Founded in 1616, the wooden monastery and church, commonly called Alwernia, stood on Mt Podskale, which reminded its founder – Krzysztof Koryciński of the coat of arms Topór, castellan of Wojnicki and starost of Gniewkowo – of the Italian hill La Verna (Latin Alvernia) in Tuscany, where Saint Francis of Assisi founded his hermitage and received his first stigmata.

The Baroque-style single-nave brick church dedicated to the Stigmata of St Francis of Assisi was built between 1625 and 1656 (the old wooden church did not have enough space to accommodate the increasing number of worshippers). Between 1703 and 1708, a chapel was added to house the miraculous painting 'Ecce Homo' (meaning: Behold the Man). A 55-metre-high tower was added in 1897. In 2011, the roof of the complex and the upper floor of the monastery caught fire and were destroyed. The building, a beautiful example of Baroque art, was carefully restored and rebuilt. Today, the Church of the Stigmata of Saint Francis of Assisi is the Sanctuary of the Merciful Jesus and the place of worship of the image of the Lord Jesus ‘Ecce Homo’ kept here, venerated as an icon of Divine Mercy. The image is said to have belonged to the last Byzantine Emperor Constantine XII (1448–1453), but it later fell into the hands of Sultan Muhammad II (1451–1481) after the fall of Constantinople. It was recovered from Sultan Amurat IV (1623-1640) by the Austrian Emperor Ferdinand II (1619–1637) or Ferdinand III (1637–1657). The painting then went to a church in Košice, Slovakia. The ceremonial transfer of the painting to the Alwernia monastery took place in 1686 on the feast of Our Lady of the Angels, surrounded by priests, noblemen, members of religious confraternities and a large gathering of the faithful. The image was initially placed in the main altar and, after the chapel was built in 1709, on the altarpiece. The painting is created on canvas and glued onto an oak board. In 1700, he received a silver dress as a collective votive offering of pilgrims, which was stolen in 1984.

Usually housing no more than a dozen or so monks, the Alwernia monastery was never host to large numbers of brothers. It is a pilgrimage destination. Polish kings John III Sobieski and Stanisław August Poniatowski prayed here, and hierarchs and dignitaries of the Catholic Church made pilgrimages.

The sanctuary is also the second place in Małopolska, after Kalwaria Zebrzydowska, where the Passion is performed during Holy Week, and on Christmas Day, you can see a nativity play.

The main indulgence feasts are: Divine Mercy Sunday, the Sunday after Corpus Christi (the so-called 'shooter') and the Feast of the Stigmata of St Francis (17 September).