Easter in Poland

Easter foods, decorations, and traditional folk dress, 2014

Easter in Poland, a public holiday,[1] is one of that country's major holidays, often compared in importance to Christmas.[2]: 30 [3]: 111 [4]: 309 [5][6] Associated with it are many specific customs and traditions.[1][7]

Easter has been celebrated in Poland since the country's Christianization in the Middle Ages.[1] During the period of Poland's partitions, it was also an important patriotic observance, reminding Poles of their culture.[6]

Easter is also important to Polish-Americans and other Polish diasporans.[2]: 30 [8]: 42 [9]

According to a 2012 survey, about 90% of Poles observe some Easter customs, and over 50% participate in Christian Easter observances.[10]

## Traditions

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Palm Sunday, Easter palms

Some Polish Easter traditions reach back to earlier, pagan beliefs; some are fusions of pagan and adopted, Christian traditions. They include the Polish Easter basket (święconka), prepared on Holy Saturday, and Easter eggs (pisanki). During Easter, work, both occupational and domestic, is kept to a minimum.[1][7] As Poland is predominantly Catholic, the Easter traditions are largely Catholic, though most religious minorities also observe their own customs associated with Easter.[7]

A week before Easter, on Palm Sunday, Easter palms are displayed.[7] Traditionally, Easter celebrations begin on Easter Sunday with an Easter Vigil, followed by a rezurekcja [pl] (Resurrection) procession. Often sung during the procession are a number of religious songs relating to Easter.[1][7]

At home, people partake in an Easter breakfast, during which they gift and share eggs.[1][7] The Easter table is decorated with Easter eggs and other symbols, such as a Lamb of God (a small figurine, often sculpted from edible substances such as sugar, bread, or butter), similar small figurines of chickens and rabbits (Easter Bunnies), and springtime flowers or twigs of plants such as buxus. Typical Easter foods include eggs, meats such as kiełbasa (sausage), soups such as żurek and barszcz, and cakes such as mazurek and baba.[1][7]

Easter decorations, including rooster, bunny, and Easter eggs (pisanki)

The second day of Easter, Easter Monday, features its own customs, such as śmigus-dyngus, involving the spraying of other persons with water. There are also other games, many involving eggs, such as egg tapping.[1][7]

Easter mazurek cake, with edible lamb-of-God figurine

Polish Easter traditions, some varying regionally, include:[6][1][7]

* Burning of Judas
* Dziady śmigustne [pl]
* Easter palm
* Easter Bunny
* Emaus (festival) [pl]
* Fat Thursday
* Funeral of żur and herring [pl]
* Gorzkie żale
* Kurek dyngusowy [pl]
* Pisanka (Polish Easter egg)
* Palm Jesus [pl]
* Przywołówki [pl]
* Pucheroki [pl]
* Rękawka [pl]
* Siwki
* Śmigus-dyngus
* Siuda Baba
* Śmiergust
* Święconka (Polish Easter basket)
* Turki (custom) [pl]
* Wykupek [pl]
* Żandary [pl]

## See also

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* Christmas in Poland

## References

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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Easter in Poland.

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Kowalczyk, Maria (2020). "Geneza i obchód Wielkanocy w Polsce. Zarys problematyki" (PDF). Studia Elbląskie (in Polish). XX: 273–294.
2. ^ a b Silverman, Deborah Anders (2000). Polish-American Folklore. University of Illinois Press. ISBN 978-0-252-02569-3.
3. ^ Kempny, Marta (9 June 2010). Polish Migrants in Belfast: Border Crossing and Identity Construction. Cambridge Scholars Publishing. ISBN 978-1-4438-2290-9.
4. ^ Levinson, David (1996). Encyclopedia of World Cultures. Prentice-Hall. ISBN 978-0-8161-1840-3.
5. ^ Strzelecka, Aneta (2014). "W JAKI SPOSÓB I Z JAKIEJ OKAZJI ŚWIĘTUJĄ PODRĘCZNIKOWI I PRAWDZIWI POLACY? NEGOCJOWANIE WAŻNOŚCI ŚWIĄT". Acta Universitatis Lodziensis. Kształcenie Polonistyczne Cudzoziemców (in Polish) (21): 163–175\. ISSN 0860-6587.
6. ^ a b c Kreutza, A.; Greene, J. Augustine (1948). "Easter Customs in Poland". Blackfriars. 29 (337): 169–173\. ISSN 1754-2014. JSTOR 43812427.
7. ^ a b c d e f g h i "The Many Faces of Easter in Poland". Culture.pl. Retrieved 14 April 2022.
8. ^ Radzilowski, John; Gunkel, Ann Hetzel (2020). Poles in Illinois. SIU Press. ISBN 978-0-8093-3723-1.
9. ^ YENSENOV, Kanat A., Zhamilya M-A. ASSYLBEKOVA, Saule Z. MALIKOVA, Krykbai M. ALDABERGENOV, and Bekmurat R. NAIMANBAYEV. "HISTORY OF POLE DIASPORA (ХІХ-ХХІ)." Astra Salvensis (2021).
10. ^ "WIELKOPOSTNE I WIELKANOCNE ZWYCZAJE W POLSKICH DOMACH" (PDF). Fundacja Centrum Badania Opinii Społecznej. 2012.

