The Bitter Lamentations (Gorzkie Zale)

There exist few paraliturgical services in Catholic Christianity as poignant and meaningful for the faithful as those observed by the Church during Lent. These devotions draw us very close to the Cross of Christ, the life-giving Cross on which our Savior merited salvation for mankind. Though sorrowful in tone and tenor, these services anticipate the joyful tidings of Christ’s Resurrection and Ascension.

We in the Polish National Catholic Church have always preserved and indeed enlarged upon this precious legacy inherited from our forbears. This has been particularly true of the traditional and uniquely Polish service known as Gorzkie Zale – Bitter Lamentations.

In this cycle of songs and readings we meditate upon and enter into our Lord’s Passion. In its entirety, the service includes all three Parts and Intentions. All three Parts may be done together, or may be divided over several weeks. When the service is conducted in its entirety, each Part is opened with the initial meditation, “Come, O Bitter Lamentation,” and each part is closed with the concluding petition, “Lord, for us your wounds were suffered.”

This year, St. Mary of Czestochowa RC Parish and Holy Family PNCC Parish will celebrate Bitter Lamentations together on two occasions; at 7:00 PM on March 11th at the St. Mary Worship Site in English. It will be said in Polish on March 18th at 7:00 PM at the Holy Family Worship Site.