All Saints Day

Saturday, November 1, 2008

Today is All Saints Day in Poland. Everybody has the day off—except transportation and emergency workers. Since this year it falls on a Saturday, many people already have the day off so they will get their “official” day off later this month. The big thing about this day is remembering. It seems that the Polish people travel “en masse” to visit the graves of their parents, grandparents, and other family members. They will also honor the memories of others who are famous for their achievements in art, science, political service or military service.
We had been told that we didn’t want to drive anywhere today. We followed instructions and just went for a walk this morning. Then, after lunch, we walked to the tram and took it to a large cemetery. We had been told this cemetery would be a great example of the way this day is celebrated.

We arrived at the appropriate tram stop and got off the tram (It was close to a McDonald’s, of course! Sorry, it’s just that so many bus and tram stops I have been directed to use seem to have a McDonald’s nearby. It really seems that McDonald’s has figured out the best locations in Warsaw based on the bus and tram system.)

When we left the tram, we joined a river of people flowing down the sidewalks toward the entrance to the cemetery. Vendors on both sides of the street had beautiful flowers for sale. You could buy a pot of chrysanthemums or an arrangement of chrysanthemums and other flowers or even a wreath of chrysanthemums. There were also candle vendors and again you could buy anything from a small votive to a large candle lantern with a protective metal top. We worked our way through the crowd and actually entered the cemetery.

Easel and I have wandered in old cemeteries from time to time. I’ve done some genealogy work and we’ve gone to cemeteries where my ancestors are buried but we’ve also just wandered around in old cemeteries because it’s interesting to read the headstones. This was nothing like any cemetery I’ve wandered in the past. The graves were very close together and it seemed that no two were even similar, forget about being alike. This cemetery was huge and we only saw a small part of it. We saw people gently sweeping leaves and debris from the graves. We saw graves that were not covered in stone that had been worked to accept plantings of various types. They were nearly all beautiful. Almost every single one had at least one candle, some had enough to warm the air around the grave. We saw one grave that had a wonderful sculpture rather than a traditional headstone.

It was an amazing experience to see a place so filled with people and yet so quiet. It wasn’t necessarily solemn—people were talking quietly and seemed to be enjoying themselves. This really seemed to me to be an important family occasion. I saw families with young children as well as family groups with parents and adult children. I truly enjoyed observing this great Polish tradition.