Among the so-called lost icons of modern culture (as Rowan Williams once put it) holiness should be perhaps seen with a particular concern. Christianity has always perceived holiness as a universal calling which Christ’s disciples are never to neglect. The Lutheran pastor and theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer emerges as a signifcant example of radical discipleship in his consistent and faithful pursuit of holiness. The one who believes in Christ is to follow Him not by withdrawing from this world but rather in the midst of the world as Christ himself lived and to „drink the earthly cup to the dregs like Christ himself”. Consequently, „holiness begins and ends with God and moves toward the needy of the world” (A. Lawrence). John Paul II would often stress that holiness is one of those precious signs of the Spirit’s active presence among all Christ’s followers which should play an ever more growing role in the ecumenical exchange of gifts. When Christians base their hope on the Lord’s prayer and not their own strength, they can trust that „the great ecumenism of holiness will not fail, with God’s help, to bring results” (John Paul II).

The Divine Revelation – and in consequence Christian theology – connects a term ‘holiness’ with the nature of God who in relation to His creature is totally transcendent but in the same time is close to it and in His Son Jesus Christ, in a sense, united with it. Strictly speaking it is possible to talk about holiness under one condition: if one believes in the Holy One – God who is the source of any holiness. Holiness of God was fully revealed in Jesus Christ who through His revelation-salvifc deeds allowed human beings to participate in God’s holiness. Church, however, being holy from her nature (and participating in God’s holiness) has a task to proclaim holiness in the world and to practice it. The essence of holiness is always the same although holiness could be practiced in the Church and the world in many different ways. So understood holiness of Christian life – achieved especially in everyday life or in a way of heroic virtues – has a very important meaning for the credibility of Christianity. Holiness is present not only in a spiritual (‘inside’) life but also has outside refections which is so much important for a contemporary mentality marked by praxis and praxeology. holiness, however, could be recognized only from a perspective of faith.

The topic of this paper is the universal call to holiness with reference to the notion of „ordinary holiness”. The contemporary teaching of the Catholic Church, particularly since Vatican II, has underlined that holiness is both a gift and a task for all Christians. It is illustrated with several papal pronouncements by Paul VI, John Paul II and Benedict XVI. Finally the paper points out to some examples which confrm that any activity in life is appropriate for fulflling the call to holiness. It is also noticed that ordinary holiness is a positive reaction and response of Christ’s disciples to the signs of the time they face. Some of those signs of the time are nowadays: man’s changing attitude to the truth, to human life as a fundamental value, to conjugal love which is in its essence faithful and exclusive, as well as to service as a form of daily love.

This article consists of two parts. The first part summarizes using informal language Wolniewicz’s understanding of the idea of God which he expressed in the language of formal logic. It demonstrates that Wolniewicz’s position was founded on antinaturalism, i.e. the conviction that nature is a fragment of a larger reality while man partly transcends the natural reality. The second part of the article is an attempt at capturing the intuitions behind Wolniewicz’s idea of God as an impersonal power which is not identical with Providence though. It is argued that this view is a consequence of the characteristic traits of Wolniewicz’s personality. This explanation is consistent with Wolniewicz’s understanding of human nature. In the analysis that ensues reference is made to Wolniewicz’s private correspondence.

One of the oldest ways of showing the practical realization of a call to holiness is the imitation of Christ. In the past this idea, with additional role models included, was also used in the moral theological refection on human development and sanctifcation. However, those attempts found it diffcult to defne the subject of imitation as well as imitation itself. Also today, with some reservations, the idea of imitation can be used for a methodical presentation of the Christian vocation to holiness and of concrete ways how this vocation can be realized. When taken together with the biblical category of the vocation and of the gift, this idea allows to present Christian moral life in a synthetic way and can be the reference point for specifc moral obligations. However, when using the category of imitation in the correct presentation of a call to holiness, correct terms are needed as well as an understanding of the vocation as found in Revelation and in particular and modern behavioural sciences. Such a presentation would emphasize important features of Christian morality, especially its religious, personalistic and social character, and would manifest misconceptions of both extreme autonomy and extreme heteronomy.

The paper presents unequivocal arguments in favour of the procedural nature of the canonical confrmation of holiness, as regards the process of beatifcation and canonization on the diocesan level. It was also underlined by Cardinal Prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints on 18 February 2008 in his intervention, concerning the Instruction issued by the Congregation and approved by the Pope, on stricter obeying the existing law. It was clearly stressed by the Cardinal that the document is not legislative in nature but is an administrative act of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints. He also rejected the common and false opinion that Pope John Paul II allegedly replaced procedural methodology in canonical processes of the confrmation of holiness by a methodology of historical-critical research. The Italian term “inchiesta” is to be understood not as a solely scientifc inquiry but also procedural. The interpretation of the internal regulations of the Congregation and its doctrine are in favour of the canonical procedure, which is analogous to ordinary canonical processes both in the diocesan and in the Roman phase. Eventually, the paper refers to the nature of the fnal decision of the pope in cases of beatifcation or canonization, which proves that the canonical confrmation of holiness in the Church is complex and unique to this kind of cases.

