# Wedding Speech by Włodzimierz Czartoryski (1937)

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Speech delivered at the wedding of Adam Czartoryski and Jadwiga Stadnicka, Nawojowa, June 24, 1937

The small and unassuming river Szreniawa, winding through the plains and hills of Lesser Poland, has been granted the honour of becoming the heraldic jewel of many noble houses gloriously written into our history — houses that played a distinguished part in the life of the Fatherland. Just as the Szreniawa gathers the waters of Lesser Poland’s fields and forests, carries them to the Vistula, and swells that river’s current on its further course, so the Szreniawici, in the age when the Polish Nation, after the fragmentation of the duchies, began once more to unite under the steadfast Łokietek and the great King Casimir, took their stand in the service of the nascent idea of national unity and helped to lay the foundations of the great edifice of Jagiellonian Poland.

The Szreniawa coat of arms is a proud warrant of the house — a living link with its finest traditions. It is an appeal to the age when, after the extinction of the last Piasts, the helm of the ship of state passed into the hands of the nation, which had to sit a hard examination before history.

It was then that the lords of Lesser Poland and of Kraków took the leadership of the nation into their hands, with a sense of responsibility before history and with a broad view of the historical horizon. Overcoming every obstacle, they sent embassies to far-off Dalmatia for the young heiress of the throne, brought Jagiełło from Vilnius — still more distant in culture — and within a few short years laid lasting foundations under one of the most powerful states in Europe.

In that work the Szreniawici, a house of Lesser Poland, and among them the Stadnickis, fulfilled their part with honour. Already at the side of Władysław Łokietek — the exile-hero and restorer of the kingdom — we see Wojciech Stadnicki, a faithful companion of the king, standing bravely against the predatory designs of Wenceslaus of Bohemia.

Wojciech’s son Jakub gave his life for the Fatherland on the field of Płowce. The descendants of these men took a constant share in the work of the state, holding dignities at the court of King Jagiełło and of his successors. And throughout the whole period of our independence we continue to find Stadnickis among civil and military dignitaries; the roll of senators of their house is so long that scarcely a few families in Poland can boast a greater number.

A known trait of the Stadnickis is a fiery temperament, always ready for action. That impetuosity, joined to magnanimous courage and placed in the service of the Fatherland, furnished examples of valour in the Commonwealth’s many wars. Płowce, Smolensk, Gdańsk, Berestechko, Khotyn, and so on — and onward to the nation’s tragic struggles in the time of bondage — on all these fields the sabre of the Stadnickis served the Fatherland with honour and gathered military laurels.

And wherever, by a special call from God, that warmth of heart was hidden beneath cassock or habit, we see a line of priests formed in the mind of Christ — and it is a long line — apostles spreading the word of God among the faithful. And when a movement arose that sought renewal in the education of the young, the Stadnickis took part in the pedagogical work of the Piarist Fathers; scholarship foundations for poor students bear witness to their care for the upbringing of youth to this very day.

When again, after the fall of the state, it was not given us to fight the enemy with arms, there issued from their pens works and monographs treating of our past.

The lands of Sącz, Sanok, and Przemyśl — these ancient seats of the Stadnickis, full of memorials of the many generations who lived here — and the churches and monasteries scattered across the whole breadth of the country, are the works of their generous hand and of a deep attachment to the Church.

I count myself happy that, thanks to the kind hospitality of our hosts, it has been given me for many years to be a guest at Nawojowa and to see how one ought to live. Here the finest traditions of the Stadnicki and Sapieha families give us daily examples of how to spread the glory of God and stand faithfully by the Holy Church; how to serve the Fatherland; how to love one’s ancestral land and fulfil one’s duties toward the soil; how to shine by example and serve one’s neighbours in need!

Of all this a living, wise, and real example stands before us. And above all one may learn here what a family hearth should be, and can be. Here four generations form one whole; here are the examples of the master of the house — husband, father, and steward — and of the mistress of the house, who like the wise woman of Scripture watches over everything, orders and provides for the household, and gives a large family its direction, its support, its peace and its serenity. Here too is a living example of the Fourth Commandment, put into practice.

Allow me also to address a few words, brief but full of reverence, to Bunia, beloved of all — the very embodiment of serenity and kindness, virtues won through many trials, long experience, and that harmony achieved in the service of God.

With joy that our families, through today’s celebration, will draw the bonds of friendship still closer, I raise a toast: Long live the Stadnicki family!