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| Easter Eggs |
After the Sabbath, Easter is most probably the oldest and important
holiday observed by modern Christians. It is celebrated to commemorate the
resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ, three days after he was tortured and put
to death.
The Easter celebration is a religious observance that starts
on Ash Wednesday and concludes with Easter Sunday. This event is celebrated by
people of all races: young and old, rich and poor, men and women.
The origin of Easter dates back to the beginning of
Christianity. It is most probably the
oldest Christian observance, after the Sabbath which was originally observed on
Saturday, but later on, Sunday came to be regarded as the weekly celebration of
the Sabbath.
In today’s America, the roots and traditions of our Easter observances
are found in the convergence of three traditions: Christian, Hebrew and Pagan.
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| Daffodills, Easter Eggs and Bunny |
Easter is the name of an ancient Saxon festival, honoring Eastre, the pagan goddess of spring and
offspring. The ancient Saxons used to celebrate the return of spring with a jovial
festival, commemorating their goddess of offspring and of springtime,
Eastre. Easter bunnies [hares], lilies
and eggs form an important part of the Easter celebrations all across the
world. In old traditions, Easter coincides with the Jewish Passover, a Hebrew
celebration, also known as Pesach.
Thus, Europeans also apply 'Pasch' to
derive another name for Easter.
Passover is celebrated to mark the freedom of the Israelis from bondage and
slavery after over four hundred years. And it was during Passover in 30 A.D.
that Jesus was crucified for blasphemy.
In the past, Easter celebrations did
not always follow a specific calendar. This Pagan festival was changed from a
celebration of the spring to a celebration of the resurrection of Jesus by the
Christian church. The observance of
Easter was set after the first full moon, following the spring equinox in
325 A.D. In the West, Easter is observed by the churches on
the first Sunday following the full moon that falls on or after the Spring
equinox or 21st of March every year. Thus, Easter is celebrated on different
dates every year that usually fall between March 22nd and April 25th. Prior to
this time, early Christian churches observed Easter at various dates during the spring. This was due, in part,
to the Jewish festival of Passover,
which was also observed at the same time of year. Easter is marked as a grand celebration denoting life,
rejuvenation, renewal, rebirth and restoration.
There are several worldwide Easter traditions
with eggs, bonfires, candles, lilies, crosses, palm leaves, bunnies
and lambs being the most popular symbols. Even today, red jellybeans qualify as
the most favorite worldwide food for children at Easter.
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| Chocolate Bunny |
Second
only to Halloween, Easter is the top-selling confectionery holiday in the
western world. Chocolate eggs were made for the first time in Europe during the
19th century. They still remain one of the favorite Easter treats of today. On
Easter, 76% of all people bite off the chocolate bunny ears’ first, while 5%
bite off the feet first and 4% will eat the tail first…thus leaving 15 % for
those who prefer to just wade in.
According
to the Guinness Book of World Records, the largest Easter egg made to date was
just over twenty-five feet high and was composed of chocolate and marshmallow.
Weighing 8,968 lbs., the egg was supported by an internal steel frame. In the
mid-20th Century, it used to take as much as twenty-seven hours to make a
marshmallow peep. Today, the time has been reduced to six minutes and you have
a choice of color: yellow or pink.
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| Easter Eggs |
The
custom of giving eggs at Easter dates back to the time of the Egyptians,
Persians, Gauls, Greeks and Romans. Most of the world knows that the act of
painting eggs is called Pysanka. The first Easter basket was constructed to give
the appearance of a bird's nest.
Hot
cross buns, made by European monks, are among the earliest known Easter
treats. They were given to poor people to eat during the month of Lent.
Every
year on Easter, the Pope gives his
"Urbi et Orbi" (papal address) to the world.
Around
the world, Easter is known by various names including the following:
Albanian
– Pashke
English
– Easter
French
– Paques
German
– Ostern
Greek
– Pascha
Holland
- Pasen
Italian
– Pasqua
Norway
– Paaske
Spanish
– Pascua
Swedish
– Pask
United
States - Easter
