History of the order of Fr. Franciscans, the history of the reform, which resulted in the branching of the order - including the Reformati, a summary of the rules of the Order of Reformati, the specifics of architecture and equipment of the monastery church and typical buildings built according to religious rules of the Order.
The Reformati or Franciscan Reformati are called one of the branches of the Order of Friars Minor, which was organizationally separated in the first half of the 16th century in Italy as one of the groups of observers.
The cradle of the Reformati is known as the monastery of Fontecolombo near Rome. In 1532 they received the right to establish separate monasteries for supporters of “fuller observation”, and in 1579 - permission for their own statutes.
The spread of Reformati monastic communities among the Catholic Church was facilitated by a small reform initiated in the first half of the 17th century in Italy, the point of which was to follow as closely as possible the principles of strict asceticism proclaimed by Francis of Assisi.
The first supporters of the order in the lands of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth were the Bernardine monks. As supporters of the Reformati movement, starting from the 1580s, they often visited Italy to get acquainted with the way of life of the Reformati there. As they failed to introduce a reform movement in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth within the existing Bernardine provinces, they began to build their own monasteries.
Thanks to the commitment of numerous secular and spiritual benefactors and personally the king, in the early 17th century the first Reformati monastic settlements were established from magnate-noble foundations, in particular in Pinczów and Wieliczka near Krakow, as well as in Warsaw. By the middle of the 17th century two dozen more monasteries appeared, in particular within the Rus’ voivodeship - in Przemyśl (1629) and in Lviv (1630), and in the second half of the 18th century foundation activity spread, in particular to Volyn and Podillya.
In 1746, several monasteries were separated from the Małopolska province of the Reformati - in Lviv, Rava-Ruska, Sudova Vyshna and Kholm in order to create the Ruska Custody on their basis. Over the next two decades, the number of monastic congregations in the Custody reached ten. New settlements appeared in Kremenets (1744), Zolochiv and Velykyi Dederkaly (1748), Krylov (1753), Bukachivtsi (1757), and also in Zhornyshche (1766).
In 1763, the Custody received the status of a province with the preservation of its name - Ruska.
During the 17th – 18th centuries the Reformation movement became widespread: provinces and custodies were founded in Bavaria, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Croatia, Semigorod, Constantinople, Trident, Prussia, and Silesia. Processes of secularization in the late 18th century led to the regression of the development of the Reformed movement, and in 1897 the differences between the various parts of the Order of Friars Minor Observers were eliminated.
The outward manifestation of the vows of “the highest and most severe poverty” was the building activity of the Reformati, which was to conform to the commandment of St. Francis: “Let the Brethren be afraid to accept temples, dwellings, and all that is built for them, if it does not conform to the holy poverty we promised ..., and they should find shelter there only as travelers.”
In addition to the general considerations regarding extreme poverty, the Reformati in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth during the first half of the 17th century developed specific instructions and requirements for monastery construction, which were formulated in the statutes.
The monasteries of the first half of the 17th century, built of wood, which especially emphasized their simplicity and poverty, were destroyed during the events of the so-called “Flood” of 1655-1660. Masonry construction began to be actively implemented from the middle of the 17th century, when, according to statutory regulations, there was a certain architectural and artistic program of the Reformed monastic complexes, which characterized by a certain three-dimensional composition and architectural and stylistic interpretation of facade decor elements and interiors. This program was consistently implemented over the next century.
In general, the building of the Reformati monastery church is the simplest composition of two small rectangular interconnected volumes: the narrower - the presbytery and the wider - the nave. Both volumes, covered with gabled roofs, are flanked by gables on the side of the main entrance and on the side of the altar. The presbytery, which houses the main altar and the monastery choir, is separated from the nave by a wall with an arched opening.
As the number of bells was limited to two, the bell towers were not built neither as part of the church building nor as separate structures. The signature with one or two small bells was often placed above the presbytery. The use of musical instruments during liturgical services was forbidden, so there was no musical choir in the church. Beginning in the 18th century, the tradition of arranging chapels of the Way of Christ in front of churches, the so-called calvary was spread.
The statutes of the Reformati required that churches had to be built “in such a way that nothing special could be distinguished neither on the outside, nor on the inside - neither in wealth nor in greatness.” The interiors of both the nave and the presbytery were decorated with modest architectural decor based on the Tuscan order and were usually covered with semicircular vaults with moldings above the window and doorways.
The interiors of temples were characterized by two types of three-dimensional solutions. The side walls of the naves could be interpreted as planes with window openings and pilasters between them, or pylons with pilasters superimposed on them were arranged near the walls, forming niches for placing side altars. Was forbidden to gild altars and icons. Altars were made single-tiered from walnut wood, and in its absence - from oak.
