St. Francis of Assisi invented the Nativity scene for Christmas, showing the poverty and simplicity of the parents of the Divine Baby, and the humble stable where the Divine birth too place. These nativity scenes are extremely popular in Poland, with their focus on the mother and baby in the center. For non-Christians, agnostics, and other spiritual or humanist fols, Christmas is a unique festivity of motherhood, mothers, babies, birth, and the origins of all human beings in their mothers' wombs. This is extremely important and a major contribution of Christianity to the rise of respect for women around the world. Just compare these images of Mother and Child with representations of Divine figures around the world....
For Christians and Catholics in particular, this is a celebration of the birth of their Savior, the Redeemer, Christ the Son of God. Catholics and Orthodox believers focus on the woman in the center, Theotokos, Bogurodzica, Mother of God. Countess icons depict the Nativity, countess sculptures, paintings and frescos portray the Divine Mother and her Divine Child, the favorite of so many gothic, renaissance and baroque painters in the West, and all these anonymous "writers" of icons in the east - that developed a series of types of representations, depending on the positions of the Mother and Child, their gestures and their hidden and reveled meanings.
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Bogurodzica, the Mother of God, is the Queen of Poland - this title of hers has never been officially rescinded. The most beloved Polish anthem, sung for centuries, is dedicated to her. It functioned as a batte hymn, most notably during the Battle of Grunwald in 1410 when the Teutonic nights were defeated by combined Polish and lituanian forces. It was used for the coronation of Polish kings and its most recent appearance was at the Polish Seym, sung by all representatives together.
I found its strange arrangement - with only the first stanza of text used by the musician, presenting the melody alone at first and adding bagpipes and various other medieval and folk instruments. At the same time, the imagery of the Battle of Grunwald by Jan Matejko, a 19th century patriotic behemoth, designed to stimulate Polish resistance against their German, Austrian, and Russian rulers during the 123 years of partitions. The musician Farya Faraji, wrote "Bogurodzica is a Polish, medieval Catholic hymn composed somewhere between the 10th and 13th centuries, with its likely author being Saint Adalbert of Prague. Though originally a liturgical hymn, it soon evolved into a battle chant used by Polish warriors, and was chanted on the 15th of July 1410 during the Battle of Grunwald." https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KLilgcnGKpg
In a different version, the image of mother holding her baby is accompanied by a male chorus singing a polyphonic arrangement of the anthem https://youtu.be/foCr1GEKM5A?si=VrlFRNTrQWgD3hGY
Bogurodzica Mother of God
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Bogurodzica, Dziewica Bogiem sławiena Maryja Twego syna, Gospodzina, Matko zwolena Maryja Zyszczy nam spuści nam. Kyrieleison.
Twego dziela Krzciciela, bożycze, Usłysz głosy, napełni myśli człowiecze. Słysz modlitwe, jąż nosimy, Oddać raczy, jegoż prosimy: A na świecie zbożny pobyt, Po żywocie rajski przebyt. Kyrieleison. |
Mother of God, Virgin God-famed
Mary! Ask Thy Son,
our Lord, God-named
Mary, Present to us,
bestow on us! Kyrie
eleison! For your work,
the Christ, God, Hear the
voices, fill human thoughts, Hear the
prayer that we carry, We ask him to
give us back: In the world
a godly dwelling, After life, ascension
to paradise Kyrie
eleison! |
This is a startling, majestic song, made even more serious by its slow-tempo, low-voiced male chorus... Here she is "Theotoos" "Bogurodzica" - But the Motherhood of Mary is celebrated in Nativity scenes and carols - lullabies that focus on the affection of the Divine Mother and Divine Child, as in the 14th century icon from Russia, the Icon of the Virgin Mary of the Don from the Holy Trinity-St. Sergius Lavra.
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Oj, Maluśki, Maluśki 1. Oj, maluśki, maluśki, maluśki, kieby rękawicka Albó li tyz jakóby, jakóby kawałecek śmycka. Ref. Śpiewajmy i grajmy Mu, Dzieciątku małemu.
2. Cy nie lepiej by Tóbie, by Tóbie śiedziec byłó w niebie Wśak Twó j Tatuś kóchany,kóchany nie wyganiał Ciebie. Ref. Śpiewajmy i grajmy Mu, Dzieciątku małemu.
