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 The prevailing popular
devotion in Lent is, quite naturally, the veneration of
the suffering Lord and the meditation on His Passion and
death. Both the Eastern and Western Churches practice the
touching devotion of the fourteen Stations of the Cross,
which originated in the time of the Crusades, when the
knights and pilgrims began to follow in prayerful
meditation the route of Christ's way to Calvary. This
devotion spread in Europe and developed into its present
form through the zealous efforts of the Franciscan friars
in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. As custodians
of the shrines in the Holy Land, the Franciscans are
still entrusted with the official erection and blessing
of new Stations.
The Polish people have a deeply devotional Lenten service called Gorzkie Zale (Bitter Sorrows), a series of prayers, hymns, and meditations. It was first published in its present form in 1707, and no book in the Polish language was ever published in more editions. The Fathers of the Congregation of Missions (Lazarists) helped to spread this devotion throughout the whole nation. Immigrants brought it to America, where it is equally beloved and treasured among people of Polish descent. The tunes and words are uncommonly moving in their plaintive simplicity. Here are a few stanzas of the introductory hymn, in English translation with the ancient tune. (The second line of every stanza is repeated when sung.)
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