Studia Filologiczne UJK

Summary

In this article I present the analysis and interpretation of O stanie panieńskim krótkie zebranie Short notes about the state of maidenhood (1636) by father Andrew Goldonowski. In the first part of the publication I depict a biography of Fr. A. Goldonowski and I briefly discuss the idea of consecrated virginity in the doctrine of the Catholic Church. Then I answer the question about the importance of virginity consecrated to God in the views of the seventeenth-century Pauline monk and – for a broader overview of the topic – I present the motif of virginity on selected examples of old Polish literature. The model of consecrated virginity propagated in the work of Fr. A. Goldonowski was elitist. Rooted in the Christian religion, it is meaningful only in the act of voluntary life sacrifice submitted in the name of love for Christ. Because of demographic, political and social reasons the old Polish literature does not recommend it. In the era when women massively died during childbirth, the average lifespan was much shorter than today, numerous wars resulted in a drastic decline in the population, the most preferred pattern of women was wife, mother and resourceful, industrious housewife.