In general, the Reformati monastery was a functionally well-grounded system of buildings, grouped around a rectangular according to plan closed courtyard with a well. One of the walls of the courtyard was the side wall of the church. The cell building was usually two-storeyed, where the largest room was a dining room, and along the perimeter of the courtyard traditionally a corridor was arranged. The first floor was mostly vaulted and the second floor was flat wooden.
The land near the monasteries was used for gardens and orchards, surrounded by walls.
The austere and simple forms of the buildings of the Reformati monastic complexes were not as spectacular as the buildings of other Catholic orders. And although the temples were built in the dominant in the 17th and 18th centuries Baroque style, but they stood out as extremely simple. Traditionally, the architectural decor, which was based on the principles of the Tuscan order, focused on the main facade of the church, while the side and rear facades, as well as the facades of the monastery building were virtually devoid of decoration, except for crowning cornices.
Although the specific dimensions for the construction of churches and cells were not regulated by law, the founders were not allowed to specify the dimensions and style of future buildings, and the architect, working on the project with two monks designated by the provincial, had to comply with the statute. The same two monks were supervising the progress of construction work.
The erected churches and monasteries were forbidden to be altered and rebuilt on their own initiative, and to carry out significant reconstruction work after demolition or fire required the development and approval of a project with the provincial.
The prototype of the brick Reformati churches of Małopolska Province, from which the Ruska Province was later separated, is considered to be the church in Wieliczka near Krakow, built between 1624 and 1626 at the expense of King Zygmunt III from the profits of the local salt mine.
One-nave temple has good proportions. Among the elements of decoration of the facades a narrow crowning cornice can be noted. The triangular pediment of the main facade is decorated with bas-reliefs of saints here and there placed in three shallow niches. Three niches on the axis of the main, in some places on the altar pediment as well became a kind of symbolic element, often used in the construction of brick Reformati temples. There are no pilasters on either the main or the side facade of the church. Skeletal structures on the facades of the church and cells are made of reinforced concrete, as several decades ago repair and restoration works were carried out to strengthen the main structural elements of the building.
The main shrine of the Reformati in Małopolska province is the Krakow Monastery of St. Casimir, built within the city walls in 1666–1672 at the expense of the Kamyanets castellan F. Shembek. It is a fine example of the Reformati buildings. The church combines features typical of the Renaissance and early Baroque styles. The pediment of the main facade of the church is decorated with three niches with sculptural images of saints. Below the niches, there are small holes in the form of loopholes, which serve as vents for the attic space, and even lower - a cornice with pilasters. The monastery of St. Casimir, taking into account its special status, apparently had some influence on the formation of architectural and stylistic features of the Reformed buildings of Małopolska, as well as the Ruska province.
The city of Rava-Ruska is located above the river Rata, near the western border of Ukraine. Rava-Ruska was founded around 1604. The founders and first owners of the city were the noble Tshchynsky family, who named the settlement after their family coat of arms - Rava. In 1612, Vavzhynets Tschynsky founded a Catholic community and built the first wooden church for it. Also common is the assumption of the Polish historian and chronicler Michał Balinski about the possible founding of the city by the prince of Belz and Mazovia Władysław around 1455. He allegedly called it Rava after his possession in Mazovia. However, there is no written confirmation of this.
For a long time, Rava-Ruska was a small, polyethnic town inhabited by the Jews, Poles and Ukrainians. Rava-Ruska became more important in the 17th century. This was facilitated by the fact that the trade route from East to West passed through it. Various crafts and trade developed in the city. This was of interest not only for the local nobility and the city leadership, but also for the Polish king. That is why in 1622 Rava-Ruska was granted the privilege of holding annual fairs.
Rava-Ruska was the center of important international events of the XVII-XVIII centuries. Thus, in 1698, negotiations took place in Rava-Ruska between King August II of Poland and Tsar Peter I of Russia on joint action against King Charles XII of Sweden. And already in 1704 another Polish monarch, Stanislaw Leszczynski and King Charles XII of Sweden agreed on their plans in the fight against Russian Tsar Peter I.
Significant activity in the development of the city was observed in connection with the construction of railways Sokal - Yaroslavl and Lviv - Belzets, which were laid through Rava-Ruska in 1887. The convenient geographical location of the city turned Rava-Ruska into an important railway junction.
Throughout its history, Rava-Ruska was part of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, the Habsburg Empire, the Western Ukrainian People’s Republic, Poland and the USSR. Various battles were constantly taking place in and around the city. During the First World War, from September 2 to September 11, 1914, a battle took place near the city between the Austro-Hungarian and Russian troops. This battle was part of the famous Battle of Galicia in 1914.
