Doświadczenie Krzyża w świadectwach poetyckich

Nowadays the cross theme appears in wide cultural context. It is characterized by enormous richness of form and content. The cross is one of the oldest symbols of humanity. However, today its original meaning seems to be forgotten. It is often seen as ornament, art work, religious symbol. Nevertheless, for many people it is expression of human experiences marked by stigma of suffering. The present paper is an attempt to catch these experiences and show them by analysis of religious poetry. The imagery of cross inside it enables us to get just a little bit closer to the mystery experience in the poetry. Contemporary poetry was considered by the prism of canonic mystical poetry expressed in John’s of the cross poetry, whose output was diligently analyzed by Edith Stein and Karol Wojtyla (Pope John Paul II). That is why following the path, in order to catch the deeper layer of the meaning of the topic, the phenomenological interpretation was used. Stein claims that this intepretation may allow us to empathize and catch this, what is elusive, what is just impossible for human understanding, but becomes an opportunity itself