The Elizabethan Sisters carry out particularly valued and fruitful work in our city. For many decades now, we have associated them with the Convent of St. Joseph at 4 Kubika Street, where they run a children’s home. The history of the Elizabethan Sisters in Bolesławiec is very interesting, so let us take a brief look at it.
The Congregation of the Sisters of St. Elizabeth was founded on 27 September 1842 in Nysa, in Silesia. Its initiator was Klara Wolff, while its co-founders were biological sisters Matylda and Maria Merkert, as well as Franciszka Werner. The purpose of this congregation was, and remains, service to the sick, suffering, lonely and abandoned. The Elizabethan Sisters’ work has always encountered enormous demand. This is demonstrated, among other things, by the fact that in Silesia alone, not counting other religious houses in Poland and abroad, more than 272 institutions were established, some of which no longer exist.
Quite early on, as soon as 14 October 1865, the Elizabethan Sisters arrived in Bolesławiec. Their work was sought by the local parish priest, Canon Priest Franciszek Kreuz (died 6 June 1904), and the ladies Minny and Zofia von Waldow. Initially, the sisters lived in a rented house, and at the end of 1871 they moved to a building near the Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. At that time, they provided outpatient nursing care for the sick.
In 1907, the sisters built their own Convent of St. Joseph, moving into it on 7 August of that year. In 1908, they established a kindergarten there. During the First World War, two sisters from the Bolesławiec convent had to work in a military hospital.
The difficult period of the Second World War was survived safely by St. Joseph’s House. After the war, until 3 October 1961, the institution operated as a children’s home. The sisters’ house had places for 50 children. Children aged from three to eighteen stayed there.
On 21 August 1963, the Elizabethan Sisters had to move from the Convent of St. Joseph at 4 Kubika Street to a ground-floor apartment in a building at 1 Dąbrowszczaków Street. The convent chapel was sealed on 9 November 1963, and the Blessed Sacrament was transferred to the parish Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. In 1964, the authorities of the time abolished the chapel in the confiscated Convent of St. Joseph and arranged a common room in its place.
On 19 December 1965, the Elizabethan Sisters solemnly celebrated the centenary of their existence and work in Bolesławiec. The celebrations were honored by the presence of Bishop Wincenty Urban, a great patron of this congregation and one of the foremost experts on the history and problems of Silesia.
From 1970 to 1974, the Elizabethan Sisters worked at the Hospital for the Mentally Ill in Bolesławiec. Later, they sought to regain the convent and the children’s home at 4 Kubika Street, which took place in September 1991.
In 1904, among others, we find Sister Cyrya Freyny at the institution in question. In 1910, the superior was Sister Ita Goerlich, under whose authority there were six sisters. Seven Elizabethan Sisters were also working in Bolesławiec in 1935.
After the Second World War, in 1949, the superior was Sister Wacława Rechmal, and in 1955, Sister Andrzeja Szczasny. Until 1960, usually seven or eight sisters worked at the children’s home. From 1961, only three or four sisters remained in Bolesławiec. In 1974, only one sister was under the authority of the superior, Sister Cecylia Cyman. From 1984 to 1989, the superior of the house was Sister Gerarda Cyman, who worked with two sisters. From 1991, Superior Sister Samuela Chrostek and five other sisters began their work in the recovered convent and children’s home.
The Elizabethan Sisters’ work in Bolesławiec received material support from kind-hearted people. In 1904, one of the principal benefactors was court secretary Ryszard Lustig; later, there were others, very often anonymous donors.
Other facts also testify to the Elizabethan Sisters’ varied and sacrificial work. For example, in 1935, seven sisters provided outpatient care for 486 sick people over 1,343 days of care and 183 night watches, while their kindergarten had 60 children. Then, in 1960, for example, 972 portions of food were distributed to the poor. In 1970, outpatient nursing care was provided to 20 sick people, and 120 injections were also administered. At that time, 12 children were cared for during the day at the religious house. Finally, a report from 1987 states that the sisters taught catechism to 360 children for 14 hours a week and distributed 956 portions of food to the poor.
At present, nine sisters live in the Convent of St. Joseph at 4 Kubika Street, caring for 35 children in their care, from the age of three until they become independent. The sisters call their charges “beloved children,” who no longer cause as many difficulties as they did at the beginning, that is, in 1991.
Among the problems that are most troublesome for both the children and their carers, financial difficulties must be mentioned above all. In addition, the building requires renovation. The roof and some rooms, among other things, need to be repaired. Concerned for the children, the sisters are seeking foster families for them that would undertake the challenge of adoption.