PREECEVILLE — For Mary Petrowski, Easter is more than a holiday — it’s a deeply rooted tradition shaped by faith, family and Ukrainian heritage.
Petrowski of Preeceville was raised in a household with strong Ukrainian traditions that surrounded Easter.
"We had many traditions that were steeped in the celebrations of our grandparents," said Mary. "Times were tough with no or little money for extras, but we always found a way to carry on traditions. We would go to church early Easter Sunday and come back home to have an Easter breakfast with items that had been previously blessed by the minister. Breakfast includes Babka, Paska, ham, eggs, sausage, beet relish, horseradish and head cheese. The dinner menu has cabbage rolls, dressing, spare ribs with dressing, perishky (perogies) and a cottage cheese cake," said Petrowski.
"My family has continued the traditions each year, which I am very thankful for, and it is very encouraging that our family traditions will not be lost as the next generation takes over," she said.
Easter, called Velyk Den, is one of the most significant holidays, along with the Feast of the Virgin Mary (Blahovishchennia). The customs are deeply embedded. Easter is the commemoration of the resurrection from the dead of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. It is a feast of feasts, the triumph over death, the seal of eternal life in God's Kingdom.
Beginning with the Lenten season of seven weeks, the church prepares the faithful by fasting, penance, and Holy confession and communion.
Palm Sunday, or Willow Sunday, marks the beginning of Holy Week, which is observed with a special church service at which time palms or pussy willows are blessed and distributed to the worshippers, symbolizing the triumphal entrance of Jesus into Jerusalem. Because palms are difficult to obtain in Ukraine, pussy willows were used, from which comes the name Shytkowa Nedila.
Passion services are held on the eve of Holy Thursday, where 12 gospels are read in commemoration of the passion of Christ, with 12 candle bearers. After each gospel, one of the candle bearers departs, indicating the manner in which apostles deserted their master.
The most solemn day is Good Friday. Good Friday is a day of strict fasting. Adoration of the Holy grave is on Saturday, as well as preparing the Easter basket, which is blessed on Sunday. Basket contents traditionally have a paska (a large round loaf of bread), babka (a tall cylindrical sweet bread made with raisins), eggs, which represent the symbol of life — the eggshells represent Christ's grave from which he rose — horseradish that represents the bitterness of sin, salt represents the fast and mortification, meat represents the Paschal lamb, cottage cheese symbolized by its whiteness and purity and goodness of the soul without sin, butter represents God's grace, red beet relish symbolizes the stain caused by sin, and the candle that is placed in the basket and lit during the blessing ceremony and represents Christ.
Pysanky is a practice of decorating eggs and is deeply rooted by Ukrainians. Its designs are basically composed of geometric patterns and all have a symbolic meaning. The symbol of the sun is in the form of circles and stars are in the form of rosettes or tripods. Triangles represent a triad and Trinity. The endless line around the egg is the sign of eternity.
At dawn on Easter Sunday, a special service marks the resurrection of Christ. At the conclusion of the service, the Easter baskets are blessed with Holy Water. Immediately after the service, the people return to their homes to partake in the Easter breakfast. The head of the house divides the blessed eggs into several portions, greeting the family with customary greetings.
