Traditional Blessing of the Easter Food Baskets
- Basket Decorations. A lot of thought, time, and care are put not only into the foods that will go into the basket but also to how the basket is assembled.
- Symbolic Foods. A typical Eastern European Easter basket would include a variety of symbolic foods, although families can personalize to their liking.
- Family Traditions. ...
What do you put in an Easter basket?
Although every family might have its own traditions when it comes to the Easter baskets, many make sure to include enough food so every family member can have a bite of all the blessed foods after Mass on Easter Sunday. This can be a taste of the Easter dinner foods, plus some daily staples.
What is a blessing of Easter baskets?
Perhaps your parish arranges a “blessing of Easter baskets” on Holy Saturday. Families bring baskets full of delicious food, often beautifully decorated with ribbons and flowers, shrouded in a white linen cloth, to be blessed by the priest. The food is then taken home, to be shared on Easter morning.
What do Eastern European Easter baskets look like?
A typical Eastern European Easter basket would include a variety of symbolic foods, although families can personalize to their liking. There is a special blessing for meat, egg, cake, and bread, so baskets will most likely include these ingredients. Bacon ( boczek/słonina, BOH-chek/swoh-NEE-nah) is a symbol of the abundance of God's mercy.
What is a blessed basket of food?
In many Eastern European countries, it is a tradition to have a basket of food blessed on Holy Saturday or Easter Sunday.
What is traditionally in an Easter basket?
Around the world, Easter is celebrated with decorated eggs, traditional dishes, and, oftentimes, a basket of gifts. Here in the United States, the Easter basket takes after German tradition: filled to the brim with goodies like decorated eggs, chocolate candy, and a cuddly stuffed bunny.
What is the blessing of the Easter food?
Lord, let the grace of your blessing + come upon these eggs, that they be healthful food for your faithful who eat them in thanksgiving for the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with you forever and ever.
What is the blessing of Easter?
Święconka (pronounced [ɕfjɛnˈt͡sɔnka]), meaning "the blessing of the Easter baskets", is one of the most enduring and beloved Polish traditions on Holy Saturday during Easter.
How do Catholics bless food?
The traditional phrasing for a grace offered before a meal is: Bless us, O Lord, and these Thy gifts, which we are about to receive from Thy bounty, through Christ our Lord. Amen.
What goes in a blessed basket?
There is a special blessing for meat, egg, cake, and bread, so baskets will most likely include these ingredients. Bacon (boczek/słonina, BOH-chek/swoh-NEE-nah) is a symbol of the abundance of God's mercy.
What is the tradition of blessing Easter baskets?
Blessing of the Easter food baskets on Holy Saturday or Easter morning is a tradition among Roman Catholic and Orthodox Christian Central and Eastern Europeans, including Czechs, Croatians, Hungarians, Lithuanians, Poles (who call it swiecenie pokarmow wielkanocnych ), Russians, Rusyns, Slovaks, Slovenes, and Ukrainians.
What is in a basket for blessing?
While tastes vary by region and family, the basket usually contains certain items: butter, bread, pysanky (decorated) eggs, sausage, ham and/or lamb, smoked meats, cheese, salt, and cake. A candle is placed in the basket so it can be lit during the blessing, and some families tie a bow or ribbon around the basket handle.
What does the red egg symbolize?
These hard-cooked eggs, dyed red in the Orthodox Christian faith, and decorated elegantly using the wax-resist method, are symbols of Easter, life, and prosperity, and Christ's Resurrection from the tomb. The Slovak word is kraslica, while the Russians and Ukrainians refer to the dyed eggs as pysanky .
Why is salt in the basket?
Salt, a necessary element in physical life, is symbolic of prosperity and justice and is included in the basket to remind us that people are the flavor of the earth.
What is the cover of a basket made of?
The other must is the richly embroidered cover, symbolizing Christ's burial shroud, that goes over the basket. It's usually made of linen or other fine cloth and is embroidered with religious symbols related to the Resurrection and the celebration of Easter.
What is the name of the bread that is lighted at church?
Paska bread usually features a dough braid around the perimeter, and a dough cross or other religious symbols on top. Sometimes a hole is left in the middle for a candle to be lighted at church during the blessing. In Slovak, paska also is referred to as kolac, and kulich is another word for the bread used in Russia.
