A Polish American Easter

Easter time, in America , is a time for chocolate candies, bunny rabbits and colored eggs. In the Polish culture, it is much more than that. Easter time, for my culture, is a time for celebration, prayer and ofcourse – plenty of delicious food.

The Easter holiday, in Polish is called Wielkanoc. It literally means, Great Night. The celebration of Wielkanoc, however, lasts much longer than just one night. Poles celebrate Easter over an entire week called Wielki Tydzien, or Great Week. The last three and a half days are considered the most holy and most important during this season. The evening of Holy Thursday and the days of Good Friday, Holy Saturday and Easter Sunday are referred to as Triduum Paschalne, or in English, the Triduum Paschale. Easter Sunday is the one of the most holy days for Poles because it celebrates the resurrection of Jesus Christ. In theory, each Sunday is a way to celebrate Christ’s rise from the dead, however Easter Sunday is the most distinguished.

Traditions are a large part of celebrating holidays. Every year my family and I participate in a few family customs that are well known with many other Poles. Some of the traditional crafts we make include pisanki, and the renown swieconka. Pisanki is the term for eggs that are hand decorated with dyes made from natural ingredients, melted bee’s wax, paints and even with sharp tools. Originally, pisanki were a pagan tradition that was taken on by Christians as “the traditional Easter egg”. They can be ornamented in various ways, such as scraping designs into the egg with a sharp tool after dying in order to reveal the white of the shell. Another way to create pisanki is to cover an egg in a layer of wax, or just by drawing specific designs with wax. After the wax dries, the egg is placed in dye. Once the preferred color is achieved, the egg is pulled out and the wax is scrapped off leaving the design behind.

Swieconka means “the blessing of Easter baskets”. It is one of the most favored Polish traditions because it brings together family and loved ones. The actual swieconka is a basket filled with a sampling of the food that will be eaten on Easter Sunday. This food includes bread, pisanki ( painted eggs ) , salt, kielbasa ( polish sausage), horse radish, and cakes. The baskets will be adorned with freshly pressed linens, many times hand embroidered for this occasion. Sprigs of boxwood are placed into the basket, to represent new life and add a bright, and refreshing scent . These baskets are brought to church for a special ceremony, through which the baskets and food are blessed with holy water. After the mass, the whole family splits the blessed contents among themselves during Easter Sunday breakfast. These foods symbolize blessings and warm wishes for the upcoming year.

Both these traditions are just a small sample of those that many Poles celebrate during Easter. In our country, and here at home, they may vary a bit depending on ingredients available and personal touches. However, ingredients and personal preferences aside, these traditions run through the blood of myself and my family, as well as many other Polish Americans worldwide.

Sources :

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Święconka

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pisanka_(Polish)

http://pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wielkanoc