Lenten customs, devotions, and songs characteristic of Poland are not only a testimony of Polish devotion’ but also our cultural heritage, for which we are responsible and which we cannot allow to disappear, and which must be passed on to future generations in an unadulterated way,’ writes Dawid Gospodarek, journalist and columnist, specialising in church music, dogma, and old Polish religious traditions.
Apart from a great veneration for the Mother of God, Polish Catholics have for centuries been characterised by a very strong Passion devotion, often even going beyond the liturgical period of Lent.
It is manifested, for example, in the numerous Passion shrines in Poland. Towards the end of the Middle Ages, a strong cult of the Passion relics, especially of the Holy Cross, appeared in Poland as in other parts of Europe. In Poland, fragments of relics of Christ’s Cross are venerated in about twenty places. There are thirteen sanctuaries of the Holy Cross alone (the oldest and the most famous are, of course, at Święty Krzyż – Łysa Góra), and more than twenty of the Passion of Christ or of the individual mysteries, e.g. Flagellation (Gorlice), Passion (Pacanów) or Holy Sepulchre (Miechów).
Polish Jerusalem
Not everyone could realise their dream of a pilgrimage to the Holy Land, so Calvaries were built to replicate the Stations of the Cross in Jerusalem, sometimes even including the distances between the Passion events or the architecture of some of the chapels. The most famous and oldest such Calvary, made famous by St John Paul II, is in Kalwaria Zebrzydowska. There are about twenty such Calvaries in Poland. They have their own rich traditions. For this reason, the 'Kashubian Jerusalem,’ i.e. the Calvary in Wejherowo, is worth attention. There, in addition to the old songs or staged Mystery of Christ’s Passion, the custom, known probably only in Kashubia, of bowing feretrons – sometimes called the dance of feretrons has been practiced for centuries. Four people carrying a feretron (i.e. a portable image on two rods) perform a special choreographic arrangement on the plan of a cross. They often do it in all churches visited along the way. This is accompanied by music.
Confraternities
Passion devotion was popularised especially by Franciscans. Here we also have to do with the noteworthy activities of the Passionist confraternities established in the 16th century for laypeople. They practiced various forms of asceticism, took care of customs and traditions. For example, the Passion Fraternity still functions in the Franciscan Basilica in Cracow, whose members, wearing special – today we would say dark, monk’s – clothes, cultivate the 'Jerusalem Procession’ around the basilica and the cloisters of the monastery. You can take part in these special services on Fridays in Lent.
Chanson
Devotion has always been accompanied by chanson. Polish passion songs probably started to be composed in the 13th century. The oldest surviving Passion chanson in Polish is the 15th-century Lament of the Holy Cross (’Listen my brothers’). This anonymous masterpiece, the copy of which we owe to the Bernardine copyist Andrzej from Słupia, still delights us today with its language, lyrical form, biblical allusions, and, of course, knowledge of old liturgical Latin hymns. And the emotionalism typical of Passion devotion. There are over 100 Polish Passion Chansons from the Middle Ages to the end of the 18th century, sung in various melodic variants, depending on the region.
In the content of the passion chansons, we find descriptions of Jesus’ sufferings, biblical scenes or those handed down in tradition. There are, for example, chansons based on the seven last words of Jesus. A very important motif is the accompaniment of Jesus by his suffering Mother. There are also songs 'parallel’ to the liturgy, often based on Latin liturgical texts – e.g. for Palm Sunday, for the adoration of the Cross on Good Friday – e.g. ‘Ludu mój ludu’ [’O my people’] or beautiful songs which adore the martyred body of Jesus in an extremely tender way, sometimes with surprising anatomical details. There are songs especially for the vigil at the Lord’s Tomb, which is a Polish phenomenon and has survived the post-Tridentine standardisation and purification of the liturgy to this day. Here the chansons ‘Płaczcie Anieli’ [‘Crying Angels’] or ‘Dobranoc Głowo Święta’ [‘Goodnight, Holy Head’] are still popular.
Jews are not left out of the chansons describing the Passion either. Sometimes it seems that they appear a bit 'by force’, for example in the song 'Jest drabina do nieba’ [’There is a ladder to heaven’], where the placing of the crown of thorns on Jesus’ temples is attributed to the Jews, while from the Gospel we know that it was the Roman soldiers of Pilate (John 19:2). There is no denying that there was a certain tendency to blame the death of Jesus on the Jews, unfortunately also on those who lived centuries after Christ. However, both in preaching and finally in the Passion chansons themselves, the individual guilt of everyone for the death of Jesus was strongly emphasised. In one of the most beautiful of the Passion chansons, 'Któż opłakać godnie może’ [’Who may mourn worthily’], the mystery is expressed as follows: ‘Country of sorrow, wretched heart, my sins God’s murderer/ My wickedness has put to death the Lord of eternal glory! (…) For over this innocent Lord sin is an executioner, sin is a tyrant/ You killed Him, O you sinner, you recurring crucifier!’
The 16th century Reformation movement introduced chants in national languages into the liturgy. Interestingly, many songs turned out to be ecumenical and found their way into Protestant hymnbooks. Among the Lenten songs there were e.g. 'Jezusa Judasz przedał’ [‘Judas sold Jesus’] and 'Rozmyślajmy dziś wierni krześcijani’ [‘Let us, faithful Christians, contemplate today’].
Bitter Lamentations
In the sixteenth century, the Book of Hours of the Passion was created, which, like the Book of Hours of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary known today, follows the order of the breviary hours but also places emphasis on the traditionally defined hours marking the stages of Christ’s Passion – for example, the mystery of his capture in the Garden of Olives for Morning, Pilate’s trial for Prima, etc. Unfortunately, the performance of the Book of Hours has disappeared.
Instead, Bitter Lamentations, which are also based on the old Morning Prayer, has gained great popularity. This beautiful service was created at the beginning of the 18th century in the Holy Cross Church in Warsaw. The beautiful poetic text and poignant melodies quickly won the hearts of Poles. To this day, it is an obligatory Lenten devotion, celebrated in churches before the Blessed Sacrament on Sundays but also gladly sung individually.
Mystery plays
After the Council of Trent the old mysteries and liturgical dramas disappeared. Nowadays, however, theatrical mystery plays of the Passion of Christ are organised (e.g. at Calvaries), or practised as devotions. This is the case, for example, in Dominican centres, where the scenes of the Passion are accompanied by a liturgical narration and appropriately selected traditional Passion chansons.
Lenten customs, devotions, and chansons are not only a testimony of Polish devotion but also our cultural heritage, for which we are responsible and which we cannot allow to disappear, and which must be passed on to future generations in an unabridged form. This requires appropriate popularisation, digitisation of sources, recording, and description of the rich melodic variants of songs. It is worth supporting those who do this and encouraging others to do the same. Above all, it is good to get to know this heritage and join the singing of our ancestors.
Author: Dawid Gospodarek
The article has been firstly published on dlapolonii.pl
Picture: Gabriela Bertolini, Shutterstock
