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A detailed description of the Easter tradition in Poland [41]
You could add the Passion Plays held at Zebrzydowice, Pacław, Górka, Czerwińsk and other venues across Poland which attract thousands during Holy Week. These are not passively watched stage plays (as in Bavaria’s much overrated Oberammergau) but interactive events where the pilgrims play the role of the crowds of Old Jerusalem going from one site to another (the house of the Last Supper, Herod’s Palace, the Garden of Olives, etc.) connected to the Passion of Christ. Also the Lenten Retreats (Rekolekcje wielkopostne) held in every Polish parish and fairly well attended. They include youth retreats and others for individual professional communities.
Sunrise Easter Mass (Rezurekcja) begin with a procession that thrice encircles the outside of the church before the service begins inside -- plenty of beautiful old hymns, the scent of incense, the sound of churchbells, also firecrackers being shot off in the distance (artillery if it’s a garrison town) in memory of the thunderous rumblings thought to have accompanied the opening of Christ’s tomb. All in all, it's a good thing there is a Poland and a Polonia. Otherwise we'd all have to sink into all that hyper-commercialised secular slime!
Mar 29, 10, 04:31 - Thread attached on merging:
How are you celebrating Niedziela Palmowa?To the native Poles on PF: how are you celebrating this important festival? Procession, palm-making contest, Easter duty (confession), Easter fair, Passion Play, etc.?
