The mass was conducted in Lithuanian, which is a common thing here, and the Bible was read both in Polish and Lithuanian, with Lithuanian religious songs and few words of recollection about Miłosz by Krzysztof Czyżewski in Polish.
After the ceremony everybody went to the manor-house in Krasnogruda. Inhabitants of Sejny and surrounding villages, as well as visitors from other parts of Poland and from Vilnius came in big numbers. They sat by the porch under the open skies.
The recitation of Czesław Miłosz’s poetry, recollections about him, music, and singing lasted almost two hours – the event directed by Małgorzata Sporek-Czyżewska and Wojciech Szroeder.
"Powrót" was the first poem to be recited; Miłosz wrote it after his visit to Krasnogruda in 1990 – the same year he met the founders of the Borderland Foundation for the first time. Tomas Venclova, an old friend of the poet, recited out of memory the poem "Który skrzywdziłeś," first in the original, then in his own translation into Lithuanian. He also read in both languages the poem "Filologia." Miłosz’s poems spoken by Anatol Roitman in Polish and Russian were touching. Roitman, a renowned translator of Miłosz’s poems into Russian, came to Krasnogruda from as far as Novosibirsk. Next, poems were read by the members of the Borderland’s Cultural Heritage Class, accompanied by the musicians of the Klezmer Band of Sejny Theater.
During the next part of the meeting those young Lithuanians and Poles from Sejny and the area shared the stories about past inhabitants of the manor-house. The young people lived in the manor-house for the whole summer, cleaning its rooms and taking part in various workshops (literature, photography, architecture, art), as well as interacting with older inhabitants of Krasnogruda, Dusznica, Burbiszki, Żegary and other villages in the area. These older people still remember the manor-house and its inhabitants from the times before the war. All the stories, anecdotes, photographs, documents, every-day objects, and keepsakes gathered by the young people filled "Krasnogruda chest," now displayed at the porch. You could even hear stories about Bronisław Kunat, Gabriela Lipska and Janinia Niementowska coming out of the chest. You could hear the stories about the daughters running the pension at the manor-house, about Władysław Lipski, the last manager of the property, and about his son, Zaza, about the carter Czeropski and about the shy law student from Wilno – Czesław Miłosz. The stories were intertwined with Polish and Lithuanian songs, and at the end the Lithuanian band „Alma” from Puńsk played.
Those who gathered in the dilapidated and abandoned (but nonetheless coming back to life) manor-house that day, when said farewell replied: "See you in Krasnogruda next year!"
Remembering Miłosz: A Meeting during the first anniversary of Poet’s death, Sunday, 14th August 2005
Oct. 4, 2011, 12:39 p.m.
The meeting started at 4 p.m. with a holy mass in the memory of Czesław Miłosz in a small church in Żagary. Żagary is a village on Gaładuś lake, near Krasnogruda. The church, founded by Maciej Eysmont in the 18th century, used to be closely connected with Krasnogruda manor-house, whose owners took care of renovations and church funding. Miłosz felt strong ties with that church and the news of its burning in 1983 really depressed him. Now, in the place of old wooden church there is one made of bricks).