reconciliation was started by Polish side, a Catholic Church to be precise.
Good point.
74.000 (...) We Germans and you Poles under the leadership of a Polish king.
Yes, of course, the presence of all the infantry and cavalry most certainly helped, but so many people nowadays, when analysing the battle of Vienna,
tend to overlook the role of Saint Virgin Mary. I shall therefore mention it very briefly here:
- King Sobieski's confessor, father Stanisław Papczyński (canonized by Pope Francis in 2016) had a revelation in which
Saint Virgin Mary promised Polish Army a decisive victory (and She, as usual, kept her promise);
- on his way to Vienna, our king stopped for a day at
Jasna Góra monastery, where he prayed and served for Mass;
- He visited other sanctuaries on his way, went to seven churches in Cracow, and finally, on 15th August (
Feast of Assumption of Mary), he rejoined his army;
- it is worth mentioning that most of the soldiers who set off with King Sobieski were either members of the
Sodality of Our Lady or Rosary Brotherhoods;
- the army carried with them (with utmost reverence) the painting of
Victorious Mother of God from Mariampol (the same that helped to defeat Turks at Chocim);
- at the same time in Cracow, in the intention of victory over Turks, there was a procession from the Wawel Cathedral to the
Marian Church, carrying the miraculous painting of
Victorious Saint Virgin Mary of Rosary;
- directly before the battle Jan Sobieski addressed his troops, blessed them with relics of Holy Cross, and with
Bogurodzica (traditional Polish Marian song, and the first anthem of Poland) on their lips the army charged the Turkish hordes...
... the rest is history.
