Cross of Casimir Pulaski
Marshal of the Bar Confederation

PRO FIDE ET LIBERTATE

Confederation Established in town of Bar in Podolia, Polonia to defend Faith and Freedom.

29 II 1768 AD

Confederation of the Faithful Roman Catholic Christians.

We, the faithful Roman Catholic Christians, the Polish nation, loyal to God and the Church, to free kings and our beloved fatherland, considering the inevitable conclusion of those unhappy and terrifying measures, violently undertaken against all law, which unfailingly result in the certain weakening and near-universal ruin of the Holy Roman Catholic faith;

Observing the coldness among the higher clergy, the indifference among the greater lay leaders, as well as the shameless fear and confusion among the citizens—and what is most unfortunate: that, feeling no distress, they bow their once-unbowed heads, those heads of a free nation, under the slave's yoke of stigmatists, Lutherans, and Calvinists—those whom we redeemed with the most precious blood of Christ and our own, and whom we safely bore before the nations; heedless of the Turkish, Tatar, Swedish, and Cossack hordes, which, like a single shadow fleeing the setting sun, so too they vanished at the sign of the Holy Cross before our heroic arms.

But there is a God in Jerusalem; there is still a prophet who foretells all prosperity for us. If we shall live and die, stand and fall at His side and at the side of the Holy Catholic faith, He will strengthen our forces and awaken in us the knightly blood; He will be our leader and guide, our shield and our might. May His almighty power sustain us; may the power of the Most Holy Son nourish us; may the spirit of His love inflame us! Therefore, in the name of the Most Holy Trinity—God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit—let us form this personal and universal confederation; our shield shall be Mary.

The prayer that the Bar Confederates recited daily was said to have been composed by Fr. Marek, a Carmelite, taken from a contemporary manuscript in the Ossoliński Library, No. 341, p. 53

O God, our Heavenly Father! To Whom all honor, glory, and fear belong. King of heaven and earth, in whose hand all kingdoms lie. You, O great God, govern all things and uphold all things by Your holy Providence. Through You, O Lord, kings reign and commanders command. You are the God of hosts, of whom all fear and tremble before the presence of Your power. Before Your supreme majesty, therefore, prostrating ourselves on our faces and humbled in the dust of the earth, we confess with tears our sins, by which we have justly deserved Your wrath, and with contrite hearts we beg forgiveness. You are the Father of mercy; You do not desire the death of sinners, but rather that they convert and live. Look mercifully upon our suffering and oppression, hear the sighs of our hearts, do not deliver us to perdition, stay the audacious hand of our enemies, strained to humiliate the Holy Catholic Faith and subjugate our distressed and unhappy homeland. To You, O God, are best known all the secret thoughts and hearts. You know, O God, that we place our hope not in strength, not in power, but in Your mercy alone. Grant, O Lord, that the enemies of the Catholic Church and Your people may not triumph in their iniquities. See, O Lord, how they attack us, to destroy Your inheritance and to deprive us of our life, freedom, and all our goods. O Lord, do not surrender us and this Polish Republic into captivity to the enemies of Your holy name. They care nothing for the honor of Your Name, Your glory, or the salvation of human souls, but they strive to muffle Your praise and abolish the perpetual Sacrifice of the Most Holy Altar in our homeland. Spare, O Lord, spare Your people, and do not be angry with us forever, and remove these plagues from us, that we may not perish. Hear us, O Most Merciful God, by the Blood of our Savior, shed from His Most Holy Wounds as a ransom for Your people, we beseech You for mercy on us. O Jesus! Our Savior, have mercy through the intercession of Your Most Holy Mother, Queen of the Crown of Poland, and our Patron Saints; Saint Stanislaus, Saint Casimir, be our defense and strength, implore the Lord's mercy upon us. Have mercy, Lord, have mercy on us, Heavenly Father, bless us. Amen.

Oath to the Confederation.

I, N.N., swear to the one God in Trinity, to the Most Holy Virgin Mary, ever immaculately conceived, and to all the Saints—especially to the patrons of the Polish Crown—and to you, O Head of the Church, Father Pope of Rome, as follows: that this secret of the confederation, employed for the defense of the Holy Roman Catholic faith—its persons, places, assemblies, and all the particulars of our agreement—I shall not betray or reveal to anyone, no matter how dear a friend, whether of the male or female sex; I shall not abandon the Holy Roman Catholic faith, but with heart and arms I shall defend it until the loss of my last breath, until its common preservation and establishment in my country! This oath binds me so firmly that no confessor may absolve me from its violation. Should I maliciously transgress against this confederation and the points set forth above: may that one God in Trinity, to whom I swear, condemn me; may His Passion, upon which I swear, and the Holy Gospel condemn me. Amen.

Points of the Duties of the Confederates

1. Each one is obliged to defend the Holy Roman Catholic Faith with his own life and blood.

2. No acts of violence or robberies should be committed against Catholics, Jews, or Lutherans, neither personally nor through subordinates.

3. Everyone should obey commands, faithfully carry out orders even at the risk of life, and submit to punishment for offenses; moreover, the command itself must strictly forbid the presence of any women in the camp.

4. The banner of the Catholic confederation shall have one principal emblem: the Lord Jesus crucified on a golden or silver lambrequin, and a second of the Most Holy Mother on the same background. The others shall be under the sign of the Holy Cross alone; of these banners, especially the two principal ones, falling corpse upon corpse, we shall not allow them to be torn from us by the enemies of the Holy Faith.

5. General password: Jesus, Mary.

6. They shall engage in no correspondence or agreement with the enemies of the Holy Faith, nor with unsworn Catholics.

7. Each sworn knight should possess no more than a pair of horses; pistols, a saber, and a pennant. A mounted attendant with full equipment for those who can afford it, as well as the sign of the Holy Cross on the left side and a cap according to the old model, with a crimson top; he shall not accept it until the general assembly. However, he should have ready with him a high Tatar cap and a full green or navy uniform; no further equipment or wagons are permitted except for commanders.

8. Each banner shall consist of 100 men, composed solely of sworn knights, besides the rank-and-file soldiers, among whom there shall be four officers: captain, lieutenant, ensign, and quartermaster; a trumpeter and a drummer.

9. Our pay is Christ and His most holy providence! And whoever is in a position to support and aid another is obliged to provide help.

10. Forage shall not exceed what is necessary, and provisions shall be taken only where the general command orders and in the quantity it specifies.

11. The commander shall be chosen from the heart and with affection; the other officers by lot, such that they lead the banner of the cross and the password. Every commander must swear an oath of fidelity, love, and obedience.

12. No Lutheran, Calvinist, or schismatic shall be admitted to this confederation. Secrets shall not be revealed to any person, neither to wife, nor to mother, nor to any woman.

13. Everyone should encourage others and bind them to the oath.

14. For traitors: death and punishment.

15. Seal on the eagle's breast: the Lord Jesus crucified and sabers in its claws, with the inscription: either die or conquer.

16. Everyone must begin with God and end with the most holy Sacraments, avoiding all crimes and living in purity of conscience; and thus the Lord God will grant triumph over the enemies of His name and will shame them with ignominy before the nations, to whom let there be unceasing honor and glory, and let His praise ceaselessly resound in the mouths of true faithful Catholics: Jesus, Mary, Joseph.