Holy Meats!

After the 40 days of fasting during Lent are over, the Easter feast is welcomed with joy, and of course hungry appetites. The church's blessing is sought for the first meat and other foods that will be eaten after these 40 days of fasting. Those of the Orthodox faith, some Roman Catholics, Poles, and Slovaks have been following this century-old ritual. The ritual of pre-Easter mass and blessing creates what is familiarly known as "holy meats", and allows supplicants to eat butter, cheese, eggs, milk, fowl and sweets as well.

Coming from different neighborhoods where Old World customs were still observed and practiced, it was the women of the households that picked out the perfect meat. Ham would be the centerpiece of the basket, and these women would line up and wait to make sure they got the perfect size and shape for their specific basket. The ham would be surrounded by a ring of kielbasa, sometimes with decorated eggs and breads tucked alongside, covered with a snowy napkin, often as embroidered as an altar cloth. Then, the basket would be on its way out the door, and on the way to church for its blessing. After that, the main attraction of the Easter meal could be considered "holy meat".

This ritual is practiced by many faiths and ethnicities right here in Pittsburgh. When asked about his parishioners' participation in the ritual of holy meats, Father Edward Pehanich of St. Nicholas Church in Monongahela, Washington County, and Jacobs Creek, Westmoreland County, says that the practice is very popular, even with "people who never come to church at other times of the year."

At churches in Monongahela and Jacob's Creek, the baskets may be taken outside for the blessing of prayers and sprinkling of holy water, and the candle, which is often found within the basket, is lit just before the blessing takes place. This tradition seems to be carried down through generation to generation, with folks right here in the Pittsburgh area. Becky Bobich of Jacobs Creek is a member of the Orthodox Church, and was married into a Carpatho-Rusyn family where she adopted all the customs nearly 60 years ago. She learned to prepare and cook just like her mother-in-law once did, and has taught these skills to her children and grandchildren.

The tradition doesn't stop with the blessing of the meats for the Bobich family. They enjoy traditional foods and family favorites like: halupki, cabbage rolls, and pierogies. For dessert they enjoy nut rolls and similar sweet rolls with different fruit filling, and of course Jell-o salads!