Edited by MCK Sokół | Lesser Poland
Unusual wedding gift
Country: Poland
Region: Lesser Poland
Type of inspiration: History
Inspiracja
When Marysia Żelaskówna from Gostwica was preparing for her engagement, she did not expect to receive such an unusual wedding gift from her friend priest Józef Tokarz. In the early 1960s, Marysia started working as an expeditor at the "Delicatessen" on Krakow's Market Square. Father Tokarz, who lived in Krakow and was then already well known to the young Gostwicz girl, was a frequent customer there. She met the clergyman during a bell consecration ceremony in Zakopane. The acquaintance of the aged priest from Czchów and his countrywoman turned into a friendship. As a lecturer at the Catholic University of Lublin, Father Tokarz commuted to Lublin for his classes several times a month. On the train he often met another professor of the Lublin university, the Bishop of Krakow Karol Wojtyła. Father Tokarz told Marysia about his acquaintance with Bishop Wojtyla, already very popular with the youth of Krakow at the time, and he also mentioned to her that Wojtyla had promised to give him a funeral. Apparently Żelaskówna, who was about to get engaged, sighed that she would be very happy if Bishop Wojtyła could marry her. Father Tokarz decided to give the young couple a surprise. He asked Wojtyla to give Marysia the wedding instead of the funeral he had promised.
Marysia's dream came true. The wedding, which took place a week after Easter in 1963 in the parish church in Podegrodzie, was officiated by Karol Wojtyła, Bishop of Krakow. Apparently he did not fail to ensure at the time that he would also attend the promised funeral of his friend, Father Tokarz. The chief celebrant was also present at the wedding, which took place in a cold room in the Żelasek cottage in Gostwice. In black and white photographs kept in the family, the later Pope John Paul II can be recognised leaning in front of the decorated entrance to the wedding house.
In the 1970s, the Żelaseks' cottage was moved to the Sącz Ethnographic Park in Nowy Sącz. An exhibition staging a traditional Lachian wedding from the turn of the 20th century was set up in the cold room.
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Nowy Sącz
Poland Lesser Poland
