All Saints' Day

We were excited and honored to celebrate All Saints' Day in Poland this year.  As it is a national holiday in Poland, all schools, banks, government offices and businesses are closed - and Andy had the day off!

All Saints' Day is a day where people honor and celebrate their friends and family that have passed away.  Most attend a church service and then head out to multiple cemeteries (our housecleaner went to 4 cemeteries) to pray, visit and pay respect to their passed relatives.  Families bring flowers, candles and wreaths to place on the graves.  The candles burn for hours and are believed to help the departed souls find their way in the darkness.

For the last couple months, many stores have been loading up with candles and flowers to prepare for All Saints' Day.  I couldn't believe the amount of shelf space that was dedicated to these candles (my retail side coming out).  Do they really sell that many!?! Then I saw a man loading up his entire trunk with candles and lanterns a couples weeks before the holiday and realized, yes, yes they do sell that many.

The currency is in złoty, so the red and yellow lanterns for 3,49 are less than $1.

The weather was pretty gloomy on All Saints' Day and our planned visit to a nearby cemetery in the evening was cancelled, as rain was expected.  We still wanted to experience a cemetery visit, so we bundled the kids up and headed out at about 11am.

When we arrived, we were surprised by how far away we had to park.  Picture this - we literally pulled to the side of the highway, in front of a large traffic sign, and parked the car in the grass - it was crazy! I was convinced we would be towed, but Andy was confident we would be fine and people started to follow suit behind us - I wish I would have taken a picture.

Cars parking everywhere!

The cemetery that we went to was about 2 miles from our house - Cmentarz Parafialny (Parish Cemetery) in Powsin.

There were hundreds of people there at the time we went to the cemetery.  Some came in quickly and laid their flowers and candles on the gravesite, said a prayer and left, while others looked like they had been there for hours, sitting on benches next the grave sites.  A calm and peaceful feeling came over me as we entered the cemetery and it was amazing to feel the love that surrounded us.

As you can see in the pictures above, the graves in Poland are mainly made of stone - granite, marble, sandstone - and are about half above and half underground - they were beautiful! I had mixed feelings on taking pics in the cemetery, but I wanted to document this amazing experience and I was very respectful and discreet while taking the pictures.

As it had started to rain, and we had the kids with us, we stayed for about 20 minutes and headed home.  After naps, we lit candles for our grandparents - Papa Joe Emons, Grandpa Joehl, Grandma and Grandpa Hoscheit, and Grandma and Grandpa Larson - with Beckett on our back patio.  It was nice to take a moment to reflect and honor our passed grandparents and talk to Beckett about death and heaven.

After visiting the cemeteries, most families gather for a large meal.  We honored this tradition and went to the Blackburns for a yummy meal (Mexican - my fav) and great conversation!

As we missed the opportunity to see the candles lit at night, we went back to the cemetery on All Souls' Day, November 2.  Many families visit the cemeteries on All Souls' Day as well.

As we entered the cemetery, only about half of the candles were lit on the second night, but it was still breathtaking.  It is hard to describe the feeling of thousands of flickering, colorful lights surrounding you in a peaceful setting - almost magical.  These pictures do not do it justice.

Experiences like these make us take pause, reflect on life and appreciate our blessings.  We are truly blessed!