Barefoot in the field: On the Feast of Blessed Mother of Sowing

​There is a powerful passage in Władysław Reymonts’ novel titled Chłopi: Wiosna (The Peasant’s: Spring) where farmer Boryna, ill and confused, instinctively recognizes that it is spring and time to sow his land. He gets up and wanders out to the fields. He kneels down and scoops up earth into his shirt tails as if it were seeds to be sown. He walks the entire field making the characteristic gesture of a sower, first with earth, then with his empty hand and when he is done, he lays down and dies. His last act on earth was to  connect with the land to which he devoted his entire life.

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​In the agricultural world of our Polish ancestors, not unlike like the fictional Boryna sowing in the spring, the earth was a mother – a nourisher that fed her people, was created by God and as such, was a sacred thing. Their world was ruled by the calendar of Marian feasts including Matko Boska  Siewna – Blessed Mother of Sowing or Our Lady of the Sowing on September 8th.  Since the Blessed Virgin Mary gave life to Jesus, who is the Bread of Life, the people connected her birth with the sowing of the grain from which bread is made.  It was on this day the peasant farmer began sowing his winter wheat. 


←Polish painter and illustrator Piotr Stachiewicz(1858-1938) depicting the Blessed Virgin Mary sowing crops.

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Another beautiful passage that highlights the reverence for Mother Earth and this feast day comes from the childhood memoir of Bishop Józef Zawitowski who grew up in the Mazowsze region of Poland:

"My grandfather Francis
each year measured a hundred steps
the length of his field and sowed wheat.
The grains of wheat were cleaned
and blessed on the 8th of September
on the Blessed Mother of Sowing.
The field was properly cultivated
so that there were no weeds.
Grandpa crossed himself, walked barefoot
on the cultivated land and completely focused,
sowed the grains. He prayed resolutely
that mother earth would accept the grains,
that winter would cover it, would bring a harvest.
In the spring he inspected the field, pulled weeds.
During harvest time he waited until the weather had settled
so that the mowed wheat did not lie in the rain.
Alone he threshed, alone he cleaned on the threshing machine
and mill, alone he gathered into a sack
and carried it to the miller…" (author translation)

"Matka Boska Siewna”, by Józef Chełmowski, Brusy-Jaglie, Kaszuby, 1983, photo by Adam Zakrzewski 



In folk tradition, Blessed Mother of Sowing is considered the patron saint of autumn sowing. It was believed that Mary went around to the sown fields and blessed them thereby guaranteeing a good harvest the following year. The importance of the day is found in customs, hymns and art, but  also cemented in this Polish proverb:
 Gdy o Matce Bożej zasiano, to ani za późno, ani za rano.
 If sown on Blessed Mother, its neither too late, nor too early.

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For more about Polish customs and traditions see: Polish Customs, Traditions and Folklore, Hippocrene Books, Inc.

Sources: Dziedzictwo kulinarne w kontekstach tradycyjnych i współczesnych  
                List Biskupa Józefa Zawitkowskiego do B. Gapinskiego. Wspomnienie z dzieciństwa 

Photo: etnomuzeum.pl/o-matko-boska/matka-boska-siewna/