In June 1941, during the Second World War, the border town was one of the first to take the blow, the defense of Rava-Ruska lasted for five days. The period of German occupation was the bloodiest in the history of the city. After all, a ghetto and a concentration camp for war prisoners “Stalag-325” were created here, where they, including soldiers of the Belgian and French armies, were held and massacred. And in the Jewish ghetto, about 15,000 peaceful Jews, residents of the city and its suburbs, were killed.
The city center was almost completely destroyed, as well as factories and enterprises were, the railway line was blown up.
Reconstruction of infrastructure began after the end of military action.
Modern Rava-Ruska is a busy city of district significance. It is known, first of all, for its proximity to the border with Poland, and the checkpoint with the same name. Despite the difficult history, the city has managed to preserve many historical landmarks, thanks to which the atmosphere of those ancient times, when it was an important trade and craft center, still is in the air here.
One of the architectural monuments that deserves special attention in Rava-Ruska is the Reformati Monastery complex (St. Mykhail’s Church and monastery).
The Reformati came to Rava-Ruska in the 1720s. In 1725, at the expense of Ivan Bogush, the elder of Zvenigorod, a wooden chapel “Spas” and a wooden monastery building for the Reformati friars were erected on the hill on the north side of the city. Shortly afterwards, in 1726, the provincial Celestine Hederovsky asked the wealthy patron of the Order of Reformati, Pavel Karol Sangushko, to send his court architect Paolo Antonio Fontana to Rava-Ruska. In autumn, a famous Italian architect arrived at the building site of the Reformati monastery, which was built according to his project.
The land for the construction of the monastery was donated by the Rava nobles Józef Głogowski and Jan Suchodolski. The construction was financed by the Belz mayor Grzegorz Zieczynski. The construction of the monastery complex was delayed for several years, due to the lack of a competent leader, some elements had to be changed and rebuilt. In 1738, under the supervision of the first abbot, Fr. Jan Trukhy, the construction was completed. The church was consecrated in honor of St. Mykhail in 1738.
The monastery complex of the Reformati in Rava-Ruska has an interesting and unusual in terms of density building scheme. The two-storey U-shaped monastery premises adjoin the church and form a spacious, closed courtyard. The monastery and the church are connected by passages, and there are large dungeons under the monastery complex. There is a well two meters wide in the middle of the formed courtyard, the walls of the well are lined with broken stone, the above-ground part of the well was covered with a hipped roof on wooden pillars. The whole ensemble was surrounded by a brick wall and had its own monastery garden and utility rooms.
The entrance to the territory of the monastery was through a single gate with watchtowers on the sides on the north side (now the entrance is walled up, the watchtowers are rebuilt).
The Church of St. Mykhail is a stone, one-storey building in the Baroque style, under a gabled roof with a signature. The plan consists of a rectangular nave and a choir with a rectangular room adjacent to it on the south side. At the southern facade there is a small square porch. The facade is two-tiered, decorated with pilasters and a baroque pediment with a triangular sandrik. The facade is decorated with images of St. Francis and St. Anthony.
The interior of the church is relatively lush. Double pilasters are superimposed on the wall pylon columns supporting the elastic arches of the vaults. The nave is divided into three verses, covered with a cylindrical vault with moldings, and two verses of the monastery choir are covered with cross vaults.
The character of the paintings of the Church of St. Mykhail is filled with symbolic scenes and signs, and the dominating colour is blue. Surviving fragments of paintings prove that they were made by talented painters, unfortunately their names are not known today.
The large altar stood in the middle of the presbytery and divided it into two equal parts. The altars were made by monks Sebastian Wolski, Tomasz Gronski and artist Jan Ptaszkowski. Lviv carpenter Jan Polejowski made two statues of women for the altar of the church at the expense of Belz castellan Andrei Zhechytskykh.
Adjacent to the west side of the church are the buildings of the monastery. These are two-storey vaulted rooms. The walls of the monastery buildings are trimmed, completed with a modest cornice and completely devoid of decor. There were 31 cells in the monastery, and in the north-western part of the monastery on the ground floor there was a refectory, infirmary, kitchen, bakery and barns. On the walls of the corridors and stairways of the monastery there are fragments of frescoes and stucco on the ceiling of the vault to this day.
The whole ensemble was restored in the late 19th and early 20th centuries: the roofs were covered, the main facade with the vestibule, stone vases on the pediment and a brick fence around the territory were restored. The date of the last restoration is indicated on the side facade of the church - 1930-1935. Then the signature, roof, vases on the facade were updated.
