Last Monday was a major national holiday for Poles. All Saint’s Day was November 1, followed by All Soul’s Day on November 2. It’s a big holiday to go home, spend time with family, eat lots of food, and visit the cemetery together. The day is significant because it is a time to honor dead loved ones, to pray to the saints, then especially on All Soul’s Day to pray for loved ones in purgatory, to help them get into heaven faster. So for days before the big holiday, people are in the cemeteries, cleaning up leaves, scrubbing grave stones, leaving flowers and candles.
Here’s the huge seasonal section of Tesco with rows and rows of candles and fake flowers for sale.
The cemetery near my house, a few days before the holiday. Lots of people had already been here cleaning graves.
On the big day, the cemetery was packed. People were everywhere, and they were enjoying time with each other. The atmosphere was almost like a fair. As you entered the cemetery, people were selling food, candles, and flowers. People were walking quickly to their destinations within the cemetery, no thoughtful ambling like I expected. And they were fairly animated with each other. According to other Americans here, some other cities are more somber about the occasion. Didn’t bring my camera for all the hoopla… Woops!
Then, a few hours later, what a sight!
Jesus
And Mary
The cemetery was beautiful with all the candles lit! At close to 10pm there was still a considerable number of people around; this time people were less in a hurry.
There are some beautiful things about this holiday. One thing I can say: it was definitely a different way to spend Halloween!
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