Introduction
The Basilica of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, known in Romanian as Bazilica Adormirea Maicii Domnului, is a Roman Catholic church in the small village of Cacica, up in northern Romania’s Suceava County. It was built in 1904 by members of the local Polish community who had settled there, and the architecture follows a Neo-Gothic style. Over time, the church became a popular destination for Marian pilgrimages, attracting people from all over. Because of that growing importance, Pope John Paul II gave it the title of Basilica Minor in the year 2000. Today, it’s part of the Diocese of Iași and still holds a special place for many of the faithful who visit.
The establishment of the Catholic community in Cacica
Around 1780, salt deposits were discovered in the place where the town of Cacica is located today (in northeastern Romania, in the historical region of Bukovina , 18 km from the city of Gura Humorului and 40 km from the city of Suceava ).A salt mine was opened in 1798, bringing workers and technicians from the Habsburg Empire’s various provinces, particularly Poland (primarily from Bochnia and Wieliczka) and Galicia (primarily from the village of Kausz near Stanisawów ), most of whom were of Polish descent and adhered to the Roman Catholic faith. The Roman Catholic miners who worked in the salt mine were initially given spiritual support by the priests of the Gura Humorului Parish, the first pastor being the Polish priest Clemens beginning in 1795. There was no settlement in this area prior to the salt mine’s opening. In 1799, the Polish priest Jakub Bogdanowicz became responsible for the spiritual assistance of the workers.He appealed to the salt mine administration, which, in 1806, ordered the digging of a large and beautiful chapel dedicated to St. Barbara at a depth of 21 meters in the salt massif, where workers prayed before and after finishing work. In 1810, a small wooden church in Cacica was dedicated, housing a replica of the miraculous Icon of the Mother of God known as the “Black Madonna” that had been imported from Czestochowa (Silesia) since 1809. From its inception, this icon was regarded as a miraculous icon. In 1844, the Roman Catholic Archbishop Francisz de Paula Pischtek , Metropolitan of Lemberg (Lviv), founded the Cacica Parish. was named the first parish priest. Fr. Jerzy Mazanek. In 1867, the Cacica Parish was responsible for the spiritual care of 1,356 Roman Catholics, as stated in the information that was provided by the Directory of the Archdiocese of Lviv. Prior to the missionary brothers’ arrival in 1902, there was no other information available about the parish’s situation.
Construction of the current church
The church being cramped and dilapidated, priest Maurycy Kolankiewicz initiated its reconstruction in 1892. The work was delayed for a long time, both due to lack of money and the bureaucracy of the Austrian authorities. In November 1902, Lazarist monk Archbishop ad-personam Joseph Weber, auxiliary bishop of Lemberg (Lwów) and episcopal vicar for Bukovina (1895–1906), gave the Cacica Parish pastorate to the Order of the Lazarist Missionary Brothers. At that time, the Roman Catholic faithful in Bukovina were under the jurisdiction of the Archdiocese of Lemberg, with a total of 28 parishes grouped into 3 deaneries. The parish priest Kasper Somiski described the church as “a very poor and small church; considered by the authorities as baufällig, it could be closed at any time” when the missionary priests arrived here. They decided to build a new, larger church, but the government of the Duchy of Bukovina, which was supposed to bear 1/3 of the expenses, delayed granting the building permit. In April 1903, 21,000 bricks were made for the new church. Fr.’s efforts have led to On July 16, 1903, the foundation stone was consecrated, and Somiaski and Archbishop Joseph Weber helped get construction started. Fr., the missionary priests went to the Bukovina Catholic communities. Fr. Eugeniusz Kolodziej and Eugeniusz Kolodziej in the German communities Jan Rossmann brought money to the Hungarian ones while he was there. A raffle was held on August 15, 1903, the feast day of the parish patron saint, and it raised nearly 2,000 crowns. On October 16, 1904, the new church was dedicated by Archbishop Józef Bilczewski and Archbishop Joseph Weber, Bilczewski’s assistant. Parish priest Kasper Słomiński described this event as follows: “The new church in Cacica was not yet finished, but our hearts urged us to inaugurate it in this very jubilee year, in order to gather numerous processions in front of the miraculous icon and offer it a new perspective. On the 15th, at noon, our illustrious and beloved guests arrived: His Excellency Archbishop Bilczewski with Archbishop