Easter in Vlkolínec was rich in traditional customs.
Easter stands alongside Christmas as the most important of the Christian holidays. It commemorates the crucifixion and resurrection of Christ. The date changes each year, falling in March or April, always after the first full moon following the spring equinox. As a result, Easter celebrations can differ by up to a month from year to year.
The second-to-last Sunday before Easter is known as Smrtná nedeľa (“Sunday of Death”), marking the day the Sanhedrin condemned Jesus to death. On this day in Vlkolínec, the faithful covered all crosses with purple cloth. Worshippers dressed in dark clothing, and the women wore black scarves to church.
The Sunday before Easter is Palm Sunday, recalling Christ’s triumphant entry into Jerusalem, when he was greeted with palm branches and flowers. In Vlkolínec, women took sprigs from blossoming willows (maňušky) to church, and by now the Passion story was being sung at Mass.
Maundy Thursday, just before Easter, commemorates the Last Supper. At noon, local boys would walk around rattling wooden clackers (rapkáče) to remind people to pray.
Good Friday marks the crucifixion and death of Christ. Most villagers would walk to the church in Ružomberok. In Vlkolínec’s own little church, women decorated the Holy Sepulchre with flowers, and in the evening the local fire brigade, dressed in their uniforms, stood honour guard by it.
Holy Saturday signalled the end of the long forty-day fast. The midday ringing of bells in the church and the belfry announced this day in Vlkolínec. Homes were thoroughly swept and cleaned, as everything had to be spotless. That evening, people gathered in the candlelit church. After the service, they returned home, where they lit one candle in the window facing the street and another on the table. They prayed together, then enjoyed a meal of roast spring lamb, filled with a stuffing made from bread rolls and smoked sausage.
Easter Sunday, commemorating the resurrection of Christ, is the most important Christian holiday. Everyone in Vlkolínec wore their finest and most festive clothes. After lunch, the girls would hide while the young men went out looking for them. If they found a girl, they gave her a traditional dousing.
On Easter Monday, the lads set out once more to douse the girls with water, and generously so. Each girl usually ended up soaked with a full bucket fetched straight from the stream. After soaking the girls, the boys were treated in every home to hriatô (a drink made with spirits and caramelised sugar) and sometimes given a small gift. The younger boys went from house to house with perfume bottles, “sprinkling” the girls in a gentler fashion.
