Sacred Heart's 2nd Annual Blessing of the Easter Baskets will take place on Holy Saturday (April 8th). Children in Pre-K through 7th grade are welcome to bring their Easter Baskets filled with the traditional items listed below to be blessed by Father Joe following the 5pm Solemn Vespers in Church. 

Traditionally, the Easter basket is lined with a white cloth and decorated with ribbons, flowers, and greenery to symbolize spring, renewal, and, of course, the Resurrection of Jesus.

Traditional baskets are filled with:

- Decorated hardboiled eggs (representing Christ’s Resurrection)

- Lamb-shaped butter or sugar (representing Christ as the “Lamb of God”)

- Bread, such as rye bread (reminding us that Jesus is the “Bread of Life”);

- Meats, such as ham (symbolic of great joy and abundance), sausage (symbolic of God’s favor and generosity), smoked bacon (symbolic of the overabundance of God’s mercy), or lamb (representing Christ as the “Lamb of God”);

- Salt (symbolic of prosperity and justice, and reminding us that we are “the salt of the earth”);

- Cheese (symbolizing the moderation Christians should have at all times);

- Horseradish, pepper, oil, and vinegar (symbolic of the Passion of Christ and the bitter herbs of the Passover);

- Wine (symbolic of the Blood of the Lord)

- White candle (often inserted into the basket to represent Christ as the “Light of the World.”)

- Sacramental’s (small crucifixes, scapulars, rosaries, etc.)

Lastly, the basket is covered with white linen, to symbolize the shroud in which Christ’s body was wrapped.

Click here for a printable version of list of traditional Easter basket items. 

For questions about this event, please contact Jonathon Toni at the Sacred Heart Parish Office at 940-759-2500.