The Church of Our Lady of Sorrows in Lack is a late-18th-century wooden church built for Greek Catholics, which survived an Orthodox period and has served Roman Catholics since 1951. It stands in the small village of Lack in gmina Hanna of Włodawa County, about 14 km north of Włodawa and a few kilometres west of the Bug. It is one of the few wooden sanctuaries in the region where the outlines of an old Polissian church can still be recognised.
The Radziwiłł Church
The Uniate church in Lack was built in 1795 at the expense of the Radziwiłłs of Biała. Its patron was Blessed Josaphat Kuntsevych, Uniate Archbishop of Polotsk. At first it was a chapel of the Uniate parish in neighbouring Dohobrody. The church was repaired in 1842. In 1875, when the tsarist authorities liquidated the Chełm Uniate Eparchy, the church passed to the Orthodox parish and remained Orthodox until the mid-20th century.
How the church became a Roman Catholic church
In 1951 the church passed to the Roman Catholic Church and was thoroughly rebuilt at the same time. Originally the church had a classic three-part plan: narthex, nave and sanctuary. During the rebuilding the narthex and nave were united, a barrel vault on four pillars was built over the nave, and the low tower with an onion dome on the facade was replaced by a simple flèche. In 1971–1975 the church was repaired, and in 1978 a separate parish was founded attached to it. Today Lack, Krasówka, Konstantyn and part of Zasatycze belong to it — about five hundred believers.
What has survived
The building is log-built, oriented to the east, board-sheathed, under a gable roof. The main altar is from the 18th century, with an image of Our Lady of Sorrows; two side altars are from the early 19th century. In the attic of the church, the royal doors from the lost iconostasis are still preserved — the most eloquent trace of the church's past. Among the ancient furnishings is a 19th-century painting of Christ with Mary Magdalene, a figure of the Risen Christ and a small 18th-century altar cross, as well as a 17th–18th-century chalice. Near the church stands an old Orthodox stone tombstone with a Cyrillic inscription.
How to get there
From Włodawa, drive north along road 816 to Dołhobrody (about 15 km), from there a few kilometres along a local road west to Lack. From Chełm it is about 65 km. For Ukrainians this is Poland, a passport is required. Nearby are the church in Dołhobrody, the wooden church in Hanna and the church in Różanka; they are convenient to visit in one trip along the Bug. More broadly about the region, read the article Polish Polissia.
