A description of Sokal, as well as the history of this town, related, among other things, to Casimir Poniatowski and trade relations with other towns. Historical turbulence associated with Sokal during the Cossack wars, among others, is recalled. In Sokal there is a holy picture painted by Jakub Wężyk. There is also a Bernardine monastery in Sokal, whose construction was initiated by Jan Ostroróg. (Source: Tygodnik Illustrowany, Warsaw 1862, T:5, pp. 243-246., after: Digital Library of the University of Łódź).

A modernised reading of the text

Fr Bernardine Church in Sokal.

Having crossed the long strip of sands stretching from the San, and going through Sieniawa, Oleszyce, Lubartów, Niemirów, Narol, Tomaszów, where you will meet dense pine forests, peat meadows sown with molehills and sometimes high hills, almost mountains, made of the barkiest yellow sand - the area begins to revive with more lush vegetation; Instead of gloomy pin woods, one can see leafy groves, prosperous countryside, eye-catching patches of black earth; the promised land of Belzka, as Belzhans like to call it with pride, is just beginning. In fact, here and there, especially in the vicinity of Belz, towards Hrubieszów, you have excellent soil, where the villages are inhabited by prosperous noblemen who enjoy the reputation of good farmers, a reputation which they should share with the blessed land.

The middle of the Belzki River is crisscrossed, or rather, in countless streams, branches and floods, by the Bug, which has an outstanding character of a forest river. Only a small part of the former forest remains; farming has prevailed over forestry here, and for a long time. In spite of this, the still beautiful Bug River forests are abundant with roe deer and wild boar. In the past, with a different shape of the borders, this was not a sunken corner at all: historical memories of battles fought and vetting of troops alone indicate that Sokal nad Bugem was, in some respect, an important military point.

Since the creation of Galicia, this part of the żółkiew region, deprived of a brick road, not lying on any of the main lines of communication, was thus cut off from the centres of commercial and intellectual activity. In many houses the old customs were preserved, while in others a new mannerism crept in. In such a site lies Sokal, famous for its miraculous image of the Blessed Virgin. The town itself, which stretches quite far along the Bug River, is no different today from the poor towns settled by Jews and the poor bourgeoisie.

It used to be a trading town; especially during the reign of Prince Kazimierz Poniatowski, chamberlain of the Crown and starosta of Sokal, it became populated and built up. The prince kept numerous herds here, built stables, and set up stalls for merchants in the suburb called Karavan. Numerous fairs, crowds of people flocking to the wonderful place, made Sokal the most commercial point in this corner of Belzky. For a long time after Galicia came under the Austrian sceptre and nearby Brody was turned into a free-trading town, the Jews of Sokal kept up a certain amount of traffic, delivering goods in carts to the manors, just as the Hungarians carried them on their backs.

Sokal is not infrequently mentioned in our history. It was here that Konstantin Ostrogski fought a battle with the Tatars in 1519, but it was an unfortunate battle. In 1519, Konstantin Ostrogski fought an unlucky battle here due to the impudent impetuosity of the knights, who instead of waiting for the Tatars to cross the River Bug, started to cross the river themselves, and were shot from their bows by the overwhelming forces. Beautiful on this occasion is the mention of Frederick Herburton, who, seeing the flower of knighthood perishing, dismounted his horse and cried out:

"God forbid that I, by my kind brother, should not give my throat!

he jumped into the densest crowd of Tartars and, beating to the death, was finally cut down.

During the Cossack wars, the Sokal castle put up a brave resistance. It was here that Jan Kazimierz held a great vetting of the army and the army-in-arms when he marched to Beresteczko. In 1655 Chmielnicki, having dispersed his troops, was tempted by the monastery, well fortified by a wall and garrisoned by three hundred soldiers; but he did not dare to take it, only asked to be let into the church. He went in and prayed on his knees, and offered a silver cup filled with thalers as a memento of his visit. When the Swedes invaded during the reign of August II, General Steinbock plundered the monastery of the valuables deposited there by the Belorussian nobility. Two years later, Augustus II recommended himself to the care of the miraculous painting in this place.

Sieniawski, the Grand Hetman of the Crown, crushed the Lithuanian army of Leszczyński's party which was camped here. We can thus see from these references that the location of this area was exposed by its location to heavy military encounters and battles. The monastery itself, though altered today, shows that it was both an escape and a defence in times of danger. Like the monastery of Częstochowa, Podkamieniec, Berdyczów and so many others, it has towers, walls with loopholes and a defensive gate. The year of its foundation, 1599, is mentioned in the monastery chronicles, and this defensive monastery was probably built for the safe and dignified location of the painting of the Virgin Mary, which has long been famous for its strange graces. The history of the painting itself goes back to more distant times.

