You have experienced such moments more than once, in which you felt proud, that you are Polish. Maybe then you were sitting in front of the TV or listening to the radio and cheering for the Polish football team or another sports discipline with great enthusiasm. You really cared about it, that the Poles would win, and not others.
However, there are those among Poles, who care little about the affairs of our nation, they leave Poland with a light heart. Could the nation be of no value to them? ? And what is the nation to you then? ?
The Polish nation creates Cultural values.
You are Polish. With the Polish people, to which you belong, you are bound by it all, what do you get from him. You are brought up in a culture, which has been creating and developing for over a thousand years. You educate and develop your native language by getting to know Polish literature, which poets and writers created. We owe them the richness and beauty of our language.
You benefit from the rich cultural heritage: Polish musicians, painters, sculptors, architects. Family and social life, school, radio and television, cinema and theater convey these values to you, created by Poles. All this was the source and inspiration of their work, with what the Polish nation lived and alive. That's all, which educates and enriches you, you owe a whole nation. He also communicates to you the cultural heritage of other nations and integrates you into the great human family.
Economic.
You realize, that our country looked different hundreds of years ago. There was a lot of rustling forests in it, and few villages and even fewer cities. How primitive these villages and cities looked compared to today ! Nowadays, there are many modern cities in our land. And villages also increasingly benefit from the modern gains of civilization. Our country is crossed by thousands of kilometers of railway lines and highways. More and more industrial plants are being built on Polish soil. It's all ours. All this is created by the joint effort of the entire Polish nation, to which you belong. It creates it for our good. The effort of the whole nation makes, that you can live more and more comfortably, live, travel, better to dress.
The Polish nation defends its values.
Cultural and economic.
During its existence our nation not only created its own culture, but more than once he had to pay dearly to protect it. More than once the enemies wanted to destroy our rich past, our entire culture and economic heritage. They were taking away and plundering works of art, they conducted a robbery economy. But our nation resisted it. After the last war, he began to rebuild the country from the devastation with even greater dedication. It not only rebuilds and creates new industrial plants, but puts a lot of effort into rebuilding the monuments.
Freedom.
We live in peace today, you speak Polish, you go to Polish school, you are learning the history of your home country, you see national emblems in classrooms and offices.
When you sit down at the table in the family home, you won't even think of it, that the Gestapo could come for your father, you are not afraid of a round-up in the street and deportation to forced labor.
You are enjoying your freedom, but you must not forget, that six million Poles paid her with their lives during the last war. And how many compatriots gave their lives for your freedom, which you are enjoying today, over ten centuries of our history !
The Polish nation is rich in the life of humanity and the universal Church.
Contribution to the good of humanity.
Although our nation is not among the largest in the world, however, it can be proud of this, that he contributed to the overall progress of mankind. We defended our own and others' freedom. We fight for respect for human dignity.
Ignacy Domeyko in the 19th century in Chile, as a mineralogist and geologist, developed the scientific basis for the exploitation of mineral resources and organized teaching based on the latest methods. You have to remember, that Nicolaus Copernicus belonged to the third generation of outstanding Kraków astronomers and mathematicians in the 15th century, which were appreciated all over the world at that time. Paweł Włodkowic can be considered a precursor, that is, the predecessor of the authors of international law. Andrzej Frycz Modrzewski in the 16th century, thanks to his handiwork ,,0 improving the Republic ", he stood among the pioneers of modern European science about the state and law. These are just some examples from the past. But even today the Polish nation collaborates with all mankind on the development of knowledge and culture.
Contribution to the life of the Church.
Every good thing done for the benefit of mankind is a contribution to the life of the Church, whose task is to make people happy by proclaiming the truth and bringing them closer to God through it.
We have remained faithful to Christ for centuries, although we have not been and are not free from many of the faults contrary to the Gospel. We are distinguished by great devotion to the Mother of God. There is a picture of her in every home of the Polish believer, and many Polish Christians wear a Marian medal. We also have many Marian shrines. Our religious revival after the tragedy of the last war is due to the cult of Mary. It found expression in the Great Novena and the Crusade of Love. A feature of our Polish religiosity is also the devotion to the Lord's Passion. They were created in Poland and have been preserved for centuries ,,Bitter Regrets ". We also, especially during Lent, the "Way of the Cross" is celebrated collectively and individually.
In our country, we knew how to respect the religious beliefs of people of other faiths. Hence, in our history we do not encounter religious wars.
The saints and the blessed are the fruit of the evangelical conduct of believers in Poland, coming from different states and professions, yes, from the royal state, and workers.
Thus, the Church in Poland contributes to the effectiveness of the mission of the entire People of God.
How will I answer God ?
The ties are strong, which unite people of the same nation. You are Polish and you are also a Christian united to Christ, and through him with all the people of God.
What is your attitude as a Pole and a Christian towards your nation? ? Do you know and value the history of Poland, its culture, its national monuments ? Do you realize, what you owe to your people ?
How are you preparing for future work for the good of the Polish nation ? And you, how could you enrich the life of the nation and the Church in Poland ?
Think about the words of the promise :
"Great Mother of God, Man ! Virgin Mother of God, Mary, praised by God, Queen of the world and Poland, Queen ! We humbly invoke your help in the fight to remain faithful to God, The Cross and the Gospel, To the Holy Church and its Shepherds. We promise you to keep the gift of grace in every soul, as the source of God's life. We wish, that each of us may live in sanctifying grace and be the holiness of God, that the whole nation may live without grave sin. We promise to acquire virtues : fidelity, diligence, diligence and savings, self-denial and mutual respect, love and social justice.
Lead us and all of Poland to the heavenly Fatherland, and on the threshold of a new life, show us Jesus yourself, blessed is the fruit of your womb ".
■ Think :
1. What do you owe to the Polish people in the field of culture and in ensuring living conditions ?
2. How the Polish nation defended and defends its cultural and economic values ?
3. What the Polish nation did to defend its freedom ?
4. What can you be proud of as a Pole ?
5. What is the contribution of the Polish nation to human culture?
6. What the local Polish Church gave to the universal Church ?
■ Remember:
What a man owes to his nation ?
Man owes his language to his people, national customs, religiosity, grown out of the history and culture of the nation, which shape the national character.
What a man owes his people ?
Man should get to know and respect the achievements of previous generations, and with your work to develop it for the good of your nation and all mankind.
■ Task :
1. Provide from literature and from the stories of the heroes, whose behavior proves the love of the Polish nation.
2. Try to get to know the sights in your area and think, how you could contribute to their behavior.
You have experienced such moments more than once, in which you felt proud, that you are Polish. Maybe then you were sitting in front of the TV or listening to the radio and cheering for the Polish football team or another sports discipline with great enthusiasm. You really cared about it, that the Poles would win, and not others.
