Lumen 2018

Wielkopolska attacked first, for the people there were the first to ex- perience the Swedish aggression. The resistance against the Swedes could be noticed there already two months after the invasion. In the vicinity of Wschowa and Koscian, the uprising was led by the sub- prefect Christopher Zegocki. Lithuania took up arms, too, and right under the noses of the Radziwills the uprising continued to intensify. Paul Sapieha, Palatine of Witebsk, later made hetman by the king, led the uprising there and in Podlasie. He harassed the Radziwills with his attacks so effectively that he forced Janus Radziwill to seek shelter in Tykocin, where this traitor drew his last breath on Decem- ber 31 “amidst terrible pangs of soul and body.” He left this world ignored by the Swedes, helpless, physically disabled, bed-ridden by an illness which caused horrible pains in his joints. One might say that he did not have peace even after his death, for when Tykocin was captured in 1657, the Swedish soldiers blew up the castle tower, thus killing themselves and destroying the coffin containing Radzi- will’s remains. 57 The life of the traitor of Wielkopolska, Christopher Opalinski, also came to a bad end as he died even before Janus Radziwill did, i.e., on the night between December 4 th and December 5 th . They died in the same order as they had betrayed their homeland. 58 One of the most famous events of that time was the defense of Jasna Gora. It had been under attack by the Swedes, led by B. Muller, since the middle of November to December 26 th . This par- ticular event moved the Polish hearts in a very special way because, after all, the city of the Mother of God was being attacked; the city where she was venerated in the miraculous icon enshrined in the monastery of Pauline Fathers with the courageous Fr. Kordecki at the head. In his book entitled Potop [The Deluge], Henry Sienkiewicz, a Polish writer, beautifully describes the struggle of the soldiers defending Jasna Gora as they fought off the numerous as- saults by the wicked invaders. On that very occasion, the Poles saw that this enemy could be beaten. 59 107 At the Piarist Fathers