Nowolipki
An unassuming place in central Warsaw

The First Miracle on Nowolipki, 1959

According to witnesses, an apparition of the so-called Compassionate and Merciful Our Lady of Muranow appeared in the evenings. Her luminous figure was said to have appeared against the gilded sphere at the base of the cross crowning the roof of the church.

The first apparition took place on Wednesday, October 7, the feast of Our Lady of the Rosary, at around 7 p.m. Some witnesses spoke only of an unusual brightness near the cross; others described Mary with outstretched hands, in a pale dress, with a halo or a crown of stars. Many accounts also mention a luminous cloud and a figure visible not only from the church square, but also from nearby streets, balconies and rooftops.

The next day the Virgin Mary did not appear, but in the following days the apparitions were said to repeat regularly, usually in the evening or at night. According to the parish chronicle and testimonies collected years later, the phenomenon continued almost until the end of October. Tens of thousands of people gathered outside the church; accounts and studies mention around 35,000 believers. Residents of Warsaw, people from other parts of Poland, clergy, nuns and curious observers came to Nowolipki.

Two versions of the beginning of the events survived. According to one, the first person to notice the unusual figure on the tower was an approximately twelve-year-old girl living opposite the church. According to another, later repeated in security service documents, the first report of a “light phenomenon” was made by a militia officer. Whatever the exact beginning, news of the miracle spread rapidly.

The parish priest informed the metropolitan curia about the event. The curia issued a statement saying that the alleged miracle was a natural phenomenon.

The official position of the Church was cautious. On October 11 the parish read a statement asking the faithful to remain calm and reminding them that a supernatural event can be recognized only when it cannot be explained naturally. On October 15 the Warsaw Metropolitan Curia issued a similar statement, asking believers to attend services in their own parish churches and not to disrupt pastoral work at Nowolipki. Security Service documents nevertheless show that some clergy and believers continued to come to the church.

The authorities were alarmed by religious gatherings in the center of the capital, especially because they were taking on a political and anti-socialist character. Secret police officers noted that the faithful sang, among other songs, “My chcemy Boga” - “We want God” - including the words: “We want God in books, in schools…” In October 1959 the conflict between the state and the Church was sharpening again: crosses were being removed from schools, religious instruction was being restricted, the Church faced heavy taxes, and seminarians were again being drafted into the army. In that context, a praying crowd outside a Warsaw church was more than a local curiosity for the authorities.

The Security Service did not merely watch the church square. Its files include perlustration of correspondence: the secret inspection of letters, from which officers prepared summaries and statistics. This allowed the state apparatus to track how news of the miracle travelled around the country. Letters described the figure of the Virgin Mary, the crowds outside the church, searchlights, militia actions and successive attempts to paint over the luminous place.

The Security Service also noticed that cars with diplomatic plates began arriving near the church. Reports mentioned vehicles from the US and Israeli embassies, showing that the matter was being watched beyond the official apparatus of the Polish People’s Republic.

In the famous photograph that circulated around the world, the solitary church can be seen with its tower rising from a sea of ruins of the former ghetto. The same historical layer of Muranow is connected with the Ringelblum Archive, hidden in the cellars of the school at the former 68 Nowolipki Street. As early as the 1950s, the legend of the church’s miraculous survival from the wartime destruction strengthened belief in its supernatural qualities.

The authorities decided to paint the cross finial, but the first attempt failed: the wrong paint was washed away by rain the next day. This only strengthened the belief that a higher power was watching over the church and blocking the actions of the security services.

According to the chronology discussed in Witold Dabrowski’s book, the first painting took place on October 15, during the night of October 15-16. The sphere was painted khaki or dark green and sprinkled with sawdust to eliminate the reflection. Rain washed the paint away the next morning. The following day a thick matte black paint was used.

Only the second painting produced the result expected by the authorities. The crowd was dispersed only after repression. In total, 766 people were detained: according to Ministry of Internal Affairs statistics, 551 men and 215 women. 602 people were placed under arrest, 164 were released after warning interviews, and some cases were referred to courts or administrative boards. Clergy were also among those detained.

The echo of these events returned eleven years later, during the second miracle on Nowolipki.

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