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  What it means

  “Before St Pancras’s day there is no summer; after St Boniface’s day the frost flies away.” A folk weather proverb: true summer warmth does not arrive before 12 May (St Pancras) and the last frosts are gone after 14 May (St Boniface).

  Vocabulary

  • Pankracy — St Pancras (feast day 12 May)
  • lato — summer
  • Bonifacy — St Boniface (feast day 14 May)
  • mróz — frost
  • ulatać — to fly away, to disappear

  Grammar note

  'Przed Pankracym' and 'po Bonifacym' use the instrumental case after the prepositions 'przed' (before) and 'po' (after).

  Cultural context

  Polish folk tradition tied agricultural and weather predictions to the Catholic calendar of saints' feast days. The 'Ice Saints' (Pankracy, Serwacy, Bonifacy) around 12–14 May were feared for late frosts.

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