 It was on his feast day of March 19th, that widows and widowers of Poland often took their marriage vows. Despite the feast day falling during Lent, the Catholic Church granted a dispensation from the rigors of Lent and marriages were permitted. Husband of the Blessed Virgin Mary, caretaker of the Christ Child, patron saint of fathers and married couples and someone who had special care of married couples and families, St. Joseph was also patron saint of carpenters and those who work. There was also a time in Poland when he was considered patron against temptations and was the saint to pray to for maintaining sobriety and restraint. He was also held to be the patron saint of a good death.  ← Roadside shrine in Kozłów, Poland, dedicated in 1991. The inscription on the plaque reads: St. Joseph, Caretaker of Families Have us in your care. Edward Knab photo. He is turned to for enlightenment in times of difficult choices, for healing, comfort and at the same time is a perfect mediator for expressing thanksgiving to God for favors received. The Litany to St. Joseph is held to be an effective prayer in times of suffering, illness, anguish, crisis, or unemployment. It was also on this day that storks, who had migrated for the winter, traditionally returned to their nests in Poland. Old stork nests were repaired on the roofs of barns or in tall trees near the farmstead. New ones were also built, for example by attaching wagon wheels to them. According to old folk beliefs, the presence of a stork on the farm was a symbol of good fortune, so every effort was made to encourage the bird to occupy the nest on the property. Edward Knab photos.
Hundreds of churches in Poland bear his name and his image is seen frequently as an independent figure on posts and pillars along roadsides, but also in the interior of chapels in paintings or as a statue. St. Joseph is generally depicted holding the Infant Jesus on one arm and a white lily in the other. For more about the purposes and types of roadside shrines found in Poland see: Spirit of Place: The Roadside Shrines of Poland, Hippocrene Books, Inc. 2023 Available as hardcover and ebook.
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Ash Wednesday in the Polish language is called Środa Popielcowa or simply Popielec. Sometimes it is called Wstępna Środa. i.e., Introductory Wednesday, because it introduced the beginning of Lent. There was a time in Poland when the season of Lent was introduced by the ringing of the church bells at midnight into Ash Wednesday. The bells signaled that all frivolity associated with the carnival period was to stop and be replaced with prayer and penance. It began with attending mass and receiving ashes. The use of ashes as a sign of penance, as a way of preparing for Lent, became a churchwide practice. In 1091, Pope Urban II introduced the rite of sprinkling the head with ashes on Ash Wednesday as a binding liturgy in the Catholic Church. At the same time, it was established that the ash itself would come from burning the palms that had been blessed on Palm Sunday of the previous year.  Photo: On the Sunday preceding Ash Wednesday, at the Parish of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Włoszczowa in southern Poland, last year's Easter palms are burned for use on Ash Wednesday. https://www.diecezja.kielce.pl/podpatrzone-w-parafii-spalenie-palm-na-popielec Father Jędrzej Kitowicz(1724-1804), Polish priest, historian and memoirist, described the Ash Wednesday service in Poland in his “Opis obyczajów i zwyczajów za panowania Augusta III, (Description of Customs and Traditions during the Reign of August III" (18th century). "On this day, people were given ashes in church, that is, when kneeling before the high altar or another side altar after the Holy Mass. The priest would sprinkle their heads with ashes from palms blessed on Palm Sunday (not from dead bones, as ignorant people understand it), reminding people in this way that one day they will return to dust… that they should do penance during Lent for excesses and licentiousness. All Catholics would come to church, even the greatest lords never omitted it.”  Julian Fałat, Popielec, 1881. The painting depicts the tradition of sprinkling dry ashes on the hair on crown of head which is typical in Poland. Other countries, make a mark with ashes on the forehead.  Sprinkling hair on crown of head with ashes in today's times in Poland. https://koscian.naszemiasto.pl/dzis-sroda-popielcowa