The Church of St. Mykhail and the monastery of the Reformati in Rava-Ruska functioned for two centuries. In 1941, when German troops captured the city during World War II, the Reformati were forced to leave the monastery. Priest Narcissus Turhan, who served in Rava-Ruska monastery of the Franciscan Reformati, died a martyr’s death in Hitler’s camp. In 1999, John Paul II beatified him.
After the war, the monastery complex was never restored. In the postwar years, the church was used as a warehouse for food and various goods, and the premises of the former monastery were equipped with a machine-tractor station and warehouses for harmful chemicals, which led to the destruction of the walls. On the territory of the former monastery garden there were production premises and garages of agricultural machinery.
In 2015, the monastery complex of the Reformati Monastery and the Church of St. Mykhail in Rava-Ruska were transferred to the ownership of Curia of Lviv Archdiocese of the Roman Catholic Church in Ukraine. Application for the restoration of the Church of St. Mykhail and the Reformati Monastery in Rava-Ruska was selected for implementation within the framework of the cross-border cooperation program “Poland-Belarus-Ukraine 2014-2020”.
In the complex of the former monastery, 4 family-based orphanages will be created, which will accommodate 40 orphans and the Center for Dialogue of Cultures, and the church itself will be restored as a cult building.
The oldest surviving building of the Reformati in Ukraine is the Church of St. Casimir in Lviv. The Reformati arrived in Lviv from Przemyśl with the assistance of Lviv Mayor Stanisław Mnišek and Archbishop Jan Andrzej Prukhnitski. Thanks to the efforts of Friar Bonaventure, who was one of the first followers of the Reformati in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, in 1630 a wooden monastery and church of Saints Rokh and Sebastian were built. Land for construction of the monastery was donated by the Ruska noble lady Sophia Danylovych (mother of King Jan III Sobieski of Poland). The land was located under a mountain with a high foot and was not suitable as a building site. To solve this problem, Fr. Bonaventure decided to involve young people in the work.
In his sermons, he promised that their work in the name of God and the local community would be as rewarded as the number of wheelbarrows they could bring down from this mountain. The works were carried out very quickly and soon the mountain was turned into a plain and became suitable for the construction of a church and a monastery. However, in 1648 the wooden monastery buildings were burned down during the siege of Lviv by Cossack troops.
In 1656-1667, a stone church was built on the site of a wooden church, at the expense of Mykola Beganovsky, a castellan from Kamyanets. The architect of the church is unknown.
The three-dimensional composition of Lviv church fully complies with the statutory requirements of the Reformati. The side facades of the walls are devoid of decor, except for the crowning cornice. The temple is covered with a gabled roof, which is decorated with an elegant signature.
The main facade of the Church of St. Casimir is completed with a Baroque pediment with stone vases and niches with images of saints.
According to historical data, the temple was rebuilt in 1730 at the expense of the Kyiv hunter Franciszek Zawadski. Probably, the architect Paolo Fontana could have been involved in this work.
In 1783, the monastery of the Reformati Fathers was abolished by the Austrian authorities, and their buildings, together with the land, were given to the Sisters of Charity to maintain an orphanage, whose hospital was located in a neighboring area. The Reformati were transferred to the Church of St. Mykhail - the monastery of the Barefoot Carmelites. In 1789 the monks were forced to leave the city.
The orphanage and the hospital functioned until 1939. In the 1950s -1970s, a labor colony for underage girls was located in the orphanage, a gym - in the church, and a police school - in the hospital.
In 2007 the church was transferred to the Greek Catholic Church under the consecration of St. Clement Sheptytskyi. The educational building of the Lviv State University of Internal Affairs is located in the buildings of the Reformati Monastery and the Hospital of Mercy.
66 Shevchenko Street
Lviv
In 1894, at a meeting of the leaders of the Polish province of the Reformati, it was decided to establish a monastery in Lviv.
