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CHAMPION -- Families at St. William Catholic Church participated in the Blessing of the Easter food baskets Saturday, a tradition especially associated with people of Eastern European descent.
"May this food be a sign for us of the heavenly banquet to which the Lord calls us," the Rev. Michael Balash, the church's pastor, prayed.
He read a Bible passage and prayed "that Easter may find us cleansed of sin and ready to live our Christian faith," and that "the bread we share may be a reminder of the bread of life we share in the Eucharist," and "that we may be ready to give from our table to those who hunger and thirst," and "we may one day enjoy the banquet of the Lord in the heavenly kingdom."
He sprinkled holy water on the dozen or so baskets on the altar.
Rose Farley of Detroit and her 5-year-old twins, Westley and Eowyn Farley, attended the blessing of the baskets. Rose grew up in the Champion area, and her mother, Pat Maciejewski, is the director of music at the church.
"The blessing of the baskets has been a family tradition of ours that goes back to my grandparents," who were Polish, she said.
"My mother carried it on, and I will as well," she said.
Easter is the celebration of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, and "We are looking for ways to make it come alive for the children, to make them understand it's a special day beyond just Easter egg hunts and candy," she said of the blessing of the baskets.
"My husband's mother had nine children, and she would come with the smallest basket because everything you have blessed you should consume," Maciejewski said. "You shouldn't let it lay around. You shouldn't throw any in the garbage. It should be consumed."
The blessing of Easter baskets on Holy Saturday is an Eastern European tradition dating back to the 15th century, according to the website of the U.S. Conference of Catholic bishops.
According to the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops website, each item has a special significance. Pork, usually in the form of ham or kielbasa, symbolizes the abundance of God's mercy; Easter bread, a round or long loaf topped with a cross or fish, is symbolic of Jesus, who is the bread of life; butter, which is often shaped into a lamb, represents the richness of salvation; candles, which are lit for the blessing, stand for Jesus as the light of the world; eggs represent new life and resurrection; salt, a necessary element in our physical life, is symbolic of prosperity and justice, reminding us that we are called to be "the salt of the earth;" the mild cheese traditionally included in Polish baskets, called Ser, symbolized the moderation Christians are to have at all times; and wine represents the blood of Jesus.
The cloth inside the basket and ribbon on the outside, as well as the basket itself, usually are passed down through the generations.