- January 30, 2013
- 291
Scouts and the inhabitants of Wędziagoła organize the 150th commemoration of the January Uprising
3 years ago, the representatives of the Association of Poles in Lithuania with the branch in Wędziagoła suggested that scouts from Vilnius region and the father Dariusz Stańczyk joined the commemoration of the January Uprising (1863) and honoured people who fought in the uprising.
A bus with 15 scouts, who spent 2 days in Wędziagoła, came here on the 22 of January (the day when the uprising broke out in 1863) 2011. The guests from Vilnius prayed, visited the graves of insurrectionists which are in our town and in Kėdainiai region, and visited Ibiany – the village which suffered the most in the uprising. Young people from Vilnius region liked the idea of taking part in such actions and it was decided that this great patriotic tradition will be continued.
In January 2012 the group of 50 persons came to Wędziogoła. The list of places to be visited was becoming longer and longer. These list included such places as: Puszcza Birżańska (Medeikai), where battles between insurrectionists and the tsar’s army took place, Podbrzezie, Šventybrastis. There was Holy Mass in the church in Wędziagoła, people visited graves of insurrectionists and commemorated their memory.
This year, 70 pupils and students came here together with father Dariusz Stańczyk. They visited the graves of insurrectionists in Anykščiai, Jeziorosy, Uciana and Kėdainiai.
The inhabitants of Wędziagoła met the participants of the commemoration by the church in Podbrzezie, where 150 years earlier one of the uprising leaders – father Antoni Mackiewicz – set off with boys to fight for freedom. The meetings, the visit in a museum and the evening Mass in the church in Podbrzezie for the insurrectionists who died in the January Uprising – all this made a great impression on young people.
One of the young people exclaimed: “Look up there! There’s a little white cloud near the ceiling!”, and he started to take photos. The curator of the museum, Regina Galvanauskiene, said: “Father Stanisław would really like all this…”.
Šventybrastis. It is a late evening. In the darkness, people came to see the monument which commemorates 75 insurrectionists and to meet the soul of Magdalena who appears here from time to time, as Czesław Miłosz wrote in “The Valley of Issa”.
The scouts lightened the lights and prayed for the insurrectionists buried in the cemetery. Then, they went to Łabunów.
The representatives of religious groups from the parish and the local school provided meals and accommodations for everyone who participated in the commemoration. Young people showed their gratitude and sang scout songs, gave small presents and thanked former headmaster of the school Krystyna Stanionienė (who greeted the guests in Polish) and the current headmaster Rita Karnilavičienė.
The next day, the scouts from Wędziagoła attended Holy Mass. Everyone prayed for the insurrectionists and visited their graves after the Mass.
Elders from Wędziogoła were happy about the fact that, during the heavy winter, lots of young people come here every year to pray and honour the ancestors of the Wędziagoła’s inhabitants, while the local people very often forget about it… It may be another miracle in Wędziagoła…
Thank God there is a hope when we see young not spoilt enthusiasts, their actions, strong patriotism and faith.
There are lots of emotions and memories. We said goodbye but it is not for long. The inhabitants of Wędziagoła and the scouts hope that they all will meet again during this jubilee year at various commemoration days in Lithuania or in Poland to honour the memory of the people who died in the fights.
Ryszard Jankowski
The chairman of the Association of Poles in Lithuania’s branch in Wędziagoła
Tłumaczenie Katarzyna Kurowska w ramach praktyk w Europejskiej Fundacji Praw Człowieka, www.efhr.eu. Translated by Katarzyna Kurowska the framework of a traineeship programme of the European Foundation of Human Rights, www.efhr.eu.
