This is our basket this year
This is basket from last year decorated by my mum - flowers are from our garden!
One of the Easter traditions in Poland is blessing of the Easter baskets. Baskets containing a sampling of Easter foods are brought to church
to be blessed on Holy Saturday. The basket is traditionally lined with a
white linen or lace napkin and decorated with sprigs of boxwood, the typical Easter evergreen. It is a great fun to prepare a
decorative and tasteful basket with crisp linens, occasionally
embroidered for the occasion, and boxwood and ribbon woven through the
handle. Ever since I was a little kid, I loved to see the creativity of other parishioners - some have little fluffy chickens and others some eggs decorated in a beautiful patterns (pisanki).
The foods in the baskets have a symbolic meaning:
- eggs - symbolise life and Christ's resurrection
- bread - symbolic of Jesus
- salt - represents purification
- horseradish - symbolic of the bitter sacrifice of Christ.
The food blessed in the church remains untouched according to local
traditions until either Saturday afternoon or Sunday morning.
