The history of the Cistercian Order dates back to the 11th century and the territory of France, and is linked to the renewal of monastic life. The Cistercians live according to the Rule of Saint Benedict as well as their own constitution and customs. In 1222, the monks founded a monastery in Mogiła, near Kraków, and more than 700 years later founded a monastery and parish on the Szklane Domy estate.

In the late 1970s, Cardinal Karol Wojtyła applied to the authorities for permission to build a church; works began in 1982 with the erection of the so-called old chapel, as well as a catechetical building and cells for the monks. In 1983, Cardinal Franciszek Macharski established the parish.

Erected between 1982 and 1995 to a design by Krzysztof Dyg and Andrzej Nasfeter, the house of worship was integrated into the greenery and built of brick to resemble the local blocks of flats in the style of the late 1960s Nowa Huta district. It has a modern body, clad in clinker bricks at the bottom, while the top is formed by a steel structure topped by a glazed, broken roof looking like a crystal ball. Viewed from the front, the church is similar to a tree; the entrance is the roots and trunk, and the roof is the spreading crown. Corners of the building are decorated with statues of evangelists. The massive bell tower is 18 metres high.

The interior is a single hall, austere and bright with white walls, surrounded by arched brick niches and covered by a glass roof. The décor is modest. The interior consists of wooden benches and confessionals, a simple altar and a Stainmayer organ installed in 2004.

The same building also houses the premises of the Cistercian monastery and St Bernard’s Male High School. In the square in front of the church are monuments to Father Jerzy Popiełuszko, the underground press from the time of the martial law, and to commemorate the 25th anniversary of Solidarity.