Swieconka in the bilzzard

Swięconka, the blessing of Easter baskets is a tradition near and dear to the hearts of every Pole. This year making the trek back home to Cleveland from Toledo was a little more than I bargained for. While Toledo is on the extreme western part of Lake Erie and free of lake effect snow, Cleveland on the other hand was plummeted with the white stuff Easter weekend. Unusual for even the snow belt in April.

Sister Cheryl and I ventured out in sometimes near whiteout conditions to head for St. Stanislaus the Church of our baptism in Cleveland's Warsawa District. Now a Shrine Church the Holy place of worship still run by Franciscans has been immaculately restored to its original splendor.

Arriving early for the 11 AM ceremony, one of five scheduled on Holy Saturday, I snapped this picture showing the traditional pussy willow branches decorating the main aisle. Since palms are not native to Poland the pussy willows were used as a substitute in the old days. The ones blessed on Palm Sunday found their way tucked behind frames of Holy pictures in the home, where they stayed the entire year.



Visiting the tomb of Christ is part of the Easter tradition, St. Stan's displays the entombed Savior in the left side alter with an angel posted as sentinel awaiting the Resurrection. The crucifixion alter gathers together all the elements of the suffering, sorrow, death in the person of Christ and the life of every disciple.

The blessing of the baskets was bilingual. One priest officiated in the mother tongue, the other in English. The congregation need not worry if they had not yet showered this morning as the priests in typical style were very liberal with the dispensing of holy water. I dare say I was not so dowsed on Dyngus Day as I was in the pew.

Typical content of the baskets included the usual and customary eggs, paska, kielbasa, ham, salt, butter, cheese and horseradish. The lady in the pew in front of us even had a can of Pabst Blue Ribbon Beer in her basket.

As for the snow, it didn't seem to negatively affect beast nor man. Here, one of my sister's friendly nieghbors comes to her back yard for a visit on Holy Saturday hoping we'd share a slice of freshly blessed paska.

Nearly Two-Thirds of Poland's Priests Want To Say 'I Do'

Tygodnik Powszechny is the weekly newspaper that caters to Poland's Catholic intelligentsia. Last week it lifted the "vail" of mystery exposing the results of a survey that indicated 60% of Roman Catholic priests in Poland want the right to marry and have families.

But, according to a yet to be published study, only a third of young priests in staunchly Catholic Poland who quit the priesthood do so for the sake of women.

Existential problems and ideals are the main reasons young priests quit. According to the social scientist, Jozef Baniak of Poznan's Adam Mickiewicz university, "A woman, if she appears, is in the background. First there is a crisis of the priest's identity and then he looks for someone in whom he can confide his problem.

Jesuit Father and psychologist Jacek Prusak told TP more and more priests consider leaving the priesthood because they feel lonely, isolated and misunderstood. "Not everyone can cope with the fact that at the beginning of the 21st century priests are no longer regarded as the priest they knew in their youth," he said.

The question of marriage I understand. The prospect of a divorce ...