The Polish Easter basket tradition is a very beautiful one. In today’s post, I will share everything you need to know to create one.
Even though I didn’t grow up in Poland, I was born there and my family always celebrated the beautiful tradition of Święconka, which means “the blessing of the Easter baskets.” I always watched my mum take pride in creating a beautiful basket to be taken to church on Holy Saturday. Once I was old enough, I was allowed to create the basket, this was a great honour. I have now passed this honour on to my daughter and she takes great pride in creating a beautiful Easter basket for us every year.
All over Poland, as well as the rest of the world, Poles make up Easter baskets containing samplings of Easter food to be blessed. Traditionally, the food in this basket is the first of the food that is eaten on Easter Sunday. Even though I fell away from the church for many years, this was a tradition I kept and I have never missed a year in my life where I have not done this.
Every family has its unique way of creating their baskets. One of my joys is seeing the other baskets that are brought to the church. The community joins together in prayer and the priest sprinkles holy water on the baskets and parishioners. It is a very special event.
Here are the elements of the Święconka:
Eggs (Jajka)
The first dish we eat on Easter Sunday is a piece of boiled egg. We normally break it into pieces and offer each other blessings. Eggs represent new life and Christ’s resurrection. Poles have a beautiful tradition of painting eggs in elaborate colours and patterns. These eggs are called pisanki.
It is said that the tradition of Easter eggs comes from Saint Mary Magdalene. Mary Magdalene had a special love for Jesus and was the first person he appeared to.
”But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb; and she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had been lying, one at the head and the other at the feet. They said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She said to them, “They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him.” When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you looking for?” Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.” Jesus said to her, “Mary!” She turned and said to him in Hebrew, “Rabbouni!” (which means Teacher).“
John 20:11-16 NRSV
It is said that after Jesus’ Ascension, Mary Magdalene presented herself to the Emperor Tiberius Caesar in Rome to proclaim the resurrection. She held an egg out to him and proclaimed “Christ is risen!” The Emperor laughed and told her that Christ was no more risen than the egg she was holding was red. The egg immediately turned red and the Emperor had Pilate removed from Jerusalem. She is often portrayed holding a red egg.
Bread (Chleb)
Jesus is the bread of life. Communion bread is transformed into his body at Catholic mass every day throughout the world. It is not a symbol, it a real event.
On the day before he was to suffer, he took bread in his holy and venerable hands, and with eyes raised to heaven to you, O God, his almighty Father, giving thanks, he said the blessing, broke the bread and gave it to his disciples, saying:
TAKE THIS, ALL OF YOU, AND EAT OF IT, FOR THIS IS MY BODY, WHICH WILL BE GIVEN UP FOR YOU.
Eucharistic Prayer I: The Roman Canon
Poles usually make a traditional Easter cake, called babka ( this loosely translates to grandmother). It is a mixture of bread and cake, made using yeast. You will often find a slice of babka in a Polish Easter basket. It is also lovely to add a Polish bread (usually rye). Our family likes to add a hot cross bun, even though its not traditionally Polish.
Salt (Sól)
Salt is used for preserving food as well as mineralising the body. It is a symbol of preservation and purification. It wards off evil spirits and can be used in exorcisms. It can be used to bless and protect a home.
Blessed salt is considered a sacramental, which means that it is used as a form of comfort and protection.
We use it for our cooking. You can keep a vial of blessed salt on your person or car as protection and also sprinkle it in the corners of your home and under your bed.
Butter (Masło)
Butter is often shaped into a lamb – since Jesus is the lamb of God. He became the new sacrifice in the Jewish passover festival at the time of his crucifixion. Its purpose is to remind us of the goodness of God.
If you would like to make your own butter lamb, you can use this mold. It can also be used to make a chocolate lamb.
Another way of representing the lamb of God is with a traditional Polish resurrection lamb, holding a resurrection banner, symbolising Christ’s victory over death.
Meat (Mięso)
All types of meat are placed into the Polish Easter basket. We usually have a Polish sausage. Most Poles abstain from meat during the 40 days of Lent, so eating meat on Easter Sunday is something to look forward to. At present, the church requires that we abstain from meat on Fridays during Lent, but a lot of people abstain throughout the whole 40 days. I like to do this. Meat represents abundance and favour from God.
Horseradish (Chrzan)
Horseradish represents the passion of Christ, that is still in our minds. It represents the bitter sacrifice he made for all of humanity.
”And going a little farther, he threw himself on the ground and prayed that, if it were possible, the hour might pass from him. He said, “Abba, Father, for you all things are possible; remove this cup from me; yet, not what I want, but what you want.”“
Mark 14:35-36 NRSV
Something sweet
Our family loves to add chocolate for something sweet. My whole life, we have eaten the Lindt gold bunny. Easter is a time of great celebration. It is the most important holiday in the Christian calendar. After fasting for 40 days, it is time to feast on something sweet.
Chocolate has a feel good factor, as it has been shown to release endorphins, which are a feel good hormone. It also contains magnesium, which has soothing and relaxing qualities. It’s basically a health food in my opinion!
I love this story about why the Easter bunny brings a basket to every child in the world.
Greenery
Greenery represents new life. We had a lot of conifers in our garden when I was growing up, and my mum always placed some in our basket. Conifers grow all over Europe, so this greenery always made us feel as if we were still in Poland. The house we live in has massive conifers in the back garden, which I always snip for our Easter basket.
Candle
The candle brings light. It represents Christ as the light of the world.
Linen cloth
Linen represents the cloth that Jesus was wrapped in. We Poles take great care in choosing our finest, pressed linens to line the basket and also to cover it. This cover is removed when the priest blesses all the baskets. This makes us remember the linen cloth that was left in the tomb after the resurrection.
Have you heard of the shroud of Turin? It is said to be the original cloth that was used to entomb Jesus. It has been studied many times and the latest research is finding that the image on the shroud is caused by a mysterious burst of light, that is – electromagnetic radiation.
Remember Christ as the light of the world??
New evidence supporting Shroud of Turin too strong to ignore.
The importance of tradition
Even though I have lived outside of Poland for most of my life, keeping the tradition of the Polish Easter basket has kept my love of Poland alive. It has kept me connected to my ancestors and family. Our cells have memories that are passed down through the generations. Preserving our family and cultural traditions is a subtle and profound way of maintaining our spiritual health.
If you are not Polish, you are most welcome to create a basket for your Easter table and bring it along to your local Polish church on Holy Saturday. I know that the other Poles would be thrilled to share their Easter tradition with you. Is this something that you would do? I would love to hear if you have any special Easter traditions that you celebrate?
How do you say Happy Easter in Polish?
Wesołego Alleluja! Pronounced “Vesowego Alleluia! This means: Happy Alleluia! We say Happy Alleluia because we don’t say Alleluia in Mass during Lent, so it is a very joyful time since we can say it again!
Leave a Reply