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All Saints’ Day in Poland – Wszystkich Swietych

October 24, 2017 by Lois Britton 9 Comments

 All Saints’ Day in PolandAll Saints' Day in Poland

Our protestant church in Tucson celebrates All Saints’ Day.  The names of deceased loved ones are tied to a tall bell banner that’s part of the procession into the sanctuary the first Sunday in November.  We read the names of church members who have died within the last year, a bell chiming with the reading of each name.

The sermon will most likely focus on the saints who have gone before, but that’s pretty much it, and that is more recognition of the day than most Americans will have. My first All Saints’ Day in Poland was different.

I knew to expect much more on November 1st.  Correct me if I’m wrong, but in Poland, this seems to be a holiday on par with Christmas and Easter.

Businesses are closed.  People travel great distances to spend the day with family.  Our local public transportation announced that they would be adding trams and buses to accommodate the holiday traffic in the city.

A friend told me that mass on this day is considered obligatory.  The purpose being to pray for dead relatives, so that any souls that are in purgatory might move closer to heaven.  This isn’t just a day of remembrance.  There is work (if I can use this word referring to prayer) to be done.

It seems to me that this is a tremendous responsibility, and yet this is my friend’s favorite holiday.  Families gather in cemeteries to pray.  They attend mass at the cemeteries and in churches.  They share a meal with extended family.

All Saints' Day in Poland

Because November 1st fell on a Tuesday the first year I was in Poland, many took Monday off too. We took advantage of the long weekend by organizing and delivering the paperwork for our resident permits on Monday.  Tuesday evening, we visited the Citadel, a former fortress, the place of a series of military cemeteries from both World Wars.

I wish you could see the beautiful glass lanterns lit by candle light. There will be hundreds sold at every supermarket. People will buy them for their loved ones, but also to leave on the graves of people they didn’t know. Tombstones from from all nationalities will be decorated.

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We arrived after dark, which I think was about 5:30, under the glow of street lights.  Once we left the sidewalk, the graveside candles provided the only light.  Fortunately, there were hundreds of them.

To give you a feel for how dark it was, the photos in this post were taken with very long exposures, up to 25 seconds. There was a steady stream of people walking through the cemetery, some still bringing more candles and lighting them.

On our way home, we stopped by the rynek.  It was kind of eerie to see it so deserted, only one or two pedestrians crossing the square.   A few of the bars and restaurants were open; we stopped by Brovaria for a light snack and one of their seasonal hot beers.

Pozdrawiam,

Lois

PS – see how this compares to an All Soul’s remembrance in Tucson.

Taking advantage of being out with my camera on All Saints’ Day in Poland

 

The morning after – Nov. 2

 

 

Lois Britton

An accountant by trade and a food blogger since 2009, Lois Britton fell in love with Polish cuisine during the years she lived in Poznań, Poland. As the creator of PolishHousewife.com,  she loves connecting readers with traditional Polish recipes. Lois has a graduate certificate in Food Writing and Photography from the University of South Florida. She is the author of The Polish Housewife Cookbook, available on Amazon and on her website.

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Filed Under: Holidays, Polish

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Ola

    November 2, 2011 at 8:28 am

    You gave a very appropriate description of All Saints Day in Poland-it is kind of a sad celebrations, visiting graves of the gone members of family and friends…

    Reply
  2. Kasia

    November 2, 2011 at 6:39 pm

    It is a family day in Poland. There is also the cleaning of the graves before the big day, new flowers, new candles, etc, etc. And when we were kids – all saints day was the time when we put on new boots, coats, etc.:) And we loved going back to the cemetery in the evening to see the candles burning in the dark.
    A very nice post – thank you!

    Reply
  3. Julie Kenkel

    October 24, 2017 at 9:13 am

    What a beautiful tradition. Thanks for sharing your story with us.

    Reply
    • polishhousewife

      October 24, 2017 at 7:45 pm

      Thanks, Jules; miss you!

      Reply
  4. Elizabeth Beaudoin

    October 24, 2017 at 1:15 pm

    Thank you so much for your history lessons…I was born and raised in Canada so only knew a few things about my Polish heritage so thank you for these insights….keep it up I so enjoy them, Lois.

    Reply
    • polishhousewife

      October 24, 2017 at 3:54 pm

      My pleasure, Elizabeth. I’m glad you found it interesting.

      Reply
  5. all saints day

    October 19, 2019 at 12:46 am

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Trackbacks

  1. A Day of the Dead Ofrenda - Polish Housewife says:
    November 5, 2015 at 8:26 pm

    […] written before about All Saints Day on November 1st in Poland, posting photos from an evening visit to military cemetaries at the […]

    Reply
  2. Halloween in Poland - Polish Housewife says:
    October 22, 2018 at 11:03 pm

    […] Dziady, which translates to Grandfathers, is such a holiday. Dziady is an ancient Slavic feast commenorating the dead. It was popular during the Polish-Lithuanian Commonweath, especially in the east, which is now Belarus, a country that still celebrates Dziady. In the Republic of Poland, Dziady has merged with Zaduszki, or All Saints Day on November 1st. I write about that holiday in this post. […]

    Reply

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