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Polish Easter traditions
Easter in Poland is a vibrant and colourful holiday. It is a time of joy that accompanies the end of the once widely-observed period of fasting during Lent. Easter is accompanied by a range of religious and folk customs. Some of these traditions – many of which date back to the Middle Ages – are still closely followed today.
Spring cleaning
One way of preparing for Easter is spring cleaning. This is not just about making the house sparkling clean: pre-Easter cleaning also symbolizes the removal of all signs of winter from the home – including evil and illness – before the coming of spring.
Easter “palms”
Holy Week begins with Palm Sunday, which commemorates the arrival of Christ in Jerusalem. Special “palms” are blessed with holy water in churches. These palms are made of willow, boxwood, raspberry or currant twigs decorated with flowers, moss, herbs and coloured feathers. The symbolic touching of family members with a palm aims to ensure their good health throughout the year. Palms attached to a painting or kept in a vase protect the home from misfortune and the spitefulness of neighbours.
Good Friday
The day of Christ’s death is a solemn and sad day in the Christian tradition. It is a day of fasting and commemorating the Way of the Cross. “Holy Sepulchres” are set up in churches, with stucco or wooden figures of Christ resting in grottos full of flowers. The tombs are watched over by school children or scouts often dressed as Roman soldiers. The installations are rich in symbolism and come in a variety of shapes and sizes. Apart from their religious significance, the tombs sometimes refer to Polish history, current events, and social issues.
An important part of Good Friday celebrations is the Passion play: a medieval custom consisting of a theatrical depiction of the suffering and death of Christ. The Passion play in Poznan brings together 1,000 people and is the world’s biggest, according to its organizers.
Blessing of food
Holy Saturday is a day of joyful anticipation ahead of the resurrection of Christ. This is the time to prepare the święconka – a decorative basket containing food that is blessed in church. Obligatory items include eggs – symbolizing birth and new life; a small lamb figure made of sugar – the symbol of Christ resurrected; bread; salt; cold cuts; horseradish; and Easter cakes. The contents of the basket are eaten on Easter Sunday after the resurrection. In the Polish south, after returning from church members of the household must circle the dining room table three times with the blessed basket – thanks to this, the blessing will apply to the entire home.
Easter Sunday breakfast
Easter Sunday begins with the mass of the Resurrection – a ceremonial morning service and procession. In the past, children were allowed to welcome this special day by hurling bangers or caps. The festive breakfast table is set with a white tablecloth and decorated with pisanki Easter eggs, chicken figurines, catkins, and fresh flowers. The basket carrying the blessed food takes centre stage on the table.
Easter breakfast begins with the sharing of the blessed eggs – a tradition similar in its form and symbolism to the sharing of wafers on Christmas Eve. The food items that were blessed the day before are the first to be eaten. Other compulsory dishes include sour żur soup, ham, sausages, pâtés, stuffed eggs, as well as teacake and mazurek shortcrust tarts. Chocolate Easter bunnies, chickens and lambs are kids’ favourites.
Pisanki Easter eggs
The eggs that are present on every Easter table are a symbol of life and rebirth. Intricately decorated, they have been part of the Polish tradition for centuries. Although ways of dyeing and decorating the eggs have changed over the ages, the custom has remained strong. During Easter, pisanki are given as gifts to family and friends as a way of providing them with health, strength, and success in their personal relationships.
Dyngus Day
Also called Wet Monday or śmigus-dyngus, this tradition is celebrated on Easter Monday by sprinkling friends and family – as well as total strangers – with water. The tradition refers to ancient Pagan rituals symbolizing the awakening of nature and the springtime’s cleansing from dirt and illness. Maidens sprinkled with water on śmigus-dyngus had a greater chance of getting married.
To this day, in some villages in southern Poland farmers head out to their fields on Monday morning to sprinkle them with holy water. Another tradition that lives on is the playing of practical jokes on one’s neighbours, e.g. hiding their farming tools or water buckets.
This tekst comes from the: http://en.poland.gov.pl/Polish,Easter,traditions,Events,7072x3393.html
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