- Holy Week is the most important period in the Catholic Church, commemorating the suffering and resurrection of Christ, beginning with Palm Sunday.
- Despite its religious nature, Holy Week has pagan roots, such as the controversial “drowning of Judas” on Holy Wednesday.
- The tradition of drowning Judas to drive away evil has been opposed by the Church due to incidents of violence.
- Discover other forgotten traditions of Holy Wednesday, such as “burning żur”, and their symbolic meaning in folk culture!
What is Holy Week and what is its significance?
. It recalls the suffering and crucifixion of Christ, as well as his resurrection. Easter celebrations begin when believers bring Easter palms to temples. They symbolize olive branches, which were thrown at the feet of Jesus Christ by the faithful during his entry into Jerusalem. Palm Sunday begins Holy Week. During this time, the last days of Christ’s life are commemorated and his martyrdom is celebrated. The time from Monday to Wednesday is devoted to prayer, reconciliation, and preparations for Easter. On Maundy Thursday, the Mass of the Lord’s Supper takes place in the church. it is the day of Christ’s arrest and crucifixion. This is the only day when there are no masses. There is also strict fasting. Saturday is a time of adoration and waiting for the resurrection. According to religious experts, Jesus was resurrected between 30 and 32 AD.
Even though Easter is a typical church holiday, it has many connotations with pagan times. The superstitions and beliefs of the Slavs have survived to this day, which the church adopted and used to spread religion. One such rite is the drowning of Judas on Holy Wednesday.
Drowning of Judas. The ritual, which was supposed to drive away evil forces, is controversial
In 2026, Holy Wednesday falls exactly on April 1, i.e. April Fool’s Day. However, before you reach for the annual jokes and jokes, check how to take care of your well-being. In ancient times, a very important ritual was performed on Holy Wednesday (in some areas on Holy Thursday) – the drowning of Judas. It is a custom very similar to drowning Marzanna to ward off winter, but instead of the Slavic goddess of winter, a Catholic traitor was thrown into the water. The symbolic drowning of the Judas effigy was intended to get rid of evil and betrayal. Interestingly. in many areas, before the effigy was put into the water or swamp, it was beaten and lashed with chains. This superstition was supposed to drive away evil forces and treacherous thoughts. Interestingly, in some parts of Europe and Poland, instead of drowning Judas, burning him was practiced. To this day, this rite has survived in southern Poland, especially in Podkarpacie. Nowadays, it is still practiced in Greece, Brazil, Spain and South America, but its popularity is significantly decreasing. It is worth emphasizing that today the church does not support this tradition. Unfortunately, it happened that acts of violence occurred during the drowning of Judas, and the ritual itself turned into a form of lynching.
On April 1, 2026, do it! Your wife will not be happy, but you will attract happiness to her
One of the most famous traditions taking place on Holy Wednesday is the burning of żurek. This custom is practiced mainly in the Opole region and Silesia. Burning żurek, also known as “Żurowa Wednesday”, is intended to drive away evil forces and symbolizes the end of the fast. Żur was once associated with a typical Lent meal, and its symbolic burning was supposed to mean the end of abstinence and saving. In the old days, burning żurek was an important event. Huge bonfires were lit, and not only the rye soup was burned there, but also all the items that had been disposed of during spring cleaning. This tradition was supposed to remove everything evil and cleanse the world of evil forces. Fire symbolized purity and new beginnings. In this way, there was room for what would come and be better.
‘,
alignment: ‘left|top’,
ui:
pauseAd: true,
rounded: false
,
gemius:
playerId: ‘Player_Grupa_ZPR_Media_Y’,
gemiusId: ‘AkTglGrAtwMWLu2h5J6bi_W07H8pyyxTkw6K5lVoJdb.M7’,
resolution: ‘1280×720’,
programId: ‘vv-bzbd-Kjxr-wftW’,
programName: sanitizeGemiusProgramName(‘Jarmark Wielkanocny w Szczecinie’),
programDuration: ‘190’,
programGenre: 3
,
lazyLoad: new Promise((resolve) =>
function work_done()
get_prerollUrl(‘vv-bzbd-Kjxr-wftW’, ‘False’).then((_prerollUrl) =>
console.log(“Otrzymalem z GAM”, _prerollUrl);
hasPreroll = !!_prerollUrl;
resolve(
prerollUrl: _prerollUrl,
)
).catch((_err) =>
hasPreroll = false;
resolve( prerollUrl: null );
);
console.log(‘YPLAYER: waiting for something to load…’);
setTimeout(work_done, 1000);
)
};
function get_prerollUrl(videoID, turn_off_ads) turn_off_ads.toLowerCase() == ‘true’ ;
(function (z, p, r, m, e, d)
m = z.createElement(p), e = z.getElementsByTagName(p)[0];
m.async = 1, d = new Date(), m.src = r + (r.includes(‘?’) ? ‘&’ : ‘?’) + ‘r=” + d.getFullYear() + d.getMonth() + d.getDate();
(e) ? e.parentNode.insertBefore(m, e) : z.body.appendChild(m);
)(document, “script’, `https://playerad-cdn.timesa.pl/loader.js?id=fa54595dce6d4e79bc872bbfa3b7eb96&init=player_init_vv-bzbd-Kjxr-wftW&creation=player_creation_vv-bzbd-Kjxr-wftW`);
window.yplayerBlockAutoplayExists = true;
})();