Pilgrimages to the Holy Land have been an old tradition in the Russian culture. For believers, places related to the life and passion of Christ have been an important element of history and geography of salvation since the beginnings of Christianity in Ruthenia. The paper is an attempt to present the fi rst pilgrimage of Andrey Muraviev (1806–1874), a religious writer, theologian, poet, playwright, church and state activist, to Palestine as a personal religious experience and its refl ection in a literary work of art. The pilgrimage to the East became a breakthrough moment in Muraviev’s life and resulted in the writing of "A journey to Holy places in 1830" (Путешествие ко Святым местам в 1830 году), which initiated the religious stage of his writings and became a great success. Although the poet did not call his journey a pilgrimage, such was indeed its nature. Visiting places important to the history of salvation, he participated in services and sacramental life of the Church.

The aim of this study was to reconstruct the location mechanism of a Triassic sandstone wedge within folded Palaeozoic rocks. A vertically oriented Buntsandstein succession (Lower Triassic) from Józefka Quarry (Holy Cross Mountains, central Poland), steeply wedged within folded Devonian carbonates, is recognised as an effect of normal faulting within a releasing stepover. The sandstone succession, corresponding to the Zagnańsk Formation in the local lithostratigraphic scheme, is represented by two complexes, interpreted as deposits of a sand-dominated alluvial plain (older complex), and coarse-grained sands and gravels of a braided river system (younger complex). The sandstone complex was primarily formed as the lowermost part of the several kilometres thick Mesozoic cover of the Holy Cross Mountains Fold Belt (HCFB), later eroded as a result of the Late Cretaceous/Paleogene uplift of the area. Tectonic analysis of the present-day position of the deformed sandstone succession shows that it is fault-bounded by a system of strike-slip and normal faults, which we interpret as a releasing stepover. Accordingly, the formation of the stepover in the central part of the late Palaeozoic HCFB is evidence of a significant role of strike-slip faulting within this tectonic unit during Late Cretaceous/Paleogene times. The faulting was probably triggered by reactivation of the terminal Palaeozoic strike-slip fault pattern along the western border of the Teisseyre–Tornquist Zone.

The paper presents characteristics of the Pleistocene sediments in the western part of the Holy Cross Mountains. They are subdivided into four complexes and their stratigraphic setting is referred to the updated scheme for the Pleistocene of Poland. The Preglacial Complex includes fluvial sediments characteristic for its lack of Scandinavian material. Sediments of three main glaciations (Nidanian, Sanian 1 and Sanian 2) within the South Polish Complex, are referred also as the South Polish Glaciations. The oldest of these glaciations (Nidanian) is separated from the middle glaciation (Sanian 1) by sediments of the Podlasian Interglacial, represented by clay at the Kozi Grzbiet Cave that contains faunal remains and record of the Brunhes/Matuyama palaeomagnetic boundary. During the middle (Sanian 1) and youngest glaciation (Sanian 2), the Holy Cross Mountains were almost completely covered by the Scandinavian ice sheet, forming glacial deposits separated by fluvial series of the Ferdynandovian Interglacial. The Middle Polish Complex begins with sediments of the Mazovian Interglacial, represented by a pollen record from the Zakrucze site. They are followed by deposits of periglacial and fluvial origin of the Liwiecian Glaciation, Zbójnian Interglacial, Krznanian Glaciation and Lublinian Interglacial. The following glaciation (Odranian) is represented by the youngest glacial deposits that document presence of the Scandinavian ice-sheet in the westernmost part of the Holy Cross Mountains. The North Polish Complex is composed of a climatic warming (Eemian Interglacial) and cooling (Vistulian Glaciation), and is represented by valley and periglacial deposits. The last cooling of the Pleistocene is recorded in faunal remains in the Raj Cave.

According to the current state of research five sand-gravel accumulation levels of Quaternary age are visible in the morphology of the western part of the Holy Cross Mountains, within the Wierna Rzeka, Hutka and Bobrza river valley systems and the lower stretches of the Biała Nida and Czarna Nida river valleys. Two upper levels (V and IV) correspond to valleys formed during the Odranian Glaciation-Saalian, MIS6 and its reccesional phases under the influence of proglacial and extraglacial waters beyond the extent (to the east) of the maximal ice-sheet limit of this glaciation, reaching to the present-day Leśnica-Gnieździska-Łopuszno line. Two lower levels (III and II) are terraces that were typically formed during the climatic conditions thatprevailed during Vistulian stadials. Sands and gravels of the three upper levels (V−III) contain numerous debris flow deposits and cryoturbation structures documenting periglacial conditions during their accumulation. The lowermost level (I) is a typical Holocene floodplain.

