Błogosławienego święta wszystkich świętych! (Have a blessed Feast of All Saints!)

The Feast of All Saints on 1 Nov and the Feast of All Souls on 2 Nov are two of the most sacred and popular holidays in much of Slavic Europe, but perhaps nowhere more so than in Poland. Poles travel long distances to be at home with their extended families on this national holiday. After attending Mass, families travel together to the city's cemetery to pray for and honor their deceased relatives. Along the way they purchase candles of all shapes and sizes to light and place on the gravestones in the cemetery. Due to the great number of participants, the city of Warsaw sets up dozens of extra tram and bus routes just to bring people to and from its numerous cemeteries. On Sunday afternoon we went to northeast Warsaw to Cmentarz Powązkowski (Powązki Cemetery), the oldest and most famous cemetery in Warsaw, in which over a million Poles are interred. As soon as we got off the tram we were in a massive crowd of people shuffling along outside the cemetery walls, buying candles, flowers, and snacks from the vendors.

Once we got inside the walls, we wove through the densely-packed rows of monuments, most of which were over 5 feet tall, elaborately carved and decorated, and represented several generations or entire families. The few main paths were packed with visitors, and the smaller unpaved paths crisscrossing through the monuments were uneven with stone shards and tree roots. We were instantly amazed at the incredible size of the cemetery, the thousands of visitors, and the millions (literally) of candles decorating the monuments.

Catholics believe that on these two days, if you say a prayer over a gravestone and light a candle to leave there, the prayer will remain with the deceased until the candle goes out. Families would leave candles and flower arrangements on their relatives' monuments, creating a beautiful spectacle of color and light throughout the cemetery. Poles also believe in placing a lit candle on any grave that does not already have one, so that every soul represented in the cemetery has a prayer said for them. As a result, every monument had at least one candle, most had several candles, and many monuments had more than a dozen.

We walked through the monuments for about an hour, and then after a coffee break, during which the sun set (at 4:00pm!!!), we bought two candles and headed back into the cemetery to see it after dark. Every stone was aglow with candlelight and the monuments with several candles appeared as if on fire. It was a powerful and beautiful sight, and in the peaceful darkness we could feel the weight of the prayers, charity, and love settling throughout the cemetery.

The paths were still crowded as people avidly searched for family plots and lit their candles. After a long search in the dark we managed to find two monuments still without candles. We lit ours, said our prayers, and headed home on the crowded trams. What an unforgettable experience! All holy men and women, pray for us!