In the 14th century, the church and monastery were founded for the Dominicans by Duke Mieszko I of Cieszyn, and their construction was continued by Duke Władysław of Oświęcim. In 1594, on the occasion of Saint Jacek's canonisation, the Dominicans transformed the 14th-century Gothic chapterhouse (meeting place for the monastery's superiors) into the Saint Jacek Odrowąż Chapel, oriented like the church. Between 1608 and 1610, the chapel was rebuilt in the Renaissance style. In 1782, the Dominicans were removed by the partitioning Austrian authorities. In the 19th century, the church was used as a warehouse, and the entire monastery complex fell into disrepair. In 1894, during the Corpus Christi procession, the Virgin Mary appeared on the ruins of the former Church of the Holy Cross, which prompted the Salesians to recover and rebuild the church in 1898, placing a copy of the image of Our Lady Help of Christians from Turin, Italy (the cradle of the Salesians, the world centre of devotion to the Help of Christians), and the building lost its original character, becoming neo-Gothic. Our Lady Help of Christians is credited with saving the shrine during the largest Allied bombing raid on Auschwitz in 1944 and with the survival of the local Salesian Vocational School as the only priest-run institution of its kind during the communist era.

The church is made of brick and is framed by scarps (two-bay at the chancel, three-bay at the nave). The former chancel is now a rectangular, three-bay nave with a ribbed vault (after reconstruction, the church is no longer oriented like the Chapel of St Jacek with which it originally formed a monastery complex). The nave, separated by a pointed rainbow, is spacious, and has galleries and a choir. The main altar, with its painting and sculptures, alludes to the dedication of the church and the Salesian saints. The entrance wall has a triangular gable with a rosette window. From the west, a new nave with a gable roof, differing from the historic part of the church in the colour of the bricks (lighter), was added in the 1970s. Many furnishings are neo-Gothic (confessionals, chandeliers, altar settings). The iconographic representation is also rich, with figural groups gathered around selected saints on the walls of the nave, accompanied by paintings of scenes from life styled after Renaissance paintings. The windows feature colourful stained glass. For several years, renovation and revitalisation work has been successively carried out on different parts of the church, including in its interior and on its façade.

Built according to a rectangular plan and made of brick to the church, the valuable Gothic chapel of St Jacek of Odrowąż is similar to the church. From the 20th century onwards, it was accessed by a vestibule with a stone portal over which a rosette was placed. The dukes and castellans of Oświęcim and the monastery benefactors were buried in the crypt under the floor. At the turn of the 20th century, their ashes were transferred from the crypt of the former Dominican monastery church.

 The sanctuary’s indulgence feast days are: On 31 January, the Solemnity of Saint John Bosco, the Founding Father of the Salesian Congregation, and 19 March, the Solemnity of Saint Joseph the Spouse, as well as the Indulgence of Our Lady Help of Christians on 24 May.