Whether a king, a lord, peasant or beggar, all approached the altar to receive the symbolic ashes to remind them “you are dust, and to dust you shall return.” The historian added another interesting note, something that is not practiced today: “Since not everyone was able to receive this rite on the initial Wednesday, it was given a second time in village churches on the first Sunday of Lent. Such was the piety of the Poles under the rule of Augustus III in the early years that even the sick, unable to receive the ashes in church, asked for it to be brought to their bedside.” Other historians and ethnographers noted another form of practice in old Poland that perhaps enabled the bedridden at home to receive ashes on this day: only the senior member of the family would approach the priest at the altar, only his head would be sprinkled, and then the priest would pour some ashes into his prayer book. After coming home, in a solemn and serious manner, the head of the family would sprinkle the heads of his loved ones. Ash Wednesday marked the first day of Lent- a time taken very seriously. The women in the villages put away their colorful aprons and bright coral beads for more somber colors. The men often gave up drinking alcohol and even smoking tobacco. Children also experienced the rigors of Lent. Sometimes, toys were hidden from them during Lent, leaving only the most modest or the most damaged ones, and at bedtime, instead of fairy tales, children listened to the lives of the Saints. Additional information about Ash Wednesday and Lenten period in Poland: Polish Customs, Traditions and Folklore, Hippocrene Books, Inc. 2024 His short, 24-year life was not one that was full of extraordinary events. He was kind. He prayed unceasingly and won the hearts of the people of Lithuania and Poland.  On March 4th, the Catholic Church honors the memory of St. Casimir (1458-1484), patron saint of Lithuania and Poland. Casimir (in Polish, Kazimierz) was born a prince at Wawel Castle in Kraków during the time of the great Poland Lithuanian Commonwealth when Poland and Lithuanian were united as one country. He was the third child born to the Jagiellonian line of Casimir IV, King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania and Queen Elisabeth Habsburg of Austria. Raised under the tutelage of Father Jan Długosz, Prince Casimir became a pious, intelligent, and prayerful child. During his short lifetime he distinguished himself by his piety, generosity towards the sick and poor, and devotion to God and Mother Mary. ← Statue of St. Casimir located in the church of Drądżewa at the ethnographic Museum in Sierpc, Poland. He failed at being a warrior and military man when his father sent him out to fight but in Wilno (now Vilnius) in Lithuania, Casimir, born of kings and in line to be a king himself, was a defender of the poor, known for his kindness and almsgiving for those in need. He said about himself "a Prince can do nothing more honorable than to serve Christ himself among the poor." He didn’t puff himself up as somebody special. The king's son, went out into the streets, talked and cared for the people of his land. His piety was legendary, kneeling and praying before the closed doors of the Vilnius church, witnessed by others. He is often painted kneeling at night in front of the cathedral doors that emphasize his ardent devotion to the Blessed Sacrament.  Jan Długosz witness to the prayers of Casimir by Polisih painter Florian Cynk. Wikipedia. He had a special devotion to the Mother of God and was especially attached to the Latin hymn Omni die dic Mariae [On every day praise Mary], which he treated as a daily prayer. "Omni die dic Mariae Mea laudes anima: Ejus festa, ejus gesta Cole devotissima." “Daily, daily sing to Mary, Sing, my soul, her praises due: All her feasts, her actions honor with the heart's true devotion.” He died young and took that devotion to the grave. Years after his death, when the prince's coffin was opened in 1604, the text of the hymn was found to be buried with him, written on parchment and located under his head. His tomb was the site of miracles. His canonization ceremony took place in 1604. His remains are interred in the magnificent Saint Casimir's Chapel in the Archcathedral Basilica of St. Stanislaus and St. Ladislaus (simply called Vilnius Cathedral) built in 1636.  He was kind. He prayed unceasingly. And won the hearts of his people. Churches and chapels throughout Poland and Lithuania were built in his name. Immigrating to various parts of the world, the people of Poland brought that devotion with them.  ←St. Casimir at St. Casimir’s Church, Buffalo, NY In church iconography, the princely saint is recognizable by his crown and often depicted in an ermine cloak (above photo), holding a cross, a lily or a scroll with the words of his favorite prayer Omni die dic Mariae. Happy name day to all named Casimir (Kazimierz) and its diminutives: Kaz, Kazik, Kaziuk, Kaziu, Kaziuś. You are named after a prince! For more about feast day and name days see: Polish Customs, Traditions and Folklore, Hippocrene Books, Inc. 2024 Sources: https://mwmskansen.pl/sw-kazimierz |
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One of the biggest moments in my life was being able to sign for my very own library card. When I'm not reading, researching and writing I'm riding my bike, sewing or gardening. I love flea markets, folk art, and traveling to Poland.
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