corinthian order is masterfully painted with marble imitation and gilding.
timetable
In the Farny Church of Grodno, priest Jan Kuchinsky is currently the rector. In addition to him, three more Catholic priests perform services, the schedule of which is given below. Holy masses are held in Russian, Belarusian and Polish.
In the schedule of services of the Farny Church of Grodno, some changes are possible.
The cathedral is one of three Catholic churches, which in Belarus are considered the most valuable historical and architectural monuments. In 2015, parishioners and guests solemnly celebrated the date of the three hundred and fifteenth anniversary of the consecration of the church.