3. Tam wciórnaśka wygóda, wygóda, a tu bieda wśędzie, Ta Ci teraz dókuca, dókuca, ta i pótem będzie. Ref. Śpiewajmy i grajmy Mu, Dzieciątku
małemu. |
Oh, the little
one, little one little one, as
tiny as a glove Or maybe similar,
similar to A piece of a twig. Ref. Let's sing and play to Him, Little Child. 2. Wouldn't you be better off If you stayed
in heaven After all,
Your beloved Daddy did not chase
you away. Ref. Let's
sing and play to Him, Little Child.
3. There - a
great comfort, great comfort and here
poverty is everywhere, It now bothers
you, bothers you And it will
be the same later. Ref. Let's sing and play to Him, Little Child. |
1. Lulajże, Jezuniu, moja perełko, Lulaj, ulubione me pieścidełko. Ref. Lulajże, Jezuniu, lulajże, lulaj! A ty Gó, Matulu, w płaczu utulaj.
2. Żamknijze znuzóne płaczem powieczki, Utulże zemdlone łkaniem uśteczki. Ref. Lulajże, Jezuniu, lulajże, lulaj! A ty Go, Matulu, w płaczu utulaj.
3. Lulajże, piękniuchny naśz Aniółeczku, Lulajże, wdzięczniuchny świata Kwiateczku. Ref. Lulajże, Jezuniu, lulajże, lulaj! A ty Go, Matulu, w płaczu utulaj. | 1.Lulajże, Jesus, my pearl, Lulaj, my favorite delight. Ref. Lulajże, Jesus, lulajże, lulaj! And you, Mommy, comfort him in crying. 2.Close your eyelids, weary of crying Close your lips, fainting with sobs. Ref. Lulajże, Jesus, lulajże, lulaj! And you, Mother, hug Him in tears. 3. Lulajże, our beautiful Angel, Lulajże, graceful Flower of the world Ref. Lulajże, Jesus, lulajże, lulaj! And you, Mommy, comfort him in crying. |
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Mizerna, cicha, stajenka licha, Pełna niebieskiej chwały. Oto leżący, przed nami śpiący W promieniach Jezus mały.
Nad nim anieli w locie stanęli I pochyleni klęczą Z włosy złotymi, z skrzydły białymi Pod malowaną tęczą.
I oto mnodzy ludzie ubodzy, Radzi oglądać Pana, Pełni natchnienia, pełni zdziwienia Upadli na kolana.
Wielkie zdziwienie, wszelkie stworzenie, Cały świat orzeźwiony: Mądrość mądrości, światłość światłości, Bóg-człowiek tu wcielony.
Długo wzdychali, długo czekali, Aż niebo rozgorzało, Piekło zawarte, niebo otwarte, Słowo się Ciałem stało. |
A miserable,
quiet, poor little manger, Full of
heavenly glory. Behold,
lying, sleeping before us In the rays
of light, little Jesus. Above him
angels in flight stood And bowed,
kneeling down With golden
hair, with white wings Under a
painted rainbow. And behold,
many poor people, Rejoicing to
see the Lord, Full of
inspiration, greatly astonished They fell to
their knees. Great
astonishment, as all creation, And The whole
world is refreshed: Wisdom of
wisdom, light of light, God-man is incarnate
here. They sighed
and waited For long, until
heaven flared up, Hell was closed,
heaven was opened, The Word became Flesh. |
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Przybieżeli do Betlejem 1. Przybiezeli do Betlejem pasterze, Grając skocznie Dzieciąteczku na lirze. Ref. Chwała na wysokości, Chwała na wysokości, a pokój na ziemi.
2. Oddawali swe ukłony w pokorze Tobie, z serca ochotnego, o Boze! Ref. Chwała na wysokości, Chwała na wysokości a
pokój na ziemi.
3. Anioł Panski sam ogłosił te dziwy, Których oni nie słyszeli, jak zywi. Ref. Chwała na wysokości, Chwała na wysokości, a pokój na ziemi. |
They ran quickly to Bethlehem Playing bouncy
tunes for the Infant on the lyre. Ref. Glory in
the highest, Glory in the
highest, and peace on
earth. 2. They bowed
down in humility To You, with
a willing heart, O God! Ref. Glory in
the highest, Glory in the
highest, and peace on
earth. 3. The Lord’s
Angel announced these wonders, Of which they
had not heard as Long as they lived. Ref. Glory in
the highest, Glory in the
highest, and peace on
earth. |
