Mary: A Polish Legend
Gawalewicz, Maryan & Stachiewicz, Piotr
336 THE COMMONWEAL July 31, i9:z 9 MARY" A POLISH LEGEND By MARYAN GAWALEWICZ and PIOTR STACHIEWICZ YRIADS of strewn stars glimmer like pearls over the firmament, reflecting the...
...As the light of the sun is reflected in dew in the morning, thus at night the glow of heaven is reflected in the stars...
...with his feet bent, reposing comfortably, he gazes into the sky and, playing his lute, sings praises and thanks to God...
...Were it not for the sun, the earth would have a dirty, rusty color, like chilled and clotted blood, spilt over the sacred soil by Cain...
...The sun falls into the sea and floats on the water, drowning not even in the deepest place...
...Through the mediation of the Holy Mother, the saints ofttimes go to the sun with processions, as to a holy wondrous place, to say their Mass...
...When the star drops down from the heavenly ceiling, human lips whisper: "Praised be the Holy Maryl" to ease the way for the dead soul, going up to heaven...
...The sun sheds light and warmth over the earth and makes every seed come out of the soil, be it sown either by wind or human palm...
...The sky is strewn with stars as with diamond gravel, shimmering like a bishop's chasuble embroidered with pearls...
...Each human being has his own star, which shines as much as does his life...
...it paints the earth with colors such as no painter ever dreamed...
...336 THE COMMONWEAL July 31, i9:z 9 MARY" A POLISH LEGEND By MARYAN GAWALEWICZ and PIOTR STACHIEWICZ YRIADS of strewn stars glimmer like pearls over the firmament, reflecting the eternal lights...
...Once upon a time there lived on the earth a wicked sorcerer, an obstinate enemy of the sacred faith and for a long time did not make peace with God...
...For the Holy Mother, for the Queen of Heaven, the brightest stars are wound into her crown...
...Every saint also has a star, but such is lighted forever and such burns with a brighter light, just as the stars of those people who pray devoutly and praise God continually will never be hurled down...
...on these falls the light from her eyes from heaven through the open gate of the seventh choir, which the saints open wider than the others...
...The girl was thus saved from certain death, and the Virgin Mary, having seen the knight's bold deed, called him to her and said : "Because you have thus nobly saved the maiden's life, you J shall have a starry chariot in the sky and my moon I will give you for your home...
...When her father learned of it, he intended in anger to slay his own child...
...When the full moon is clear, one may see him there on a bright, calm night...
...When at night sparkles the milky way, winding through paradise up to the Lord's throne, a soul, worthy of this grace, may see Mary, going from the convent of Jasna Gora to Kalwarja...
...and when people fall into their deep slumber, angels listen to the sainted lute-player...
...when the spark of light goes out on the earth, at the same time the star above goes out and falls down into an abyss, leaving in its place a burnt-out spot...
...FRANCES M. FROST...
...Such peace, such calmness, such brightness is spread throughout the sky that it seems as if the angels hold their breath and the world below, turn mute in ecstasy...
...There had been a time when the earth was pure, white as chalk, transparent as crystal, so that when Cain with his bloody hands buried Abel in the ground, the dead body was seen from its glassy grave...
...If God-Father should order this gate to be closed, the sun would go out like a blown-out candle and darkness would fall on the earth, like the one that covers the abyss beyond the border of hell, where unchristened souls do everlasting penance...
...Carth RAytAms These be temporalSnow and rain, Thunder-drum and Hurricane, Leaf and grass blade, Berry, briar, April fog and Autumn fire, Weed-choked road and Moldering treeThese be the brief-heard Melody...
...The most holy Virgin had hung the bright sun and the moon on the celestial ceiling to the greater glory of her only Son...
...He, the knight of knights, did it on the spot, boring a hole in its great neck with his spear...
...He had a young and only daughter, a pious, modest girl, who prayed in secret to the Mother of God, committing her soul in repentance to the Holy Virgin...
...And these the permanent UndertoneArrogant soil, Defiant stone...
...among them the silvery, glistening, morning star and the evening star, flickering brighter than gold, and the northern star, always in one place, illumine with their steady radiance the crown of the Mother of God...
...he brought a monstrous dragon and gave his daughter to be devoured...
...it burns continually, like Moses's bush through which the Lord God spoke, and never, never can it be extinguished...
...Since then in his silver armor the Virgin Mary's knight lives on the moon...
...With the grace of the Blessed Virgin, with the light of heaven and herself, shines the sacred sun, the eye of a clear day, existing like God's other creations, gliding over the zenith above the earth and the sea, looking into every nook, bringing with itself the reflection of the Mother of God to bless the whole earth and to gladden all men's hearts...
...On their way back they usually visit the moon, where Saint George, who is a knight of knights, has dwelt for many centuries past by the grace of the Virgin Mary...
...The Lord God interfered in this evil design, charging Saint George to kill the voracious beast...
...Cain cursed the white earth that it did not conceal his fratricide, and the earth blackened from his curses...
...Alone and lost in sacred revery, walks the Queen of Heaven with her Baby in her arms and with her hand blesses the earth enwrapped in sleep...
...Thus blackened it would have remained until our time if God had not taken pity, bidding the sun to paint the meadows, fields and mountains with bright colors...
...The Mother of God with her Baby crosses over the milky way, turning her pensive eyes to the earth, followed by myriads of stars, and not a sound dares break her revery...
Vol. 10 • July 1929 • No. 13