Weber, the most reverend Father Visitor with numerous confreres from Krakow, Lviv, Sokolowka, Bialy Kamien and Jesierzan, the priests Prelates Schmidt and Kasprowicz (of the Armenian rite) from Chernivtsi and a large number of priests from the parishes Sadly, the monument’s grandeur was diminished as the rain began and continued until the end of our celebrations. Few people arrived, the processions either stopped or were few in number. His Excellency Archbishop Bilczewski, accompanied by Archbishop Weber and preceded by a large number of clergy, carried the relics of the Holy Martyrs on a purple cushion and deposited them in a special tent erected near the church. The beautiful procession with the holy relics had to be cut short, but how wonderful it would have been if the weather had been good. The Court Counselor, Mr. Barleon, arrived as deputy of the new president of the country who, busy with the opening of the Sejm, could not come, but sent his deputy”. The new church was built in the neo-Gothic style , in a cruciform shape, the project being carried out by the architect Teodor Marian Talowski, a professor at the Polytechnic of Lemberg. The dimensions of the church were as follows: 36 m long, 17.5 m wide in the central nave, 22 m wide in the transverse nave, 14 m interior height and 50 m tower height.
Marian pilgrimage center
As a result of the large number of pilgrims arriving here during the feast days of August 14-15 (“Assumption of the Virgin Mary”) and October 8 (“Holy Mary of the Rosary”), a pilgrim house was built in 1911 near the church, which also served as a cultural center. In 1914, the choir was built, which was consecrated in a festive setting on April 21, 1918. The beautiful classical organ, purchased in 1937, is another piece of art in the church. It was severely damaged during the war in 1944. Thanks to the efforts of Fr. The organ was repaired by Iulian-Eugen Kropp between 1997 and 1998, and Bishop Petru Gherghel dedicated the new instrument on October 3, 1998, during the pilgrimage of consecrated individuals. The pilgrimage to the Marian Sanctuary in Cacica organized between August 14-15 (Feast of St. Mary) is regarded as the largest Catholic pilgrimage in Moldova. Several bishops from Romania and abroad, dozens of priests, and tens of thousands of pilgrims from Moldova, as well as other parts of the country or abroad, participate in this event. Until 1949, a train operated on the Vienna – Cacica route.
Proclamation as a Minor Basilica
The church in Cacica was made a diocesan sanctuary on August 15, 1996. On August 15, 1997, the episcopal decree of PS Petru Gherghel made the sanctuary in Cacica a “National Sanctuary” with the agreement of the Conference of Catholic Bishops of Romania and in the presence of the apostolic nuncio Janusz Bolonek. In the Jubilee Year 2000, following the request of Bishop Petru Gherghel on January 17, 2000, the sanctuary church received the title of “Minor Basilica”, a title granted by Pope John Paul II on March 14, 2000 through the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments and officially proclaimed at the solemn Mass of August 15 of the same year by Cardinal Luigi Poggi, the Pope’s special envoy, surrounded by numerous bishops and priests from the country and abroad and in front of an impressive number of pilgrims. The Franciscan Province “St.John’s” has been in charge of the sanctuary’s management since the fall of 2001. Joseph” of the Friars Minor Conventual. On 15 August 2010, on the occasion of the 10th anniversary of the elevation of the Marian sanctuary of Cacica to the rank of Minor Basilica, a square was arranged in front of the Roman Catholic church and a statue of Pope John Paul II was unveiled. The monument was unveiled by the Primate Emeritus of Poland, Archbishop of Gniezno, Henryk Józef Muszyński , and Bishop Petru Gherghel. In 2009, the Roman Catholic Parish of Cacica had 170 Polish families under spiritual care, with 415 believers. The masses celebrated at Cacica are celebrated in Romanian, Polish, German and Hungarian. Among the prominent pilgrims participating in Cacica were the following: Cardinal Luigi Poggi (2000), Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re , Prefect of the Congregation for Bishops (2003), Archbishop Henryk Józef Muszyński of Gniezno, Primate Emeritus of Poland (2010), Metropolitan Archbishop Emeritus Ioan Robu of Bucharest, Archbishop György Jakubinyi of Alba-Iulia, Apostolic Nuncio Jean-Claude Périsset , Bishop Emeritus Petru Gherghel of Iași, Bishop Iosif Păuleț of Iași, Bishop Anton Coșa of Chișinău, Bishop Mihaly Mayer of Pecs (Hungary), Auxiliary Bishop Aurel Percă of Iași, Auxiliary Bishop Cornel Damian of Bucharest, Auxiliary Bishop Marian Blazej Kruszylowicz of Szczecin-Kamien (Poland).
