A Tradition

 Traditions are beautiful and one I enjoy is the Polish Blessing of the Food the day before Easter. Saturday morning I attended the blessing at Spirit of Christ Catholic Community at nine o'clock with about forty persons. The baskets of food were covered with beautifully embroidered white towels and two Deacons presided over the traditional Blessing of the Food.

When the persons attending were asked about their particular tradition most of them had similar stories to tell. Their parents or grandparents always fixed certain dishes. One lady gave a descriptive talk about how and why certain foods are prepared. I liked when she said, "Salt is used for the seasoning and salt is the flavoring and we then continue passing the flavoring to other people." Meaning that the good they have is then passed on to others. We learned that eggs represent a new life. The shape of a lamb is made with jello, bread, cakes, etc. Horseradish represents the passion of Christ.

It pleased me to see about ten children in attendance which will carry on the tradition because they are taught early in life. One young girl read the reading for the day and a tiny boy helped the Deacon by carrying the holy water for the blessing of the food. At that young age I would never have been able to get up in front of people and thought, the parents are doing a great job of raising their children! The Our Father was prayed in Polish and in English.

Wanting to know more about this beautiful custom I went to the Internet and here is what I found:

Polish tradition of blessing the food before Easter has been around since the 15th century. The basket is prepared by lining it with an embroidered cloth and then covered with a white linen cloth to represent the shroud of Jesus. The addition of flowers, fresh or dried, completes the basket.

Bacon represents abundance of God's mercy.

Bread for the staff of life.

Easter Bread - rich with eggs, yeast, raisons for the risen Lord.

Butter/dairy products represent end of lent and richness of salvation.

Candle symbolizes Christ as Light of the World.

Cheese reminds us of moderation.

Hard cooked eggs, colored or not, indicate new life and Christ rising from the tomb.

Ham for great joy and abundance.

Sausage links represent chains of death that are broken when Jesus rose from the dead and God's generosity.

Horseradish is for bitterness and harshness of the Passion of Jesus.

Salt adds zest to life and preserves us from corruption.

Sweets promise eternal life and good that is to come.

I am so happy that I attended the Blessing of the Food and now I will wait for the resurrection when Christ rises from the tomb.

"Bless us oh Lord and these our gifts

which we are about to receive from thy

bounty through Christ Our Lord,

Amen."