The project of the Church of the Holy Family and the monastery of the Reformati Fathers in Lviv was designed by Lviv architect Michal at the same time the Reformati returned to Lviv Kovalchuk in 1896. Construction took five years. The solemn consecration by Archbishop Józef Bilczewski took place on October 2, 1910. The house with a garden for the construction of the monastery was bought by the Order from Karl Sedmigray on January 9, 1895, and later he donated a nearby vacant piece of land. The rapid establishment and construction of the complex took place thanks to the Provincial of the Reformati Fr. Wilczynski, who managed to attract, in addition to the funds of the Reformati, the funds of the patronrs. In 1897 bells from Munich, bought in Peter Hilzer’s factory, stained glass to the altarpiece with the holy Franciscans were consecrated. In 1900, stained glass windows were brought from Vienna. In 1901, 6 altars of the Przemyśl factory of F. Mayer were installed. Organs for the temple were ordered from the Czech company Rieger (Krnov). By the end of 1901 the church was consecrated, but even after the consecration the decoration of the church continued, the interior paintings were mostly geometric and floral. They were made by the Polish artist Tadeusz Popel (1908-1910). During the First World War 4 bells and trumpets of the organ were requisitioned, also during the battles the windows of the monastery, the roof of the church, the signature and the stained glass windows were damaged. In 1925 the monastery was repaired, wooden beams were replaced with metal channels, new brick walls were built and several altars were remodeled. With the outbreak of World War II, the church and monastery were again severely damaged, so they were forced to close down. The USSR army and police occupied part of the monastery. After the establishment of Soviet power in Lviv, the Reformati monks left the city and returned to Przemyśl. In the second half of the 20th century the temple was used as a transit point for recruits, and the monastery premises as a dormitory for workers. The gable of the facade, the signature on the roof, the altars and the rest of the decorations were dismantled in the church. The nave was divided by a ceiling into two floors, the main nave was separated from the sides by walls, and a kitchen was arranged there.
In 1991, the destroyed shrine was handed over to the faithful of the Orthodox Church of St. Andrew the First Called. After reconstruction, the temple was completely changed, adapting it to their canons. The monastery is now used as private accommodation.
The former Franciscan Reformati monastery and the Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Sudova Vyshna were designed by the architect Paolo Anthony Fontana in 1730–1741. The land for construction was provided by King Augustus II.
From the preserved correspondence between the founder and the provincial it is known that P. Fontana came to Sudova Vyshna to determine the place for the construction of the monastery from Rava-Ruska, where he supervised the construction of the Reformati monastery.
Extremely modest architecture, as for the Fontana, this could be explained by the principle of the Order, which does not allow anything excessive in the buildings. However, inside the buildings you could see frescoes and seven magnificent altars. The most respected was considered to be the altar of St. Anthony of Padeva, decorated accordingly, which was presented to the monks by Jan Seminsky’s wife, Dorothy. In 1752, the first miracle under the patronage of St. Anthony before this image was recorded.
As for the frescoes, likewise to other churches of the congregation, on the arch of the presbytery there was a composition of adoration by Saints Dominic and Francis of the Cross of Christ, carried by angels. Figures of saints were also in niches on the facade, but they were plastered.
At the end of the 18th century in Sudova Vyshna a large-scale fire broke out in the parish church, as a result of which the remains of the church had to be dismantled. During the rule of Austria, a dwelling house was built at this place, which has survived to this day and under which there are still dungeons with burials of rich and influential burghers.
After the fire in the church, the role of the parish church was shifted for some time to the already mentioned church at the Monastery of the Friars Minor, but a few years later the church itself burned down in a fire (the miraculous image of St. Anthony was saved). Construction of the new church began elsewhere in 1884, and in 1890 it was consecrated as the Church of Virgin Mary Helper of the Faithful. Therefore, the building that now adorns one of the main streets of the city is not old. Its first cornerstone was laid in 1884.
During the First World War, a Russian military hospital was located here and part of the premises was damaged. When everything was rebuilt, World War II broke out, and the monastery was damaged again.
The Felician sisters, who took care of the orphanage, worked here for several years. The Germans took all the rooms from the nuns, leaving them only one cell to use.
After the establishment of Soviet power, the Reformati returned, but only until September 1945. When they left for Bronitsa, they took away the miraculous image of St. Anthony and several liturgical vessels. A library and archive remained in Sudova Vyshna, the fate of which has been unknown.
From 1970 until today a hospital for disabled and mentally ill women has been located here. For the needs of this institution, the architectural monument was rebuilt, and the Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary became adapted for the warehouse of salt, and later for furniture and linen. In 1989, the church was returned to the parishioners of Sudova Vyshna. Today only the defensive walls with buttresses and architectural elements of the ancient temple preserved in the house resemble the majestic complex of the monastery. The signature was dismantled, and the windows in the presbytery were bricked up, while new ones were knocked out in the side walls. There are no frescoes or altars left. Corridor and cell planning has also been changed. Around the monastery there is an old wall with a gate, on the facade of which the Heart of Jesus Christ is painted. That’s all that has been left of the old drawings. Some may have survived under the plaster. Near the monastery walls is an old Polish cemetery, where there are about a hundred burials in a rather abandoned state.