"Community of Loners" : intimate prayer requests sent to Kalwaria Zebrzydowska in the 1960s and 1970s

This article focuses on the correspondence sent to Kalwaria Zebrzydowska in the 1960s and 1970s, consisting of letters requesting prayers at the sanctuary. The author presents these sources, characterizing how the senders addressed the Bernardine monks and also asked for the intercession of the Holy Advocates (especially the Virgin Mary of Kalwaria and Jesus in the Third Fall). The author highlights the concerns and distress experienced by the senders, including illness, suffering, violence, alcoholism, stigmatization due to rural origin, and the taboo surrounding mental illness. The article delves into two communities: the family (closest to the senders) and the Church (representing national values during the era of People's Poland). In the final section, the author explores the theme of loneliness in the context of the correspondents and interprets the unique sense of community that emerges in the letters. These individuals, despite their differences, speak with a single voice, adhere to the rules of the contemporary sacred language, and comment on their lives in the context of Christian sacredness.