The Ledóchowski manor house

Now go to the manor house of the Ledóchowski family. It was built in the early 19th century by Kazimierz Bzowski. Its style referred to French countryside palaces. It was designed as a one-storey neo-classical building. In 1883, the estate was acquired by Count Antoni Halka Ledóchowski, the father of St. Urszula (Julia) and B. Maria Teresa.

Beatification procedures concerning their two brothers: Włodzimierz (a General in the Society of Jesus) and Ignacy (a divisional general in the Polish Armed Forces, soldier in the Home Army), are in process. Until the Second World War, the building belonged to the Ledóchowski family. It was later nationalized and in the 1980s presented to the Diocesan Curia in Tarnów.

SOME THOUGHTS OF ST. URSZULA LEDÓCHOWSKA

We need to be able to show to people that piety does not make us growlers.
Let be good for animals, flowers, all the creatures; God made all of them out of his kindness, so we should worship Him in each of them.
Serenity takes us closer to God, to the virtue; just like sorrow, bad mood, gloomy disposition draws us away from piety.
Mercy begins only when we give what is dear and pleasant to us, when we give making a sacrifice.
The greatest act of love of neighbour consists in constant radiance of the soul sending its bright and warm beam everywhere.
May we learn to be silent, then it will be easier for us to learn the hardest things: to speak in a proper, saintly manner.
There is no day off in the inside work.

We should definitely mention here the person of Maria Teresa Ledóchowska. She was two years older than her sister Urszula. They both displayed extraordinary literary talents since they were children.

In 1885, she fell seriously ill with pox and fought for her life for many weeks. This illness consolidated her decision to sacrifice her life to God. Upon recovery, her parents’ efforts resulted in her being nominated by Emperor Franz Joseph I a lady-in-waiting at the court of the Tuscan Duke and Duchess Maria and Ferdinand I, residing at the time in Salzburg.

One day, she received a leaflet promoting a Catholic Church mission in Africa, which read: May those whom God gave a talent for writing use it for this cause, to which none is superior.

Maria thought it to be the sign of God and decided to dedicate her life to missionary activity. She soon terminated all her social relationships and contacted African missionaries. She joined the order in 1896. Before that, in 1890, she began to publish a journal “The Echo from Africa”, which after 20 years was issued in 12 languages, and at the end of her lifetime had a circulation of 100 thousand copies. She also helped the missionaries in Africa printing the Holy Scripture in vernacular languages.

In 1894, she launched a sodality of St. Peter Claver: a society propagating the idea of the mission. Its centres soon began to emerge around Europe and were often accompanied by African museums. The main seat was moved to Rome and opened a novitiate. Maria Teresa was a fervent supporter of the mission. She travelled and gave numerous lectures on Africa and actively helped the missionaries.

She died in 1922 and was beatified in 1975 by Pope Paul VI. She is now the patron of missions in Poland. Her iconographic image presents her in the habit of St. Peter Claver’s sodality or surrounded by African children. She was given the alias of the Mother of Africa, although she never visited the continent. Her memorial is on July 6.
Find a shrine on the bank of Piekarski Potok (which translates into a bakers’ brook). Sit at the Grotto of Our Lady on the brook bank and listen to the swoosh of water. This was the favourite contemplation place of St. Urszula Ledóchowska.

This way you learned about the most important places, people, traditions and customs practiced in Lipnica Murowana, which determine the uniqueness of this region not only from the perspective of tourists, but first of all for the citizens. All these elements interweave and together create the cultural heritage of Lipnica. It should be remembered though, that heritage does not only include historical monuments and the remembrance of the past. It also consists of the constant presence of people whose knowledge, practices, actions, and relationships shape the space for cultivating the heritage and fill the surrounding objects with a meaning. In these terms, the citizens of Lipnica are special, because they cultivate the remembrance of their heritage, taking pride in it and making it the basis for their contemporary lives.

Each community has its heritage, which determines the identity of its members, shapes bonds between people and their attachment to a place. However, we are not always aware of these relations. We hope this walk will inspire you to reflect on you own heritage and encourage you to discover places, objects and people important for your local community.