Heartfelt Devotion and Heritage
By Suzana Fantov
The Croatian Catholic community came together this weekend in a vibrant celebration of faith, family, and tradition as they observed Holy Saturday and Easter Sunday. This Croatian community event was infused with a powerful sense of Easter spirit and unity.
These sacred days mark the heart of the Christian calendar and are celebrated with deep religious devotion as well as cherished customs passed down through generations. It’s a Croatian community Easter tradition that holds significant meaning.
A Solemn Holy Saturday
Holy Saturday, the day before Easter, is observed as a time of reflection and quiet anticipation. In Croatian Catholic churches, faithful gather for the Easter Vigil, a moving liturgy that begins in darkness and slowly fills with light as the resurrection of Christ is proclaimed. The blessing of the Easter fire and water are key elements of the service, symbolising renewal and new life. This Croatian community Easter vigil is particularly moving.
Many families also bring baskets of food to be blessed by the priest, a deeply rooted tradition in Croatian culture. These baskets often contain bread, eggs, ham, cheese, and special cakes like ‘pinca’ (pogača), a sweet, yeasted bread marked with the sign of the cross.
Easter Sunday: A Celebration of Life
Easter Sunday begins with joyful Masses, where church bells ring out and hymns of resurrection fill the air. Homes are filled with the aroma of traditional Croatian Easter meals, and tables are decorated with coloured eggs and flowers. It is during this Croatian community Easter celebration that the essence of togetherness is truly felt.
One of the most beloved customs is egg tapping, known as ‘tucanje jaja’. Family members and friends gently tap their painted eggs against one another, and the one whose egg remains uncracked is believed to have good luck for the year. The eggs, usually dyed in deep red and other vibrant colours, symbolise new life and the resurrection of Christ.
Children eagerly take part in Easter egg hunts, a tradition that has blended seamlessly with Croatian customs. While this activity may have international roots, it brings joy and laughter to families and helps pass on the celebration to younger generations during the Croatian community Easter festivities.
Keeping the Spirit Alive
Despite the changes of modern life, the Croatian Catholic community continues to hold fast to its religious and cultural heritage. Through prayer, liturgy, and joyful customs, this Croatian community Easter celebration becomes not only a time of religious reflection but also a celebration of togetherness and hope.
Holy Saturday and Easter Sunday remain shining symbols of life renewed and love shared — core values that continue to shape their vibrant community.
Spiritual Awakening
What happened to this one person? He, who experienced everything a human being can go through: humiliated and nailed to a cross. Ecce homo – behold the man. Raised up and brought low. Used and cast aside.
Everything we are as human beings is found in this one man, Jesus Christ. And this man has perished; he is dead, lying in a tomb. There’s nothing left to hope for. Nothing remains that offers any kind of future. Nothing. A devout woman, who remembers everything that has happened, sets out on her way – but far too early in the morning, while it is still dark. The darkness protects her; she wants to go unnoticed. The tomb is closed, sealed with a large stone. It couldn’t be more bleak.
The Silence of the Tomb
This single tomb holds all our human desolation – our fear, our worry, our failures, our tears, every burden that weighs life down. Here rest our illnesses and the dread of death itself. Entombed within are the injustices and acts of violence that wound humanity, alongside abused bodies and shattered souls. Within these walls lies the collective suffering of countless lives, gathered as one.
This one grave – a symbol of all humanity. Behold the man. And this one devout woman quietly, alone, walks to the place no one else dares to go.
And at this one place, in this one tomb, something happens that changes everything. The stone is gone. The seal of suffering and all those stories no one wants to hear anymore is broken. God does not respect the grave’s silence – nor the silence of our world, nor our turning away, nor our stillness. He does not abandon to death the one who lived, carried, and endured the fullness of human life.
He, God, awakens him – not just bringing him back to life, but transforming what humanity lays down into something new, something eternal.
Mary doesn’t understand what has happened – and neither do we. Because this one thing, which comes from God, is so different that we can only stand before it in awe, bewildered – and believing. Perhaps we sense what now is, and what willcome – but no more than that.
Wishing you a joyful and blessed Easter! – spiritual reflection from a parish bulletin and an Easter greeting by Monsignor Bosiljko Rajić.