Sunday 04/16/2006

Easter in Warsaw and Poland

Pain and Rebirth

On our return walk to the van we passed the Pawiak, which had been the Tzarist prison in Warsaw. The pain and rebirth is felt here by many and in different ways.

Easter in Poland

As gray as the skies were that day in Poland, there was color everywhere. On our walk in Warsaw, we passed an open-air flower market with numerous stalls selling all kinds of flowers.

...as well as the Polish variety of "Yahrzeit" candles

We had seen little Catholic shrines as we approached towns throughout France and Italy, but I became especially aware of them in Villach at the Judendorf. Driving in Poland on Good Friday (from Krakow to Warsaw) and on Easter (from Warsaw to Gdansk), I (m) was struck by the number of these shrines: one before every tiny "drive-past" village. And now, during Holy Week they were all elaborately and beautifully (in a folk sense) decorated for Easter. Around dusk we began to see a wondrous site: cemeteries lit up with these "yahrzeit" candles.


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