Architecture of Minor Basilica Sanctuary of Cacica, Romania
Architectural style: Gothic Revival architecture
The church was built in the neo-Gothic style and shaped like a cross, following a design from Poland. It’s made from carved stone and pressed red bricks, and the roof is covered with eternit. The building is about 40 meters long, 23 meters wide, and inside it’s 14 meters high. The tower reaches 50 meters tall. There are lots of stone decorations, a gallery 30 meters up, and four corner towers between 21 and 25 meters high.
Entrance and Decorations
Above the church’s main entrance, in the big window near the choir, there’s a stone crucifix showing Jesus Christ. In the stone above the entrance, the year 1904 is carved, along with a golden monogram of Mary and a Polish inscription that says: “O, Maryo, bez grzechu poczęta módl się za nami,” which means in Romanian, “O, Mary, immaculately conceived, pray for us.” On the spire, 30 meters up, there’s a round balcony supported by many stone columns ending like small turrets, almost like tiny chapels. Inside the spire, there are four bells.
Interior
The church is home to some truly remarkable art. The stained glass windows in the presbytery stand out, with five depicting the five glorious mysteries of the Rosary of the Virgin Mary. On the sides, in the transepts, there are two large colorful glass windows. The iconostasis, made of lime wood by an Austrian company, was cleaned for the first time in 2010 after more than a hundred years. The church also features two side altars, one dedicated to Saint Joseph and the other to Saint Barbara, the miners’ patron saint. Inside, the decoration came later. Some of the furniture and the main doors are carved from oak, while the altars and statues were crafted from lime wood by the famous Tyrolean firm “Stuflesser.” These pieces were painted with oil colors and gilded. The pulpit is striking, topped with a statue of “Jesus, the Good Shepherd.” In the presbytery, a display case holds over 100 gold and silver votive offerings. These include tiny figures of praying people, arms, legs, but mostly hearts, crying eyes, crosses, and other symbols left by pilgrims as tokens of gratitude. After the floods of 1908, the land behind the church was reinforced with a retaining wall, and a Lourdes Grotto was built. During this renovation, the temporary side altars were replaced by new lime wood altars, painted and gilded. The right altar features the “Pieta” from 1910, while the left altar shows the Blessed Virgin Mary as the “Queen of Heaven and Earth.” The main altar holds the Black Madonna icon, depicting Mary with the Child.
Choir and Organ
The choir was constructed in 1914 and given its official blessing in 1918. Additionally, the church has a classical organ that was purchased in 1937 but was severely damaged in 1944 during the war. The organ was restored between 1997 and 1998 thanks to Father Iulian-Eugen Kropp, and Bishop Petru Gherghel consecrated it on October 3, 1998, while on a pilgrimage. Inside the church, there’s also a large chandelier dating back to 1907 and plaster “Stations of the Holy Cross.” The walls inside weren’t painted because the community didn’t have enough money for it.
