Easter is very important in Polish tradition and it is ____ celebrated throughout the country. Polish Easter ____ in spring, when nature wakes up after a long winter hibernation. In pagan times an egg ____ a symbol of nature’s rebirth, of life and reproduction. Christianity ____ the egg as the symbol of an exceptionally important tradition in this religion – the resurrection of Christ. Before Easter celebrations begin, there is Lent, a 40-day fasting period when most Christians avoid ____ meat dishes on Fridays. ____, Polish people also undertake a general cleaning of their homes from top to the bottom to have them perfectly neat for Easter. Holy Week begins with Palm Sunday, when people bring bouquets of wild flowers called palms to church ____ blessed. This is to commemorate the triumphant entry of Jesus to Jerusalem. These palms are later taken home, where they remain ____ the next year. Church bells fall ____ on Holy Thursday and remain soundless until Easter Sunday. Good Friday is observed by the faithful by fasting and attending church services. There is a tradition of ____ a basket of food to church on Holy Saturday. This basket, called święconka, ____ back home after being specially blessed by the priest. A traditional święconka ____: hard boiled eggs (usually decorated - called pisanki) as a symbol of Christ’s resurrection, life’s victory over death; bread, ensuring good fortune, which in Christianity is first and foremost a symbol of Christ’s body; a lamb made of cake or sugar – Agnus Dei (Lamb of God); salt, which represents purification and was once believed to keep away all evil; horseradish, as a symbol of the bitter sacrifice of Christ and of physical fitness. The content of święconka varies, ____ family and regional traditions, but the lamb figurine, eggs, bread, sausage and salt are always there. According to tradition all house work ____ at home before święconka is brought back from the church, which remains untouched until Sunday morning After the Resurrection Mass on Easter Sunday the whole family sits down at a table covered with a snow-white ____. The table is lavishly laid with hams, sausages, pâtés, roulades, roast pork loins, a ____ of poultry dishes, eggs, mazurek (special Easter cake), cheesecakes, etc. Hot dishes include żur with white sausage or smoked bacon, horseradish soup with a hard-boiled egg and white sausage. Traditionally blessed food ____ first. Easter Monday, Śmigus-dyngus, is a ____ when boys sprinkle girls with water.

Easter

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