THE NORBERTINE CONVENT IN IMBRAMOWICE

The convent of the Norbertine canonesses in Imbramowice is one of two such in Poland. It was founded circa 1223 to 1226 by Iwo Odrowąż, Bishop of Krakow, and his uncle Imbram; the Imbramowice village was owned by the convent for the next several centuries.

The original brick-and-wood buildings were lost in a 1710 fire; the new ones built thereafter have served the Order ever since. The Church of St Peter and St Paul, with its sumptuous late Baroque interior, was built between 1711 and 1712 according to the design of a renowned Polish architect, Kacper Bażanka. The main altar features a miraculous painting of Christ as Man of Sorrows.

The motto of the Norbertine Order is "One heart and one soul in God." The Order promotes the adoration of the Eucharist and, like the Order of Saint Paul, Marian devotion. The canonesses are enclosed, that is, they are not allowed to leave the convent grounds. The symbolic grating isolates the nuns from the outside world so that they can concentrate on the ideal life devoted solely to God and prayer, day after day. The Liturgy of the Hours is of particular importance to the Imbramowice convent. It is still sung there as a Gregorian chant, going back to the 14th century as preserved in historical manuscripts.

The convent chronicle notes multiple visits from the Pauline Fathers, as well as holy Masses and spiritual retreats organised for them. The deep ties between the Paulines and the Norbertines was expressed in the Confraternity: an informal association formed to help the two orders carry out their mission in the Church.