Marble Slabs and Inscriptions
There are a few marble slabs in the church with inscriptions: On the left wall of the presbytery, a white marble slab honors Priest Henryk Wóchowski, born in 1881 in Poland, who served from 1906 to 1946 and died in 1946, and Priest Ion Parţac, born in 1927, parish priest from 1979 to 1996, who died in 1996. Another slab with the names of parish priests who worked in Cacica is to the right of the entrance. Some of the names are wrong, though. A slab says that Pope John Paul II made the church a Basilica Minor on March 14, 2000, during the jubilee year. This is written on the right wall of the porch. The official act was announced on August 15, the day of the patron saint and pilgrimage.
Black Madonna Icon
The Black Madonna, an icon of the Virgin Mary holding the Child, can be found in the main altar. It is a copy of the miraculous Icon of the Mother of God “The Black Madonna” from Częstochowa ( Silesia ) and is believed to have been painted at the beginning of the 17th century. The icon was brought in 1809 from an Armenian Catholic church in Stanisławow (Poland), when the first church in Cacica was consecrated. The icon is painted on canvas that has become blackened over time and measures 86 by 60 cm. It is covered in carved, gilded, and silvered wood, but the hands and faces are the only parts that are still clearly painted. The Blessed Virgin Mary is depicted in this painting holding the infant Jesus in her arms and pointing her right hand at him as if to say, “Do whatever he tells you!” The Infant holds a book to his chest with his left hand, and raises his right hand in a sign of blessing. Jesus and the Most Holy Virgin Mary are both crowned royally with stars on their heads. A written testimony from the consecration of the church mentions the moment of the icon’s placement in the new church: “Moving was the moment when, after the church consecration ceremonies, His Excellency the Archbishop brought with his own hands from the chapel the miracle-working icon of the Mother of God, placing it on the main altar, and from there he blessed the crowd with it. When the Mother of God thanked everyone for their new home, no one was spared the tears of emotion. Then the icon was placed on the main altar, on which the Queen of Heaven took her rightful place next to Jesus Christ, present in the Most Holy Sacrament. The icon was restored between September 2009 and August 2010. The Palace of Culture in Iași served as the location for the initial phase of the restoration work. In May 2010, the icon was taken to a specialized jeweler in Częstochowa, where it was cleaned, and the crown and mantle of the Virgin were restored, made of white and yellow gold. The restored painting was brought from Poland at the beginning of August 2010, a week before the patron saint’s day, by a group that included PS Petru Gherghel, Fr. Romuald Bulai, Fr.,Marius-Stanislav Bucevski Fr. Emil Robu and Ghervazen Longher, a deputy in the Romanian Parliament as a representative of the Polish community. The icon was unveiled on August 14, 2010 in the presence of His Holiness Joseph Henryk Muszynski, Archbishop of Gniezno, Primate Emeritus of Poland, a delegation of Pauline priests from Czestochowa, consisting of three people, who restored the copy of the icon, His Holiness Anton Coșa, Bishop of Chișinău, His Holiness Petru Gherghel, and His Holiness Aurel Percă.
