On November 1, 2009 ceremonies dedicating the Jan de Rosen mural “Poland Ever Faithful” were held at the National Shrine of Our Lady of Czestochowa in Pennsylvania.
Polonians had been informed earlier through various media that the mural might be forever lost. The Church of the Holy Family in Pittsburgh where the mural originally hung behind the altar, was closed in December, 2008. Through the efforts of several Polonia groups, the mural was turned over to the Pauline Fathers at the National Shrine in Doylestown, PA. The Pauline Fathers took on the responsibility of having the mural taken down, transported, renovated and re-hung in the Chapel of St. Anne. The project turned out to be very costly and funds are still needed to cover them.
The dedication ceremony took place after the 11:00 a.m. Mass at the Shrine. If you haven’t attended Mass at the Shrine you’ve missed a wonderful experience. The magnificent, impressive setting and the singing of the choir are moving and very spiritual. Following the Mass, the worshippers moved to the Chapel of St. Anne where the Provincial Fr. Tadeusz Lizinczyk, OSPPE, blessed the painting and gave a brief background of the project and then introduced the artist-renovator, Mr. Maciej Szczepanowski.
President Deborah Majka and members of the American Council for Polish Culture (ACPC) attended the ceremony. Pres. Majka presented ACPC’s donation of $2,000 to Fr. Lizinczyk as a result of income from a drawing for a beautiful Szopka created by Robert Flanagan and profits from the annual ACPC raffle chaired by Paul Bosse during the ACPC’s annual convention at Hartford this past summer.
Two ACPC Affiliates of which de Rosen had been a member, i.e., the Polish Arts League of Pittsburg and the Polish American Arts Association of Washington DC, as well as attendees at the recent Polish American Congress Board meeting also contributed to the costs of the project.
Among those attending the ceremony was Bill Reynold, conservator, who was de Rosen’s assistant at the time and worked on the mural and participated in its installation. He stated that he was pleased with the renovation and wholly approved Mr. Szczepanowski’s work.
The project is not yet fully paid for, so if readers have an interest in helping to preserve a masterpiece by a Polish-American artist, please send your contributions made out to: ACPC, with “de Rosen mural” on the memo line and mail to:
Mr. Gregory Biestek, ACPC Treasurer, 817 Berkshire,
Grosse Pointe Park, MI 48230.