Polska duchowość maryjna w „Modlitewniku Gertrudy”

Abstract

The article presents the most important features of Polish medieval Marian spirituality contained in one of the oldest Polish prayer books, the so-called Gertrude’s Prayer Book. Among the evidences of Marian spirituality of that time – apart from liturgical books and songs – private prayer books deserve a special attention. They are not only evidences of private religiousness but also they reflect the official spiritual currents of that time. Since the pertinent work contains many prayers, not all of the prayer book was analyzed, but only those fragments that refer directly to Christ’s Mother. Medieval ascetic-mystic works should be studied ever more penetratingly, as it was a time of the birth of both the Marian cult and spirituality in Polish lands; the more so because those beginnings in a way determined the most important trends in its development for the following centuries.