Bílá sobota (White Saturday) is the last day of the Lenten period and here are some of the Czech traditions connected to this day.
Czech Holy Week: Great Friday
Holy Friday or in Czech Velký pátek (Great Friday) is the peak of the Lent period. In the Czech Republic it’s a day of Christian as well as folkloric traditions.
Czech Holy Week: Green Thursday
The Holy Thursday is actually called Green Thursday or Zelený čtvrtek. And the traditions on this day are connected to food!
Czech Holy Week: Holy Wednesday
The Wednesday of the Holy Week before Easter is called škaredá, černá or sazometná. The first one means “ugly”, the second “black” while the third word would be translated as “on which the soot is swept out”.
Czech Holy Week: Grey Tuesday
There’s not much known about the traditions of the Grey Tuesday. Compared to the later days of the Holy Week Tuesday – just like the Blue Monday – is an outsider.
Czech Holy Week: Blue Monday
Holy Week is called pašijový týden or also svatý týden in Czech and it’s the last week of the 40 day fasting period. Each day of this week was given special names because of the very specific traditions. Let’s learn more about Blue Monday.
Masopust: Fat Thursday and Master Pronobus
Czech Masopust or Fašank starts with the so called Fat Thursday (Tučný čtvrtek) and its prominent character Master Pronobus (pán Pronobus).
St. Agatha’s Day and the Fire Protection Ritual
To our ancestors, St. Agatha was the one that protected them from fire. Her day was February 5 and it was the day to perform the ritual to secure protection for the upcoming year.
Burning of the Witches and 1st of May in Czech Republic
The Burning of the Witches is a pagan festival celebrated on the 30th of April. It is referred to in Czech as Pálení čarodějnic (burning of the witches), Čarodějnice (witches), Filipojakubská noc (night of St. Philip and Jacob). As is obvious, it is connected to the belief in witches although nowadays it’s especially a fun festival for children. Let …
Fašank, Ostatky or Masopust, the beautiful and unusual Czech Mardi Gras
Colorful and somewhat scary costumes, lots of music, dancing and cake. That’s fašank, masopust, končiny or ostatky, the legendary Czech Mardi Gras, the time of strange traditions like burying the contrabass…