Panna Maria Oaks -- Panna Maria TX
N 28° 57.445 W 097° 53.890
14R E 607365 N 3203767
The historic live oak trees where founder Fr. Moczygemba and the first group of Polish settlers who followed him celebrated their first Mass upon arrival at Panna Maria.
Waymark Code: WMF85E
Location: Texas, United States
Date Posted: 09/08/2012
Views: 5
Father Leopold Moczygemba was born in the Silesia, Poland in 1824. He came to Texas in 1852 as a priest. He was struck by how similar the land in Texas was to that of his homeland. He wrote letters back home encouraging his friends and family to leave economic and social oppression by the Prussians to start new lives of prosperity and freedom in Texas.
Several hundred emigrants, including four of Fr. Moczygemba's brothers, sold everything and made the long journey to Texas. They arrived by boat in Galveston, then had to make their way by ox-cart to San Antonio. Fr. Moczygemba met them there and brought them to the place he had picked out for the settlement in newly-organized Karnes County Texas. He named the settlement Panna Maria, which means "Virgin Mary" in Polish.
The emigrants arrived in Panna Maria in late December. They celebrated the first Mass in the community, the Vigil of Christmas, on 24 Dec 1854 under two Live Oak trees that still stand today on the church grounds.
Several other groups of Polish immigrants from Silesia arrived over the next few years, and the colony began to grow. But life on the frontier was very hard. The emigrants grew angry with Fr. Moczygemba, and he was forced out of the community. He moved to Detroit Michigan, where he established a Polish Catholic Seminary. He died in 1891, and was buried on the seminary grounds.
Meanwhile, Panna Maria struggled on. Residents built the Church of the Immaculate Conception in 1856. When that church burned in 1875, they rebuilt a new, larger church which still stands today. They built a school, and businesses. Panna Maria applied for and got a post office (which still operates out of the Snoga store), and persevered.
Panna Maria had almost died out by the middle of the 20th century. A resurgence of interest in the Polish heritage of Panna Maria began in the mid-1960s around the millenium celebrations of Polish Christianity. Ten thousand people visited Panna Maria for the millenium celebration in 1966. Some of those celebrations were held under the historic Panna Maria Oaks.
By 1974 the hard feelings against Fr. Moczygemba had cooled. His body was exhumed from his resting place in Michigan and reinterred at Panna Maria, under the very same Live Oaks where he celebrated that first Christmas vigil Mass 120 years earlier.
Today Panna Maria retains its rural character, but tourism and events are integral to the town's economy. Several Bed and Breakfasts operate here, and a large new event space has been built. The church operates a small gift shop across the street in the historic Pilarczyk store building.
Website: [Web Link]
Historic Event:
Site of the First Mass at the founding of Panna Maria TX 24 Dec 1854
Year: 1854
Species: Live Oak
Approximate Age: 200
Location: Panna Maria TX
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