To begin, I will make a confession that may be quite shocking to some of my fellow countrymen: I do not particularly like holidays. Well, that is out of the way. Phew. It will be easier for me now. Someone may ask—why? The answer is simple. My innate, unfortunately already deeply rooted, contrariness. When I feel like celebrating—I celebrate. When I need quiet—I seek quiet. When I want to fast—I fast. I am not necessarily interested in doing what everyone else does, and doing it at the same time. That is all on the subject.

But that is not what I wanted to write about. Contrary to what I wrote above, I wanted to admit that there are nevertheless (even for me!) beautiful, unforgettable moments during the holidays. One such moment—or rather, a longer one—was the performance (what should one call it?!) that I saw and heard on Holy Thursday at the Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Bolesławiec. It was called “The Way of the Cross” and consisted of the well-known actor Jan Nowicki reading texts for the successive Stations of the Cross, written by Fr. Jan Twardowski, followed after each reading by a musical impression performed by four musicians from Kraków. Let me explain right away that these musicians had distinct jazz roots. They were led by the author of the entire project, a well-known Kraków jazz musician—Marek Stryszowski (do you remember “Laboratorium”?).

I will not elaborate on the music itself—as usual, that is a matter of taste. I liked it. It suited Fr. Twardowski’s texts; it contained both much of the sadness accompanying Christ’s final journey and something of the atmosphere of those places—Jerusalem and the Orient itself…

For me, however, the Words were far more important in this performance! I sat there in the church and—as rarely happens—listened to what Jan Nowicki was reading. And the words that were spoken were both important and simple. At times, they were deeply moving.

A few examples? Certainly:

“There is no need to be ashamed of weakness. Awareness of our weakness can be our human strength.” (Station III—The First Fall)

“To help, goodness alone is not enough. Courage is also needed (…) Goodness without courage is powerless…” (Station VI—Veronica)

“Loneliness does not begin when people leave us, but when we leave people. Only our love can overcome loneliness.” (Station VII—The Second Fall)

And so it continued for more than 90 minutes. Word and Music, beautifully joined together, created a Mystery. A true Mystery of the Passion of Christ. But not only that…

This is what we witnessed on Holy Thursday at the Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Bolesławiec. Let those who did not come regret it!

Congratulations to Dean Andrzej Jarosiewicz for making the beautiful interiors of the renovated Sanctuary available for the performance, and to Janowi Cołokidziemu, head of “Ziemia Bolesławiecka,” for bringing the artists from Kraków to us. It was worth it!

Robert Rosiński