Zaduszki

What it is

Zaduszki is what Poles call 2 November, the day Catholics set aside to pray for those who have died. The name is a shorter form of Dzień Zaduszny, which is usually translated as a day of prayer for souls. In Polish folk understanding, All Saints' Day, the day before, served as the eve of the main remembrance, and most of the old customs belonged to it. The Church holds that some of the dead are still being cleansed, and the prayers and masses offered on this day are meant to help them. On the day, cemeteries across Poland fill with people who have come to remember.

Origins and the date

The annual remembrance was settled and fixed on 2 November by Odilo, abbot of Cluny, towards the close of the tenth century. In 1311 the Holy See brought All Souls' Day into the Roman Rite and into the General Roman Calendar, which is how the date reached the Western Church as a whole. Poland made the day its own, and the older Slavic strand of the observance is still visible in the names used for similar days in neighbouring lands, where the dead are remembered several times in a year rather than once.

Keeping the day

Graves come first. Families go to the cemetery, clear the plot, lay flowers and set out candles, which are lit as dusk falls. A shared prayer for the dead is said, and a priest moves between the graves, blessing each with holy water. In eastern Poland, households once made ready for a visit from the souls: sand was spread on the floor, a door or window was left open, and a bench was drawn near the hearth. A basin of water, a towel and a comb stood on it, so the visitors could wash and tidy their hair. Women also baked bread for the souls, and the loaves went to the poor, to children and to clergy, or were left on the graves.

Rules of the night

Folk custom surrounded the night with prohibitions. No one was to work in the fields or begin any important task about the house, and a journey should not be started. On the eve, people went to bed early, so as not to disturb the dead at their own feast. Whatever was left of the commemorative dinner stayed on the table until morning. Taking anything out of the house, rubbish or water, was avoided, and the dogs were kept chained. Anyone who did have to empty something near the house first warned the souls aloud to move aside, so that nothing would fall on them. Whitewashing the stove or the walls was forbidden as well, since the lime might drop on the dead.

The wider Slavic world

Countries that follow the Orthodox calendar keep several of these days each year instead of one. The set includes the Saturday in early November, known as the Zadušnice of St Demetrius, and days set before Great Lent, before Pentecost and before Michaelmas. The names change from place to place: Дзяды, or Grandfathers, in Belarus; Dušni dan in Croatia; Spomienkový deň, also called Dušičky, in Slovakia; Parental Saturday in Russia. In Serbia the days are called Zadušnice. What they share is a shape: graves are visited, prayers are offered and food is given away.

How Zaduszki is kept

Families start at the cemetery, clearing the family plot and setting out flowers and candles, which are lit towards evening. A shared prayer for the dead follows, and a priest blesses the graves with holy water. In eastern Poland the house was once readied in advance: sand spread on the floor, a window or door left open, and a bench drawn near the hearth, with a towel, a comb and a basin of water on it. Women baked bread for the souls, which went to the poor, to children or to clergy, or was laid on the graves. A festive dinner was eaten, and what remained stayed on the table until morning.

When and where

Zaduszki falls on 2 November every year, the day after All Saints' Day, which Polish folk custom treated as its eve. The date was fixed for the whole Western Church long ago, so it does not move. Slavic communities on the Orthodox calendar keep several related Saturdays instead, among them the first Saturday of November and the days before Lent, Pentecost and Michaelmas.

Poland is its home, and the day is kept wherever Poles live. In Poland the old customs were strongest in the eastern villages, where households prepared for the dead to return. Other Slavic countries mark comparable days, among them Serbia, Bulgaria, Croatia, Slovakia, Slovenia, North Macedonia, Belarus and Russia.

What Zaduszki means

The day rests on a simple conviction: the dead are not gone, and the living can still help them. Prayers, candles and masses are offered for souls thought to be waiting, and the visits from the other world were once pictured as a kind of family return. Bread given away carried a hope of prosperity for the giver. The open window, the untouched table and the many prohibitions of the night all say the same thing, that the dead are guests who should not be disturbed.

Days Zaduszki is marked

Questions people ask about Zaduszki

See also

KaddishA Jewish hymn of sanctification recited during prayer services and mourning rituals.OvooA stone cairn on a peak or pass, circled by travellers and honoured in sky worshipPresentation of Jesus at the TempleA February feast of candles and welcome, kept forty days after ChristmasSlavaAn annual Serbian family feast honouring their patron saint with blessed bread and wine

Good reading and sources

• Zaduszki on WikipediaEncyclopedia
• More photos on Wikimedia CommonsPhotos and video
• Wikidata recordOpen data

It may contain mistakes. Traditions differ from one family, village and community to the next, and the people who keep them know them best. If something is wrong, tell us. Last refreshed 2026-10-05.