Growing up, Holy Saturday was a very special day. Some of my earliest memories were going to my grandparents’ house on Holy Saturday for the food blessing.
Every year, my grandmother created and wrapped beautiful Easter baskets for each of us. They were filled with toys, chocolates, and all the Easter fun you could imagine.
But…in addition to those, it’s Polish tradition to create baskets filled with foods to be blessed and eaten on Easter Sunday.
Traditional Polish Easter Basket items included:
- Butter – often shaped like a lamb or a cross representing the “Lamb of God”
- Easter Bread (Babka) – Representing the “Bread of Life”
- Horseradish – Represents the Passion of Christ and the bitterness of His suffering.
- Decorated Eggs – New life & Christ’s resurrection
- Sausage (Kielbasa) – God’s favor, generosity and the end of fasting.
- Ham – Joy and Abundance
- Salt – Represents purification, prosperity and a reminder to be the “salt of the earth”
- Cheese – Moderation in all things
- Candle – Light of the world
- Colorful ribbons and sprigs of greenery to decorate the basket as symbols of new life and joy in the season of spring
So, part of the tradition was filling our own baskets to take to church with my grandmother for the blessing.
Mind you, many times the blessing was in Polish, so we didn’t always understand what was being said, but in some way…we knew. And we knew being there, with my grandmother, is what made the moment special.
It was a beautiful tradition and when my children were young we still drove an hour each way to go to my grandma’s house on Holy Saturday.
I miss my grandparents dearly, and I miss that tradition. Truth is, we tried to carry it on for a while after she passed but it never was quite the same.
I got off track there for a bit…
Today’s passage reminds us that Holy Saturday is “a day of waiting. No miracles. No appearances. Just silence and the aching stillness of loss”.
This year…Holy Saturday for me is about more than just getting ready for Easter Sunday. It’s about the mystery of the Resurrection. It’s about “offering grief and holding onto hope”.
So…we wait.
Today, not only will I recall the traditions of my childhood, I’ll simply “rest in the truth that God is still moving – even when unseen.”
“Lord Jesus, in this quiet stillness, we wait with you. Replace our doubt with trust in your promise as we look with hope toward the dawn of your resurrection. Amen.”