Lourdes Grotto
The “Lourdes Grotto” next to the church, which is a replica of the one in France, is also interesting. It was necessary to carry out work to consolidate the walls because the pressure of the slope that had slipped to the rear of the place of worship threatened the walls of the church. At the beginning of 1908, in the middle of the consolidation walls built behind the church, a grotto was built from pieces of rock in honor of Our Lady of Lourdes. After almost 30 years, the parish priest Henryk Wochowski decided to build a new grotto, this time deeper. Since the sandstone wall was crumbling due to precipitation and had proven to be unresistant to the elements, the grotto was considerably deepened and surrounded on both sides by galleries that served as a place of confession for pilgrims coming to the feast when it rained and as a place for the distribution of Holy Communion in case of inclement weather. The new Lourdes grotto, constructed in the neo-Gothic style and completed in 1936, has the following dimensions: the width and height are 5 meters, the depth is 12 meters and is shaped like a crescent. Also built in the shape of a crescent, the galleries were 60 meters long, 3 meters wide, and 4 meters high. Twenty concrete columns were erected to support the entire ensemble and also served to beautify the grotto. The number of materials used can attest to the size of the grotto and galleries: three cement wagons, two lime wagons, 100 square meters of stones in addition to the materials from the old grotto, and at least 1,500 kilograms of iron bars. A massive stone altar has been in place in the grotto since 1908 to host the Holy Mass during the pilgrimages of believers of various nationalities. Statues of the Blessed Virgin Mary and Saint Bernadette Soubirous, to whom the Blessed Virgin Mary first appeared in the French town of Lourdes in 1858, was enshrined here in plaster, probably by an Orthodox convert from a nearby village. As Fr. Wojciech Grabowski wrote in a letter to the Visiting Priest: “the new statues in the grotto are not very artistic, but they are tasteful and do not shock”. According to legend, the statue was once transported to the church, but the following morning it was discovered back in the grotto. In the Lourdes Grotto, a brand-new altar was blessed on the evening of August 14, 2010. In the grotto, in addition to the altar and the places set up for confession, there is on the right side a fountain with water considered healing, which pilgrims use with great faith for the blessing of themselves and their households. On the left side, a special place has been set up for lighting candles, a custom inspired by Orthodox religiosity. Two liturgies in Hungarian and German are held in the grotto on the feast of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary.
Statue of Pope John Paul II
On 15 August 2010, on the occasion of the 10th anniversary of the elevation of the Marian sanctuary of Cacica to the rank of Minor Basilica, a square was set up in front of the Roman Catholic church and a statue of Pope John Paul II was unveiled. Bishop Petru Gherghel had consecrated the square’s cornerstone on August 15, 2007. Henryk Józef Muszyski, Archbishop of Gniezno and Primate Emeritus of Poland, and Bishop Petru Gherghel unveiled the monument. The event was also attended by Bishops Aurel Percă, Cornel Damian , and Anton Coșa, MEP Bogdan Marcinkiewicz , President of the Rybnik Region, Damian Mrowiec, Mayor of Rybnik, Wieslaw Janiszewski, Member of the Polish Parliament, Deputy Henryk Siedlaczek, and local officials. On this occasion, Bishop Gherghel said the following: “Today a dream is fulfilled here, a wish of the Holy Father Pope John Paul II to reach Cacica. He expressed his wish many times, and our wait was long. The statue of Pope John Paul II is made of bronze, is 2.2 meters high and weighs 800 kg. It was created by a Polish artist and given to the Cacica community by the Rybnik (Silesian Voivodeship) community, which is connected to the Suceava commune. On the back of the pedestal there is a bronze plaque with the following inscription in Polish : “Mieszkancom gminy Kaczyka w dowód przyjażni powiat Rybnicki i gminy Czerwionka-Leszczyny, Gaszowice, Jejkowice, Lyski, Świerklany. “To the inhabitants of the commune of Cacica in a sign of friendship from the region (powiat) Rybnicki and the communes of Czerwionka-Leszczyny, Gaszowice, Jejkowice, Lyski, and wierklany,” reads the Romanian translation of “Cacia 15.08.2010.” Cacica 15.08.2010″.
Feast Day
Feast Day : 15 August
The feast day of the Minor Basilica Sanctuary of Cacica in Romania is on August 15. This date celebrates the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, who is the church’s patron saint. It’s an important day when many pilgrims come to the church to take part in special prayers and celebrations
Church Mass Timing
Monday to Friday : 5:00 pm.
Saturday : 11:00 am, 5:00 pm.
Sunday : 11:00 am.
Church Opening Time:
Monday to Saturday : Open 24 Hours
Contact Info
Address : Basilica of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary in Cacica
Cacica 727095, Romania
Phone : +40 230 237 009
Accommodations
Connectivities
Airway
Minor Basilica Sanctuary of Cacica, Romania, to Suceava Ștefan cel Mare International Airport, distance between 59 min (48.5 km) via DJ178A.
Railway
Minor Basilica Sanctuary of Cacica, Romania, to Cacica Railway Station, distance between 5 min (3.3 km) via DC17 and DN2E.
