Easter the Polish way – traditions from Lent to śmigus-dyngus

Before Easter: Fat Thursday and Lent

The period before Easter begins with fun and then turns into a time of fasting. On tłusty czwartek (Fat Thursday), the last Thursday of the carnival, people eat pączki (doughnuts) and faworki (crispy fried pastries). A few days later, on Środa Popielcowa (Ash Wednesday), Lent begins – in church the priest sprinkles ashes on the heads of the faithful.

Lent lasts 40 days. It is a time of reflection: many people give up sweets or alcohol, and churches hold the droga krzyżowa (Stations of the Cross) and gorzkie żale (‘Bitter Lamentations’) – a Passion service that originated in Poland. We describe the other holidays and customs of the year in our overview of Polish traditions and holidays.

Holy Week day by day

Every day of the last week before Easter has its own customs.

Święconka – what goes in the basket

The święconka is a basket of food that is taken to church on Holy Saturday to be blessed. The basket is lined with a white napkin and decorated with box sprigs. Each item has a traditional meaning:

Easter breakfast

The most important meal of the holiday is the festive breakfast on Easter Sunday. It begins with sharing a blessed egg and exchanging wishes – similar to sharing the opłatek on Wigilia, which we write about in our guide to Polish Christmas.

• żurek or biały barszcz – sour soup with white sausage and egg,
• jajka – eggs, stuffed or with mayonnaise,
• wędliny, pasztet (cold meats, pâté) and biała kiełbasa (white sausage),
• ćwikła – grated beetroot with horseradish,
• cakes: babka wielkanocna (Easter babka), mazurek (a flat cake with colourful decoration) and sernik (cheesecake).

Pisanki and kraszanki

Decorating eggs is one of the oldest Polish Easter traditions. The names depend on the technique:

• pisanki – patterns are drawn with melted wax, and then the egg is dyed,
• kraszanki – eggs dyed a single colour, for example in onion skins,
• drapanki – a pattern is scratched with a sharp tool into the dyed shell,
• oklejanki – eggs covered with paper, yarn or rushes.

In everyday language, all decorated eggs are simply called pisanki.

Śmigus-dyngus – Wet Monday

On Easter Monday people splash each other with water – from a few drops of perfume to whole buckets of water. In the past, śmigus meant whipping with twigs, and dyngus meant buying your way out of a soaking with painted eggs. Today it is simply a cheerful game, especially in villages and among young people.

Easter wishes

When sharing the egg, you offer wishes to each person. Remember that życzyć is followed by the genitive.

• Wesołych Świąt!
• Wesołego Alleluja! – typical Easter wishes.
• Zdrowych, spokojnych i radosnych Świąt Wielkanocnych!
• Życzę Ci smacznego jajka i mokrego dyngusa! – a jokey one.

Easter glossary

These words are worth knowing before the interview – together with the form that is used most often.

What to watch out for when talking about Easter

• The gender of ‘Wielkanoc’ – it is a feminine noun, like noc: ta Wielkanoc, Wielkanoc była.
• Declension – do Wielkanocy, przed Wielkanocą, o Wielkanocy. You can also say święta wielkanocne (plural).
• Capital letters – the names of the days are written with capital letters: Wielki Piątek, Wielka Sobota, Niedziela Palmowa.
• ‘Święcić’ and ‘poświęcić’ – the priest święci the food (an ongoing action), but poświęcił the basket (a completed action). We also say iść ze święconką.

Sample questions and answers for the interview

Questions about Easter are among the typical topics in the Karta Polaka interview. Talk about what the holiday looks like in your home – specifically and in full sentences.

Watch the declension: na Wielkanoc, w Wielkanoc, but po Wielkanocy, przed Wielkanocą. You will find more sample questions in our list of typical consul’s questions, and you can practise the whole conversation with a teacher on the ‘Karta Polaka’ course. Start with a trial lesson – we will check how freely you speak today.