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  What it means

  “When Saint Matthias improves winter, the Bridegroom leaves behind frosts.” If the weather warms around Saint Matthias’s Day (February 24), cold will return around the feast of the Bridegroom (a moveable Lenten feast). A warning that a February thaw is not the end of winter.

  Vocabulary

  • Święty Maciej — Saint Matthias (feast day: February 24)
  • poprawiać — to improve, to fix
  • Oblubieniec — the Bridegroom (a Lenten liturgical title for Christ)
  • mróz — frost
  • zostawiać — to leave behind

  Grammar note

  'Zimę poprawia' — 'zimę' is the accusative of 'zima'. 'Mrozy zostawia' — 'mrozy' is the accusative plural of 'mróz'.

  Cultural context

  Saint Matthias's Day (February 24) was traditionally seen as a turning point in winter. 'Oblubieniec' refers to a Sunday in Lent in old Polish liturgical tradition.

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