Bishop of Brooklyn continues tradition of blessing Easter baskets

GREENPOINT — THE BELOVED TRADITION OF BLESSING EASTER BASKETS takes place on Holy Saturday, April 4, at noon with Our Lady of Consolation Church hosting, a press release from the Diocese announced on Friday.

Bishop Robert Brennan of the Diocese of Brooklyn, which includes Queens, will join Father Wieslaw Strzadala and parishioners at Our Lady of Consolation for a prayer service and blessing of Easter baskets. As part of the custom, which dates back to the 15th century and which is celebrated in the borough’s Slavic Catholic neighborhoods, the faithful bring baskets of Easter food, including bread, eggs, ham and sweets, to be blessed, explains a 2024 article on the Diocese of Brooklyn’s website.

The faithful also ornately decorate the baskets, also called Święconka. Many of the foods, like eggs and bread, symbolize the new life of the Resurrection of Jesus, which Easter celebrates.

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