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Vol. 125 (2016): Our Past

Articles

Eucharistic Crusade Circles by Bernardine Fathers in the lignt of the remaining chronicles of the Crusade

  • Piotr Kamiński
DOI: https://doi.org/10.52204/np.2016.125.231-247  [Google Scholar]
Published: 2016-06-30

Abstract

The present article is devoted to the activity of the Eucharistic Crusade circles led by the Bernardine Fathers in the 1930s and the 1940s in Piotrków Trybunalski, Lvov, Cracow, Skępe, Krystynopol and Sokal. The organisation, brought to Poland by Urszula Ledóchowska in 1925, had the aim of spreading the Eucharistic cult among children and young people and – on the basis of this cult – conducting a comprehensive religious and social formation. The Crusade enjoyed a great popularity in inter-war Poland. Suffice it to mention that in 1933 there existed in Poland 400 circles, while only 4 years later there were already 2192 with 185450 members. Respective circles came into existence first at schools and later also at parishes. The first circles to be taken into spiritual care by the Bernardine Fathers were: the Crusade Circle at St Casimir elementary school in Piotrków Trybunalski established in 1931 and the Circle at St Kinga elementary school, therein, established two years later. Its Guardian was Fr Franciszek Salezy Majewski OFM. A great propagator of the Knighthood of Jesus – another name of the organisation – was Fr. Fidelis Kędzierski, the founder of the circles in Lvov (1936) and Cracow (1946). The other circles have not been adequately documented. The remaining chronicles are a rich source material as far as the organisational structure of the circles is concerned, especially the activities and the composition of the management or the number of candidates in respective years. However, the lack or a small number of attempts at evaluating the attitudes of the participants of the Crusade by their superiors poses a certain problem and does not allow for a full evaluation of the formation’s effects.

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