According to the monastery's legend, the picture was painted on a cypress panel not by human hands but by angels, like the one in Czestochowa, and always as a result of the pious intention of the famous painter Jakub Wężyk, who, having made a pilgrimage to Czestochowa, experienced a miracle on himself when he regained his sight. Grateful for the grace of the Blessed Virgin he vowed to paint a similar picture and to donate it to some church. He began to paint the image of St. Mary of Czestochowa from memory, but his memory failed him and he was unable to reproduce its features faithfully.

He went on a second pilgrimage, but when he returned he was not satisfied with his painting. On his third pilgrimage, when he returned home, he was surprised to find a painting that he had left barely touched up, finished as beautifully as possible with a master's hand; recognising the work of an angelic hand, he took it to Sokal and gave it to the priests, who placed it in a church on a promontory. This was said to have happened around 1400; later, during a severe Tartar attack, the church was burnt down, but the painting survived; it was retrieved from the ruins and placed in a newly-built wooden church on a promontory between the rivers Bug and Lviv.

This secluded place, overgrown with dense trees, was less exposed to Tartar raids, and the church survived for nearly a hundred years, served by the Sokal priests who went there to pray; the people, experiencing the effects of the miraculous image's grace, flocked there in greater numbers than to other churches. With this image in grave illness, he decided to expand this foundation, build a church with a monastery and dedicate it to the monks of the Rule of St. Francis of Seraphim, the Bernardines. He brought them from Lviv d. 16 October 1599, giving them this place with an endowment for perpetuity.

However, building on the marshy ground took 43 years and required considerable investment. In order to lay solid foundations, deep ditches had to be dug and piled thickly with alder stakes, and then coals had to be poured between them, pots of crushed slag had to be laid and oil had to be sprinkled on the unquenched lime. This is why the cornerstone consecration ceremony was performed by the successor of Bishop Gomolínsky, a priest of the Lords, who was greeted by a great influx of people and counted among the most eminent institutions in Poland.

At the beginning of the 18th century, when, as a result of the heavy tribulations through which the Republic had passed, it was expected to enter blissful moments of peace, the idea arose in the nation of paying tribute to the Blessed Virgin, the protector of the Crown, by adorning miraculous images of her with the emblem of royalty. The House of Potocki, having experienced many miracles of the Sokalski image, wished to spread the fame of the place throughout the whole of the Republic. Therefore Jozef Felicyan Potocki, the Great Crown Warden, started making efforts to this end, first of all with Rev. Aleksander Fredro, Bishop of Chelm, to appoint a commission to verify the experienced miracles and thus obtain permission from the Holy See to hold a solemn coronation.

The aforementioned bishop, being an ardent devotee of Mary, which he himself often professed, saying: "To serve Mary is to reign", he eagerly took up the idea and appointed a clerical commission for 19 March 1723, calling for all those who had ever experienced miraculous graces of the Blessed Virgin of Sokal to appear on that day, for the purpose of making their testimony under oath. The trial of the testified miracles, written down by the commission and confirmed by the signatures and seal of the Chełm Ordinariate, was sent through Jozef Felicyan Potocki to the Holy See. The matter of the coronation was all the easier as the then reigning King August II interceded with his own letter to Innocent XIII.

It was also supported by Franciszek Potocki, the starost of Ropczyce and Bełz, who was in Rome at the time, but was unable to perform the coronation when the Holy Father was present at the Sejm. Accordingly, the Apostolic Nuncio Sanlinus, Archbishop of Trebizond, delegated the Archbishop of Lviv, Fr Jan Skarbek, and the Archbishop of Lviv, Fr Jan Skarbek, to perform the act. 8 September 1724, accompanied by the bishop of Chelm and Lutsk, crowned the miraculous image of Sokal. The costs of the coronation were borne throughout the octave by Michał Potocki, Voivode of Wolyn, Starosta of Krasnostaw, Lucinsk and Sokal, known for his great piety, once a supporter of Leszczynski and defender of the liberties of the Republic. The Sokalski church, privileged with numerous indulgences, always brings thousands of pious people.

The most solemn and frequented indulgenced feast is that of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary on 7 and 8 September, as well as on 3 and 4 October for the feast of St. John the Baptist. 3 and 4 October for the feast of St Francis of Seraphim, the patron saint of the Order. Smaller indulgences are granted at Pentecost, on the feast of St Anthony of Padua, on the feast of St Apostles Peter and Paul, on the Ruthenian feast of these apostles, and on the Portiuncula on 2 August. Usually, for the larger indulgenced feasts, Uniate priests come to help, as the Bernardine monastery itself has a small number of clergy. In former centuries, there were 50 and 60 monks; in 1780, there were 40, with 25 to 30 mass priests among them. Josephine decrees greatly reduced this number; it was only under Emperor Francis I, when the novitiate was allowed to open, that the congregation gained some strength.

