The blessing of the Easter baskets – My Easter time.

My Easter time – The blessing of the Easter baskets

Hello my friend,

How is your Easter time?

I have been very lucky this Easter, as have 5 days off work –  spending my time with my husband and boys…….please lets the time to slow down.

I live in Uk over 10 years now….It was always important to me to keep polish traditions alive – and it is especially important now when my kids are growing up here. It is not always easy to merge both traditions. I feel very responsible to teach them Polish culture.  I introduced Egg hunt  on Sunday morning from English tradition, and hide lots of mini eggs everywhere in my house, at night, so boys are hunting them after waking up Holy Sunday!!!!

The blessing of the Easter baskets – My Easter time.

The blessing of Easter baskets is my favourite Polish childhood tradition. When I was a child my mum used to coloured the eggs with me on Easter Saturday. We used to put some elastic bands around the eggs. We could get some really nice patterns…We always boiled our eggs in onion peels. Brown onions – brown colours, red onions – red colours….. In Poland decorated eggs we call Pisanki. I shared my lovely post about decorating last year….if you would like like to read it again click HERE.…..

We were preparing baskets full of symbols. Święconka included: decorated eggs, pieces of bread, sausage, horseradish and figure of lamb made of sugar or cake symbolising the Resurrection and celebration of life –  Lamb of God – Jesus Christ. We take it to the catholic church where a priest blesses it with holy water.

The baskets are decorated with white tissue.

In Poland Churches do blessings on Holy Saturday every 15minutes. You can only imagine they are full of people with baskets. I used to put some of my favourite sweets too, but had to wait till Sunday to actually eat it! In Uk you have to find a church who does The blessing for Polish people. Each year we go to St John’s Cathedral in Portsmouth. The church is always full. We put our baskets on the altar. There is only one time blessings! Weird?

The custom of blessing food for Easter arose from the discipline of fasting throughout Lent and special fast during the Easter Triduum. Easter was the first day when meat, eggs and other foods could again be eaten. According to custom, food may be blessed before or after the Easter Vigil on Holy Saturday or on Easter morning for consumption at the first meal of Easter, when fasting is ended and the Church is filled with joy.(Book pf Blessings, n. 1701)

Easter Sunday breakfast starts with sharing of an egg from the blessed basket. Everyone gets a small piece and we wish each other all the best. It is so special!

I can not wait  for Easter Monday! It is called Pouring Monday – Śmigus Dyngus –  as tradition we water everybody …….So let’s get wet….

I wish you all the best this Easter!

I hope for you the Easter time is special too……

Share with me how do you celebrate…..

Love,

Sylwia

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