On March 26, Holy Saturday Morning at 11:00 a.m., you and your family are invited to bring your beautifully decorated Easter baskets. You can place any food items that you and your family will share on Easter. Examples of foods are: ham, sausage, boiled eggs (especially if decorated) bread, butter, salt shaker, baked goods, apples, oranges and other favorites. If you have room in your basket, why not have your special bottle of wine blessed. You may top of your basket with some fresh flowers especially if you have your own daffodils blooming in your yard. Children are invited to decorate and bring their own little baskets filled with their favorite goodies to be enjoyed on Easter day.
When many of our Eastern European Ancestors came to America, they brought with them some beautiful traditions which added a particular beauty to the Easter Holydays. Among the most popular is the Traditional Blessing of the Foods that would be eaten on Easter morning. After a strict Lenten fast and abstinence, specially prepared foods were made in advance for the blessing. A family basket would be filled with these foods and then covered with a crocheted cloth. Often the cloth had an Easter emblem or the words ‘Christ is Risen’ crocheted on it. Each of these foods had a special significance.