Bible and liturgy are the main sources of the Church's life. The Bible tells us about God saving man and the liturgy makes present the salvation given by God. The presentation of the Bible in the liturgy begins with the description of the syna- gogue worship at the time of the early Church. Since the beginning Christians read the Bible during the liturgy. The liturgy of the word was formed gradually, until it reached its final shape in he antiquity. That form was preserved till the Second Vatican Council. The Council resolved to enrich the table of the Divine Word and to read the Scripture in a cycle longer than one year. For Sundays and festivities has been introduced a triennial cycle, the readings of the liturgy of the hours have been changed, biblical readings have been added to the liturgy of the sacraments and the Psalms have been distributed in a 4-weeks cycle.

The words of the Bible are not only read but they become prayer and song. The liturgical prayers draw their inspiration, words and expressions from the Scripture. It is Christ who proclaims the gospel, God speaks to his people and the Church listens to the Divine Word. The liturgy of the Word is closely connected with the liturgy of the Eucharist. During the Mass, the table of the Divine Word and the table of the Eucharist are spread.

The chuch dedicated to The Holy Spirit, erected in Wrocław, in housing estate Huby, was created during the communist period, hence it was very difficult to design it, and to build. But it was also the period close to the collapse of this regime, so communist leaders were pressed to be more tolerant towards human rights than before, including the religious freedom and towards building new churches. The author of the church mentioned – a very active political oppositionist – when designing the strongly innovative church building, was simultaneously forced by fate to fight formal difficulties caused by oppressive rulers. Author makes the reader closer to those complicated double troubles: artistic, parallel to the political. Finally, the church building was happily completed, then became widely popular and accepted.

The objective of this paper is a review of data on reconstruction of the Pleistocene palaeogeography (environment) and stratigraphy based on studies of karst sites in the Świętokrzyskie (Holy Cross) Mountains. Although the number of known Pleistocene karst sites in this region is small, the investigations of them have played a crucial role in a research of the Pleistocene. The study of the Kozi Grzbiet site provided the first evidences for new climatostratigraphy and classification of glaciations in Poland. The explanation of genesis of cryogenic calcite crystals discovered in Chelosiowa Jama-Jaskinia Jaworznicka cave system started a new direction of palaeoenvironmental reconstructions of the last glacial period. Kadzielnia palaeontological site was one of the first Early Pleistocene fossil assemblages in karst studied in Poland, whereas Raj cave provided abundant palaeontological and archaeological material from the Last Glacial. Other sites are of less scientific importance, however some of them can be used in education and popularisation of geosciences. Small number of already studied sites does not exclude discoveries of next sites of high scientific importance.

The damage zones of exhumed strike-slip faults dissecting Jurassic carbonates in the south-western part of the Late Palaeozoic Holy Cross Mountains Fold Belt reveal second-order faults and fractures infilled with syntectonic calcite. The subsequent development of a structural pattern of microscopic fault-related structures and calcite infillings reflects the activity of strike-slip faults that began in the Late Cretaceous (Late Maastrichtian) and lasted until the early Miocene (Langhian). The fabric of the syntectonic veins provides insights into the evolution of the permeable fault-related structures that were the main pathways for fluid flow during fault activity. Microstructural study of calcite veins coupled with stable isotope and fluid inclusion data indicates that calcite precipitated primarily in a rock-buffered system related to strike-slip fault movement, and secondarily in a partly open system related to the local activity of the releasing Chmielnik stepover or the uplift of the area. The presence of meteoric fluids descending from the surface into damage zones suggest that the strike-slip faulting might have taken place in a nonmarine, continental environment.

Article The Bible in Polish Modern Literature contains reflections on the period 1945-2009, especially about an essay on the Bible written by laics, staying on more or less catholic position. Almost all were poets: Roman Brandstaetter (1906-1987), Jan Dobraczyński (1910-1994), Anna Kamieńska (1920-1986), Czesław Miłosz (1911- 2004), Marek Skwarnicki (*1930), Anna Świderkówna (1925-2008), Tadeusz Żychiewicz (1922-1994) and others. These authors began to study the Bible in the middle of their lives, when they were ripe to discuss theological and existential problems of the Holy Scripture. In the contrast to them there are the writers staying on the atheistic or agnostic position: Zenon Kosidowski (1898-1978), Artur Sandauer (1913-1989). Only one author, A. Świderkówna, was really a specialist in a biblical branch as the professor of the ancient mediterranean archaeology on the Warsaw University. She could write series her books Conversations on the Bible which became the bestseller in the end of 20th century.

For all biblical essayists a very important issue was the philological question connected to the langauge of the Bible and with the „semantic energy" of translation (Miłosz). The biblical essayists used the old polish Bible (1600) translation of Jacob Wujek SI or modern group translation made 1965 in Benedictiner Abbey in Tyniec (by Cracow). Beyond a communistic censorship in years 1945-1989 all mentioned writers could publish their articles and books. The most important center of these initiatives was Cracow (weekly „Tygodnik Powszechny" and monthly „Znak", also lisher), Warsaw (Publisher Pax), Posen.