Today there are seven Mass priests, two seminarians and seven friars. The Sokal monastery, built in the shape of a fortified fortress with towers, walls and fosses, has been exposed to numerous war disasters, from which it has repeatedly emerged with a defensive hand; but neither sieges nor Tartar and Cossack assaults have inflicted so much harm on it as fresh events. He suffered the greatest loss of his valuables in 1810, when the bankrupt Austrian treasury took all his gold and silver valuables, not only from the church treasury, but also from the altars. This sacrilegious seizure did not work out well; for if the treasury, exhausted by the Napoleonic wars, received any income, it was not more than thirty years later that it fell into a new and more terrible bankruptcy. Today it has nothing itself, and nothing to take.

With the passage of time, and the collapse of income, the monastery buildings have also suffered a great deal. Of the original four towers, two were demolished, badly scratched and in danger of collapse; the same happened to a number of manor houses, outbuildings and the brewery, which, when there was no money to repair and maintain them properly, had to be demolished at least for material. However, the worst disaster befell this sacred place in 1843, on the 25th of May. 25 May. A fire broke out inside the church at about 11 o'clock at night, burning out not only the entire inner church with altars and organ, but also destroying the wall paintings, all of which happened so violently that not even the Holy Sacrament could be rescued from the flames. The great altar, which housed the miraculous image of the Blessed Virgin, was burnt down along with the others, and of the miraculous image only the copper dress survived, but stripped of all its precious ornaments.

In this way, the image of the Blessed Virgin of Sokalska, this sacred memento that has been kept in the hearts of the Polish people for almost four centuries, disappeared irrevocably. In addition to this irreparable loss, not only did the church itself burn under the copper, but also the entire monastery building, albeit covered with brick tiles. Only the tower, housing the bells and the treasury with the church apparatus, survived the disaster of the fire; moreover, everything turned into piles of burnt walls.

It would seem that the Lord God unleashed this punishment on the experience of the hearts of the people of today and their zeal in maintaining the tabernacles of the Lord's glory; but to the honour of the descendants of the fathers who were not born of piety, when the news of the fire spread around the country, the hearts of the citizens were stirred and contributions for the restoration of the church and the monastery were generously poured in. When sufficient funds had been raised in money and materials, the work began that same year. In the course of five years, the monastery and the church were carefully restored and decorated, and although they lost their old features, the sanctity of the place remained the same. In 1848, on 7 September, a solemn feast was held there, at which Father Jan Marcelli Gutkowski, former Bishop of Podlasie, celebrated.

The painting of the Blessed Virgin, newly painted on a copper plate but in imitation of the old one, and covered with a cloth that had been salvaged from the fire, was consecrated by the said bishop in Lviv, then carried in solemn procession from Krystynopol, a mile away from Sokal, and finally placed in the chapel of the Blessed Virgin by the celebrant after an appropriate service and sermon. The celebration brought together such a crowd of citizens and villagers as has not been seen for a long time. The present church has brand new altars, ornaments and paintings, almost nothing is left of the old one.

The gravestone inscriptions have been obliterated by the rubble of the falling walls, but a few portraits have survived, notably of the first founder, Jan Ostroróg, and some of the Potocki family. Also preserved in the chapel of the Virgin Mary are three bas-reliefs of good chiselling, depicting the Saviour's passion. Some of the church's apparatuses have remained untouched. Some of them are costly and beautifully made, including a green chasuble with embroidery depicting the Passion of Christ and a red suit of rich Turkish fabric. It is said that this chasuble was given to the monastery by John Sobieski.

There is also an expensive chasuble from the gift of Maria Theresa, Empress of Austria. The monastery archive contains detailed records of the history of the monastery since its foundation, a list of all offerings made to the church, but also of people buried in the church tombs. There is also the monastery library, with many good works in various languages. To give an idea of the riches that once adorned the image of the Blessed Virgin Mary, let us say that it was supported by silver columns with brasses, capitals and pilasters, between which stood two life-size statues of St Francis of Siena and St Anthony of Padua.

The pedestals beneath them were also clad in silver sheet metal. Around the image and on the columns were several hundred silver and gold votive offerings. Of the four monstrances, one was of old-fashioned intricate workmanship, pure gold, set with pearls and rubies; the other three were silver, gilded. There were seventeen chalices of various shapes; and what tins, crosses, pacifiers, reliquaries. The crowns alone numbered twelve; today there is not a single one. There were two dresses sewn with pearls and set with precious stones; today there are none.

The bottomless needs of the Austrian treasury long ago swallowed up these valuables dedicated to God's service. Today's treasury contains barely a few pieces of gilded copper church vessels. Doubtless, the glory of God is not harmed anyway; but how much has the very tradition attached to the pious intention of the donors suffered!....