Monastery of the Barefoot Carmelite Fathers

Sometimes it was difficult to break away from one's friends, to get out of the refreshing waves of the beloved Skawa, but the melodic voice of the Carmelite bells was so strong, so penetrating to the depths of my soul, so I walked towards it. Yes, indeed, I lived next to the parish church, but I grew up in St. Joseph's church.

John Paul II

The Carmelite Barefoot Fathers came to Wadowice in 1892, and with them the later saint Fr. Rafał Kalinowski. The monastery “On The Hill” was built between 1897 and 1899. Currently, it includes: a church, monastery and retreat house.

Karol Wojtyła and the Carmelite monastery had strong ties because he received his first scapular here. As he recalled himself, he encountered the Carmelites since his childhood and knew their characteristic habit. He often went with his father to the St. Joseph's Church, where he received spiritual formation, received the sacrament of penance and attended services. He had never passed up on the novena to the Blessed Virgin Mary of the Scapular before the feast of Our Lady of the Mount Carmel (16 July), as well as the first Fridays in honour of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus. He received his first scapular from the hands of Father Sylwester of St. Elisha (Ignacy Gleczman, 1883-1961) after his First Communion, at the same time becoming a member of the Confraternity of the Holy Scapular. Since then, also as the pope, he had always worn a linen scapular and had never replaced it with a scapular medal. As a student of a public middle school, he was involved in the work of a theatre company, cooperating with a similar amateur group from the private middle school of the Barefoot Carmelites. Since then, his friendship with Mieczysław Kotlarczyk, a teacher from the Carmelite middle school, had begun. During World War II, K. Wojtyła often visited the Carmelite monastery at Rakowicka Street in Cracow. He participated in secret meetings organised by monks with people of culture. One of the invited guests was M. Kotlarczyk himself, already involved in the work of the Rhapsodic Theatre at that time. It is believed that Wojtyła tried to join the Carmelite Order twice. Eventually, at the end of World War II, he revealed his intention to Fr.  cardinal A. Sapieha, to which the Cardinal replied: First, you have to finish what you started. In the following years, the Carmelite spirituality was still very close to him. He dedicated his seminar work to St. John of the Cross: “The concept of the means of unification of soul with God in the teachings of St. John of the Cross” and the doctoral thesis: “The Doctrine of Faith in St. John of the Cross”.

In 1991, John Paul II canonized Fr. R. Kalinowski from the “Monastery On The Hill” in Wadowice.  The cell of the saint on the first floor of the monastery is open to visitors, where you can still see the original equipment and an exhibition of personal memorabilia and a description of his life path.

After the death of John Paul II, the Carmelites of Wadowice made a request to Fr. cardinal Stanisław Dziwisz to transfer the Pope's scapular to the monastery. Today this relic is exhibited in a golden rosette placed on the wall on the left side of the altar of Our Lady of the Scapular. In 2004, the painting of St. Joseph in the main altar was decorated with a special votive offering, the Ring of the Fisherman of the Holy Father John Paul II, and the Barefoot Carmelite church “On The Hill” received the title of the Sanctuary of St. Joseph.