Little highlanders from Poland win the internet with their midnight Mass caroling

KRAKÓW, Poland (OSV News) -- An army of little violinists dressed in traditional attire of Polish highlanders, or "górale," went viral playing their Christmas carol in a gorgeous church in southern Poland, making a local legendary children's orchestra go global.

"Mala Armia Janosika," or "The Little Army of Janosik," is a well-known regional children's orchestra in Poland. But the popularity of the Christmas midnight Mass video recorded in the Church of St. Mary Magdalene in Rabka-Zdrój -- a picturesque town located 42 miles south of Kraków -- surpassed all expectations of Damian Palasz, conductor, director and founder of the orchestra.

"I would never expect this," Palasz told OSV News Dec. 27. "I came back home after midnight Mass in Rabka and I thought in the middle of the night -- maybe I'll post this little video, people may want to see this caroling by our orchestra on Christmas Day."

Palasz said the kids were playing at midnight Mass, as they have for the last nine years, since "the orchestra was born in 2015 out of my dream that kids play at Christmas midnight Mass," and the conductor thought after the 2024 Mass, "it's worth to repeat one carol at the end, and that's when I recorded that video, when after Mass the atmosphere was a little more laid back," he said.

When he posted his video on Tik-Tok and Facebook, shares "went wild," Palasz told OSV News. American influencer Ian Miles Cheong shared the video on Dec. 25 saying, "This is Poland and it is beautiful," gaining 3 million views and 110,000 likes. Former Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki posted the caroling by Mala Armia Janosika on Dec. 25, commenting that it's "beautiful." Jack Posobiec, an American author, also shared a video on his X account, gaining 34,800 likes and 1 million views.

Mala Armia Janosika bears the name of Juraj Janosik, a Slovak highlander hero, 18th-century Robin Hood of the region, who -- legends say -- stole from the wealthy to give to the poor. A Polish 1970s television series made him a popular figure in Poland, with most Poles treating the famous highlander as their own.

"I founded the orchestra for children, but it's a serious musical project," Palasz said. "We want to give an example to children that Polish tradition is important and Christmas is a special time to show it," he said.

The orchestra consists of roughly 300 children from age 4 to teenagers and some adults supporting them, with hundreds of children playing their violin in a perfectly simultaneous tune.

"It's not that we give them a violin and say: 'Play.' Each child is well prepared at home, they practice, learn lyrics and music notes, and if they pass our internal exam, they can perform," Palasz told OSV News.

The kids give concerts in Poland, including those televised by national channels. In September 2023, they gave a concert for the beatification of the Ulma family in Markowa, Poland.

In May, on the occasion of Polish Days in Rome, they played during the audience with Pope Francis.

"It was so beautiful," Palasz said, adding that it was a real treat for the children as they travelled in several buses across the city with the police escort. They performed "Madonno, Czarna Madonno" -- "Madonna, Black Madonna," the hymn to Our Lady of Czestochowa and "Barka," one of the favourite songs of St. John Paul II in the Vatican.

They also gave concerts in Czechia, but never in the United States.

"Maybe now, when American influencers posted our video, we will get an invitation to Chicago, to play for American Polonia," or the Polish community in the U.S., Palasz told OSV News, hoping that a generous sponsor would bring the full plane of little musicians across the ocean.

"It would be so beautiful to sing 'Jezusa Narodzonego' for Poles in the U.S.,' he said about the Christmas carol that went viral.

The lyrics, in traditional highlander "gwara," or local dialect, are:

-- "Jezusa narodzonego wszyscy witajmy" -- "Jesus who is born, let us all welcome!
-- "Jemu po koledzie dary wzajem oddajmy," -- "To Him, after the carol, let us give gifts to each other."
-- "Oddajmy wesolo, sklaniajmy swe czolo." -- "Let's give cheerfully, let's bow our foreheads."
-- "Sklaniajmy swe czolo Panu naszemu." -- "Let us bow our foreheads to our Lord!"