Polish Language Blog

My husband and I got married in Poland. It was a beautiful wedding! We had guests mainly from Poland, but about 18 of our family and friends from USA made it as well.

We thought about wedding vows (przysięga małżeńska) and which language should we use to say it. At the end we decided to say the vows each in our native language. The priest was also very nice and during the mass he said a lot of things in English, to feel my husband’s family more comfortable and welcomed.

If you ever decide to say your vows in Polish, here is the traditional way they are written ( i will add video with pronunciation). Of course you can choose to write your own vows:)

In church:

“Ja …(imię Pana Młodego) biorę Ciebie…(imię Panny Młodej) za żonę i ślubuję Ci miłość, wierność i uczciwość małżeńską, oraz że Cię nie opuszczę aż do śmierci. Tak mi dopomóż Panie Boże Wszechmogący w Trójcy Jedyny i Wszyscy Święci.”

“I … (name of the Groom) take you … (name of the Bride) to be my wife, and swear you love, marital fidelity and honesty and that I will not leave you until death do us part.. So help me Lord God Almighty in Trinity and All Saints.”

“Ja….(imię Panny Młodej) biorę Ciebie…  (imię Pana Młodego) za męża i ślubuję ci miłość, wierność i uczciwość małżeńską oraz że cię nie opuszczę aż do śmierci. Tak mi dopomóż Panie Boże Wszechmogący w Trójcy Jedyny i Wszyscy Święci.”

“I … (name of the Bride) take you … (name of the Groom) to be my husband, and swear you love, marital fidelity and honesty and that I will not leave you until death do us part. So help me Lord God Almighty in Trinity and All Saints.”

If you will have a wedding at the Urząd stanu cywilnego (USC) – it is like an office for JP –  here is what you usually say there:

“Świadomy praw i obowiązków wynikających z założenia rodziny, uroczyście oświadczam, że wstępuje w związek małżeński z (…imię Panny Młodej) i przyrzekam, że uczynię wszystko aby nasze małżeństwo, było zgodne, szczęśliwe i trwałe.”

I am aware of the rights and obligations of a family, solemnly declare that enters into marriage of (… name of the Bride) and I promise that I will do everything that our marriage was in line, happy and lasting.

“Świadoma praw i obowiązków wynikających z założenia rodziny, uroczyście oświadczam, że wstępuje w związek małżeński z (…imię Pana Młodego) i przyrzekam, że uczynię wszystko aby nasze małżeństwo, było zgodne, szczęśliwe i trwałe.”

There are many similar versions though and you may have heard something different. These are very popular and I think most common as well.

Do następnego razu… (Till next time…)

Folk culture was for some time, when Poland did not exist on the map, perceived as the tool to keep the national identity. The artists, so much avoiding the theme of poor citizens, started to make the villagers main characters of their works. In the time of technical development, when citizens of villages would flee to cities in search of better life conditions, folk culture was in danger. Although we live nowadays in the world of internet, cheap flights and mobile phones, although folk culture seems not to be fashionable at all (if one can use this word in connection with any culture), there are still some people who try to keep it and promote it.

Although Mazowsze (in Polish “Państwowy Zespół Ludowy Pieśni i Tańca “Mazowsze”“) the Polish Song and Dance Ensemble was created by the decree of Ministry of Culture and Art in 1948, its idea was born much before. During bombing of Warsaw in WW II two people – Tadeusz Sygietyński (great composer and lover of folk culture) and Mira Zimińska-Sygietyńska (actress) – promised each other that if they survive the war they will found a folk group. Together with their two other friends, they started to search for folk clothes, music and gifted youth. They gathered young members of the group in the palace called Karolin, nearby Warsaw. After 2 years, in 1950, the group was ready to give their first performance on the stage of Polish Theatre in Warsaw. At first their repertoire was based on folk music and dances from Central Poland but with time they started to use folk music from all over Poland. Already a year later Mazowsze started their world tour reaching Soviet Union and later on giving concerts in France and United States of America.

Throughout the years there have been many outstanding individuals that started their career in Mazowsze Folk Group (i.e. actors and actresses). The ensemble consists of ballet, choir and orchestra. The group has given out already 6.5 thousand concerts during over 200 tournée around the world and performed in almost 200 places of Poland. The melodies used by Mazowsze come from approximately 40 ethnic parts of Poland but the group tends to use now also music from other countries. In the place that gave the beginning of Mazowsze ensemble – palace of Karolin – there are plans to form European Centre for Promotion of Regional and National Culture. The centre aims at educating of future culture educators from all around the world.

Mazowsze ensemble is, however, not only about songs and dance. It is also about beautiful national (or more precisely regional) costumes used in accordance with music. It shows the richness and beauty of folk culture and gets wider audience closer to the world that is known now mostly from movies and books.

Do następnego razu… (Till next time…)

Although death (śmierć) makes us all democratically equal, Polish burial sites (miejsca pochówku) may differ in looks and value a lot. The difference depends mainly on finance. The bigger and more ostentatious the grave (grób) or tomb (grobowiec), the more affluent the family is. The sites range from simple earth graves for 200$ to giant double tombs for 10.000$. The chosen material matters a lot.

The typical materials for the graves are sandstone (piaskowiec), marble (marmur) or granite (granit), the cheaper graves are made of wood. The quality (jakość), color (kolor) and type (rodzaj) of the chosen material depends also on the availability of the material in certain geographical region and also on the fashion and style in the time when the grave was built. The earth and semi-earth graves (which has a rock material as a grave frame) allow to plant flowers and plants on the top of the grave. So, only families who live in the neighborhood can affort to take care of the earth or semi-earth grave. Below are photographs of a variety of graves found in Polish cemeteries.