Easter

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. 

 

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.

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.

 

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