Wielkanoc

Wielkanoc in Poland is a movable feast in March or April, but the most visible customs begin on Holy Saturday. Families prepare a small basket, the święconka, line it with a white cloth, and fill it with foods that will appear at Sunday breakfast: hard-boiled eggs, bread, salt, kiełbasa, horseradish, and often a slice of cake. Many baskets also include a small lamb made of sugar, butter, or dough, and a sprig of bukszpan (boxwood). People take the basket to their parish church, where the priest blesses rows of baskets with holy water. Outside churches, the steps and pavements are crowded with families carrying decorated wicker baskets.

Easter Sunday usually begins with church; in many parishes there is a Resurrection procession and Mass called Rezurekcja. At home, the first meal is a long family breakfast, not a normal weekday breakfast: people share pieces of the blessed egg, exchange wishes such as “Wesołego Alleluja” or “Wesołych Świąt,” and then eat żurek or barszcz biały, white sausage, ham, eggs, ćwikła, babka, and mazurek. The day is for sitting at the table and visiting relatives. Easter Monday is Śmigus-Dyngus, when people splash one another with water. Children and teenagers often use bottles, buckets, or water pistols outside, and nobody is surprised to get wet.

The pack has 36 words spread across these domains.