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Easter and its cycle

Lent|

| Pre-Lent|

* Septuagesima
* Sexagesima
* Quinquagesima

Carnival (Shrovetide)|

* Fat Thursday
* Tsiknopempti
* Shrove Monday
* Rosenmontag
* Shrove Tuesday
* Mardi Gras
* Holy Face of Jesus
* Fastelavn
* Maslenitsa

Lent proper|

* Ash Wednesday
* Great Lent
* Temptation of Christ
* First Sunday of Lent
* Ember days
* Laetare Sunday (Mothering Sunday)

Passiontide|

* Passion Sunday (Lenten veil, Lenten shrouds)
* Friday of Sorrows

Music|

* Ave Regina caelorum
* Passion (music)
* Passion hymns
* Stabat Mater

Holy Week|

| Palm Sunday|

* Triumphal entry into Jerusalem
* Gloria, laus et honor
* Hosanna filio David
* "Singt dem König Freudenpsalmen"

|

Ferias|

* Holy Monday
* Holy Tuesday
* Holy Wednesday

Triduum|

* Tenebrae

Maundy Thursday|

* Chrism Mass
* Last Supper
* Crotalus
* Art
* Farewell Discourse
* Mass of the Lord's Supper
* Foot washing
* Stripping of the Altar

Good Friday|

* Passion of Jesus
* Arma Christi
* Stations of the Cross
* Crucifixion of Jesus
* Descent from the Cross
* Lamentation
* Epitaphios
* Encomia
* Pietà
* Burial of Jesus
* Tomb of Jesus
* Easter Sepulchre
* Good Friday prayer
* for the Jews
* Gorzkie żale

Holy Saturday|

* Harrowing of Hell
* Święconka

Easter Vigil|

* Paschal candle
* Holy Fire
* Lumen Christi
* Exsultet
* Artos
* Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults

Traditions|

* Burning of Judas
* Processions

By location|

* Colombia
* Popayán
* Guatemala
* Italy
* Barcellona Pozzo di Gotto
* Ruvo di Puglia
* Malta
* Mexico
* Taxco
* Philippines
* Portugal
* Braga
* Spain
* Cuenca
* Málaga
* Salamanca
* San Cristóbal de La Laguna
* Santa Cruz de La Palma
* Seville
* Valladolid
* Viveiro
* Zamora

Easter|

| Day|

* Resurrection of Jesus
* Art
* Myrrhbearers
* Road to Emmaus
* Paschal Homily
* Sunrise service

Date|

* List of dates
* Calculation

Season|

| Liturgical features|

* Alleluia
* Pentecostarion
* Trikirion

|

Octave|

| Bright Week|

* Easter Sunday
* Easter Monday
* Śmigus-dyngus
* Easter whip
* Easter Tuesday
* Wednesday
* Thursday
* Friday
* Saturday

|

* Second Sunday of Easter
* Doubting Thomas
* Divine Mercy Sunday

* Radonitsa
* Third Sunday of Easter
* Fourth Sunday of Easter
* Mid-Pentecost
* Fifth Sunday of Easter
* Rogation days

Ascensiontide|

* Ascension of Jesus
* Art
* Feast of the Ascension
* Cenacle
* Novena
* Matthias the Apostle

Traditions|

* Basket
* Bonnet
* Bunny
* Bilby
* Cavallo di fuoco
* Easter seals
* Food
* Greeting
* Parade
* Pace Egg play
* Postcard
* Rouketopolemos
* Saitopolemos
* Scoppio del carro

Easter eggs|

* Dance
* Decorating
* in Slavic culture
* Rolling
* Hunt
* Osterbrunnen
* Tapping
* Tree
* Tossing

By country|

* Croatia
* Poland
* Ukraine

By country|

* Ethiopia and Eritrea
* Italy
* Latvia
* Poland

Pre-Christian|

* Ēostre

Music|

* Easter Oratorio
* I Will Mention the Loving-kindnesses
* Russian Easter Festival Overture
* Salzburg Easter Festival

Liturgical|

* Regina caeli
* Troparion
* Victimae paschali laudes

Cantatas|

* Bleib bei uns, denn es will Abend werden, BWV 6
* Christ lag in Todes Banden, BWV 4
* Der Friede sei mit dir, BWV 158
* Der Himmel lacht! Die Erde jubilieret, BWV 31
* Ein Herz, das seinen Jesum lebend weiß, BWV 134
* Erfreut euch, ihr Herzen, BWV 66
* Ich lebe, mein Herze, zu deinem Ergötzen, BWV 145

Hymns|

* Christ the Lord Is Risen Today
* Jesus Christ Is Risen Today
* O filii et filiae
* The Strife is O'er, the Battle Done

Choral music|

* Surrexit a mortuis

Film and TV|

* Films
* Television episodes

Pentecost|

| Season|

| Octave|

* Pentecost Sunday
* Whitsun
* Whit Monday
* Whit Tuesday
* Ember days
* Feast of Christ the Priest
* Trinity Sunday

|

* Feast of Corpus Christi
* Feast of the Sacred Heart

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Easter in Europe

Sovereign states|

* Albania
* Andorra
* Armenia
* Austria
* Azerbaijan
* Belarus
* Belgium
* Bosnia and Herzegovina
* Bulgaria
* Croatia
* Cyprus
* Czech Republic
* Denmark
* Estonia
* Finland
* France
* Georgia
* Germany
* Greece
* Hungary
* Iceland
* Ireland
*   * Italy
* Kazakhstan
* Latvia
* Liechtenstein
* Lithuania
* Luxembourg
* Malta
* Moldova
* Monaco
* Montenegro
* Netherlands
* North Macedonia
* Norway
* Poland
* Portugal
* Romania
* Russia
* San Marino
* Serbia
* Slovakia
* Slovenia
* Spain
* Sweden
* Switzerland
* Turkey
* Ukraine
* United Kingdom

States with limited
recognition|

* Abkhazia
* Kosovo
* Northern Cyprus
* South Ossetia
* Transnistria

Dependencies and
other entities|

* Åland
* Faroe Islands
* Gibraltar
* Guernsey
* Isle of Man
* Jersey
* Svalbard

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