Adam Szustak announces a new male-voiced version of the Dominican Passion Canticle for daily Lenten prayer.
The episode is the first Zasypiaki of the Lenten season, recorded on Ash Wednesday. Host Adam Szustak opens by greeting the audience and noting the shift from the podcast's usual format of reflections on saints, the rosary, or scripture. He explains that for Lent, the meetings will adopt a special, simplified prayer routine. Szustak recalls that last year, the community prayed the Passion Canticle of St. Catherine of Ricci daily throughout Lent, accompanied by vocalist Aga (Agnieszka Musiał) and instrumentalist Jasiek. He describes the canticle as a Dominican tradition, typically sung in monasteries on Sunday afternoons, and notes it is largely composed of scriptural quotations about Christ's passion. For this year, Szustak wanted a variation and invited male cantor Rafał Maciejewski from Łódź to record a more monastic, male-voiced version. The host outlines the daily structure: a welcome, a simple examination of conscience with a moment of silence, an act of contrition, the sung Passion Canticle with Rafał, and a closing blessing. He emphasizes this routine will be consistent every day until the end of Lent. Szustak encourages participation, stating that contemplating Christ's passion is one of the best Lenten practices. The episode then proceeds with the promised elements. The host leads a brief examination of conscience and an act of contrition. The core of the episode is the recitation of the Passion Canticle, with the host reading the Polish text. The canticle's verses poetically describe suffering, betrayal, and Christ's redemptive sacrifice, incorporating lines like 'On był przebity za nasze grzechy' (He was pierced for our sins). After the prayer, Szustak offers a final blessing, wishes listeners good night, and invites them to return the next day.
