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Brzyskorzystew - Church of St Katherine of Alexandria

In the turn of the 13th and the 14th centuries, the archbishops of Gniezno built and gave a financial ground to the Church of St. Catherine of Alexandria in Brzyskorzystew, established a parish there, which included such villages as: Brzyskorzystew, Brzyskorzystewko, Górki Dabskie and Górki Zagajne, Koraczewko, Retkowo, Sobiejuchy and Obrona Lesna. Górki Zagajne has belonged to the Parish Church in Dziewierzewo since 1948. In the records of the Gniezno Curia, it is mentioned that Maciej was the rector in 1415 and Marcin Koszewski was the rector in 1460.

The Parish in Brzyskorzystew was so well paid that the rector could have a priest and a teacher. "The garden near the barn belonged to the presbytery; the fields, the one fourth of the acre with meadows and apart of the fild among the hereditary fields on the way to Dochanowo, belonged to the priest, the teacher and the farmer. The rector took a field tax from farm fields; peasants paid 1 grosz for the one fourth of the aere and 2 groszys as a field tax. Also the rector took the field tax from the peasants fields of Sobiejuchy, from fields in Brzyskorzystew, Górki Dabskie and Górki Zagajne. There was a parish school in the presbytery. In the 17th century, the rector Poplawski was attacked and the attackers first tied him, then beat the servants heavily and robbed the church and the presbytery.

On June 18th, 1826, the church, made of wood, as well as the farm buildings and the church documents burnt during the administration of Rev. Augustyn Morawski, who build the contemporary church with brick and timber walls. The church was blessed by the vice-dean of Znin, Rev. Jakub Wesolowski on September 19th, 1828. The one-aisled church has 3 altars: the baroque high alter with the picture of St. Catherine erected in place of the previons gotic one by the reverend rector Ignatius Zajac and two gotic side alters with pictures depicting the Transfiguration and the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary. Starting his administration, Rev. Konstanty Kucharski had the detriorating presbytery overhauled. Reverend Ignatius Zajac founded 3 bells, which were stolen by the Germans later on and wonderful figure of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus Christ in front of the church. Rev. Alfons Dekowski founded 2 bells: the bigger one carrying the name of Mary, Our Lady of Czestochwa, and the smaller one of St. Catherine of Alexandria on August 6th, 1961. The chapel of St. Izydor erected in the shape of the rotunda by the then owners of the mansion, Mieczyslaw and Wanda Chlapowski, dating from the turn of 1916 and 1917 can be found in the area of the parish, in Sobiejuchy.

The name of the rectors of the Parish Church: of St. Catherine of Alexandria in Brzyskorzystew:

Rev. Morkowski Augustyn - died on September 27th, 1843; buried in the local church.
Rev. Sucharski Teofil - from June1844 to April 1861.
Rev. Kucharski Konstanty - from May 1861 to 1902.
Rev. Klein Kazimierz - from January 1905 to February 1911; thanks to him there a new contemporary presbytery since 1906.
Rev. Czyzak Mieczyslaw - from October 1911 to June 1927.
Rev. Zajac Ignacy - from July 1927 to the second world war.
Rev.Wilhelm Lucjan – from February 1945 to February 1947.
Rev. Wierzchowiecki Zbigniew – from February 1947 to August 1947.
Rev. Dekowski Alfons - from September 1st 1947 to March 1st 1976.
Rev. Siwak Czeslaw – from 1976 to February 1992.
Rev. Garczarek Zbigniew - from 1992 to June 1999.
Rev. Latanowicz Tomasz - from June 1999.

The records of St. Catherine were filmed by the LDS in 2004 and are currently available at the Family History web site.