Blessing of the Food/Święconka

Blessing of the food for Easter breakfast is one of the most enduring Polish traditions. Baskets containing a sampling of Easter food: cold meat, boiled eggs, different kinds of bread/cake and other types of food that we would like to have on Easter.

Parishioners are welcome to bring their own basket of food.

The basket is traditionally lined with a white linen and decorated with evergreens. Poles or Polish people, take special pride in preparing and decorating their Easter basket. Looking at the beautiful food baskets prepared by parishioners brings a special joy to this event. The baskets are lined up on the table in front of the altar. The priest then says a special prayer to bless the baskets and sprinkles each basket with Holy Water.

Basket Contents and Symbolism:

Butter/masło– reminds us of the goodness of Christ that we should all have towards all things.

Bread/chleb– symbol of Jesus, the Beard of Life.

Horseradish/chrzan– symbol of Passion of Christ still in our minds, bur sweeten with some sugar because of the Resurrection.

Eggs/jajka or pisanki– symbolises new life and Christ’s resurrection.

Sausage/kiełbasa– indicative of God’s favour and generosity.

Ham/szynka– symbolises great joy and abundance.

Bacon/boczek– a symbol of the abundance of God’s mercy and generosity.

Salt/sól– indispensable element in our physical life, that Jesus used its symbolism “You are the salt of the earth”.

Cheese/ser– it is the symbol of the moderation Christians should have.

Candle/świeca– often marked like the Paschal Candle, it represents Christ as Light of the World.

Please note that these are the traditional items used for the basket blessing but any food items may be used.