The Resurrectionist Fathers
French-born Bishop Claude Marie Dubuis of Galveston traveled to Europe in 1866 to seek money and priests for his far-flung diocese encompassing the frontier of Texas. He met with the leaders of the Congregation of the Resurrection, a Polish order. He recruited Father Adolf Bakanowski, Father Vincent Barzyński, and Brother Felix Zwiardowski to come to Texas to minister to the Poles. A group of young Polish priests from the Resurrectionist order arrived in Texas and had a profound effect on Panna Maria and its neighboring communities. They arrived, it is said, “With a rifle in one hand and a rosary in the other.”
Father Adolph Bakanowski
Father Adolf Bakanowski, as vicar-general for the Resurrectionist mission in Texas, was responsible for all of the Polish settlements in the region, including as Panna Maria. Father Bakanowski was called to Chicago in 1869 to serve as pastor to the new Saint Stanislaus Kostka Church. He was called to Rome in 1873 and was replaced at Saint Stanislaus Kostka by Father Vincent Barzyński.
Father Felix Zwiardowski
Brother Zwiardowski was nearing the end of his training when he joined the mission. During the first few months following his arrival in Texas, he studied theology with Father Bakanowski and completed his studies with Bishop Dubuis in Galveston. He was ordained in Panna Maria. His ordination would be one of the most significant events in the religious life of Panna Maria during the Reconstruction period. Priests and people from the various Polish settlements converged on Panna Maria for five days of celebration. In 1874, when Father Barzyński was called to Chicago, Father Zwiardowski, parish priest and school administrator in Panna Maria, assumed the duties at Saint Michael in San Antonio.
Father Vincent Barzyński
Father Vincent Barzyński was one of the first members of the Congregation of the Resurrection to come to Texas, where he established San Antonio’s Saint Michael Parish in 1866. Father Barzyński was called to Chicago in 1874 to serve as pastor of Saint Stanislaus Kostka. Here he worked alongside former Panna Maria resident and schoolteacher Peter Kiolbassa and Father Moczygemba to found the Polish Roman Catholic Union of America (PRCUA). During Father Barzyński’s long 25-year tenure at Saint Stanislaus, the church grew to the largest Polish parish in the U.S. and became known as the “mother church” of Chicago’s Polonia.