The first European settlers arrived in what is now Chicopee in 1638. In the 19th century the city became an important textile industry center, to which Poles, emigrants from the poor areas of the Austrian partition (Galicia), began arriving in 1880. Ten years later Franciszek Jaworek, Wojciech Tuleja, Piotr Oparowski and Jakub Sitnik founded the mutual-help Society of St. Stanislaus, which initiated the establishment of a parish in 1891. It was the first Polish parish in the western part of Massachusetts, and for decades it played a key role in the religious and social life of Polish communities in this part of the USA. In recognition of the activity of successive generations of priests, nuns and laity Pope John Paul II granted St. Stanislaus Church the status of Minor Basilica. The ceremony took place on 7 July 1991, on the centenary of the Polish parish in Chicopee, and was attended by Cardinal Franciszek Macharski from Kraków, Bishop of Springfield Joseph F. Maguire and other visitors.

The first parish priest of the Polish community in Chicopee appointed by Bishop Patrick O’Reilly was Fr. Franciszek Chałupka, a graduate of the Baltimore Seminary, who had only arrived in the USA in 1885. Thanks to his efforts a wooden two-storey building was constructed, designed to house the church, school and parish offices. He celebrated the first Mass, the Midnight Mass on Christmas Eve 1891, in the still unfinished church on the first floor of the building. The church was dedicated in 1895 and the ceremony was conducted by Bishop Thomas Beaven. In 1897 the Felician Sisters Maria, David and Felicia took up their ministry in the parish and started to carry out the function of teachers in the school located on the lower floor of the church building.

However, the growing community was plagued by various conflicts. One of them resulted in an official complaint to the Apostolic Delegate Cardinal Francesco Satolli against the parish priest, brought by 12 parishioners and concerning the increasing debt of the parish. As a result of the disagreements in 1897 some of the faithful founded a new independent Polish community in Chicopee, dedicated to Our Lady of the Rosary.

In 1902 the parish of St. Stanislaus Bishop and Martyr got under the care of the Franciscans of the Province of St. Anthony of Padua, headed by Father Stanisław Czeluśniak. Already before that they had been conducting very popular missions in Chicopee. In the same year the school was taken over by the nuns from the newly established Congregation of the Franciscan Sisters of St. Joseph, for whom a two-storey wooden convent was built. The Franciscans, who still serve in the parish today, raised funds for a new, larger church, better adjusted to the ambitions of the parishioners. The Baroque Revival church accommodating more than 800 people was built between 1908 and 1909 according to the design by Robert J. Reiley and Gustav E. Steinback from New York. This was one of the first works executed by these architects and became a springboard for their careers, which after 1914 developed separately. Both were educated not only at New York universities, but also in Europe. Reiley studied in Paris from 1903 to 1904, and Steinback first spent 3 years in Germany and then apprenticed for a year at Atelier Bernard.

The church was dedicated in 1909 by Bishop Thomas Beaven, and the homily at the Mass was given by Bishop Paweł Rhode, who was the first Pole among the Roman Catholic hierarchy in the USA (he was born in Wejherowo and he and his mother emigrated to the USA when he was 10 years old). A year later St. Stanislaus Parish in Chicopee celebrated the 500th anniversary of the Battle of Grunwald with a two-day festival culminating in a colorful parade through the city.

The building is a three-nave basilica with a two-tower façade, with two churches (upper and lower) and a motto written on the portals: DOMUS TUAM DOMINE DECET SANCTITUDO (Lord, sanctity befits Your house). It looks very majestic not only due to its massive size, as it stands out among the modest buildings of the neighborhood, but also due to its red sandstone cladding.

The character of the interior is predominantly determined by paintings. In the semi-dome over the apse there is the icon of Our Lady of Czestochowa surrounded by angels. The vault over the nave features trompe l’œil coffers and an image of St. Stanislaus floating among the clouds with angels holding the attributes of the bishop. These depictions are complemented by painted symbols related to the theology of the Church as a community, as well as the coats of arms of Pope Sixtus V (1585-1590), who was a member of the Order of St. Francis, and Pope Pius X (1903-1914), during whose pontificate the church was erected. In the windows of the church there are multicolored stained-glass windows telling the story of the life of Christ and Mary, which were probably made by an American studio. The altars are made of wood and polychromed to imitate marble. The statues which were originally set up on the altars were removed during the latest renovation; they are now in the lower church, where the liturgy is held on ordinary days. In 1983 the icon of Our Lady of Czestochowa took a prominent place in the chancel of the lower church. There is still a Polish American community in the area, for whom every Sunday one Mass is celebrated in Polish.

Chronology

1891 - establishment of St. Stanislaus B&M parish in Chicopee

1895 - dedication of the multi-function parish building

1897 - opening of St. Stanislaus School

1902 - the Franciscans take the parish and the school under their care

1908-09 - construction of the new church

1916 - conversion of the old church to a school

1920 - installation of the new organ

1924 - installation of the new organ

1925-26 - installation of the new organ

1973 - a fire at the school building

1976 - opening of the new school

1991 - granting the Church of St. Stanislaus the status of a Minor Basilica

1996 - granting the Church of St. Stanislaus the status of a Minor Basilica

Text originally published in a book issued by the POLONIKA Institute.
Anna Sylwia Czyż, Bartłomiej Gutowski, Paweł Sieradzki, Polish Parishes and Churches in Milwaukke, Winsconsin and Massachusetts, Warszawa 2021, pp. 201-213.