In true American style, Easter is not only Christianity’s most important holiday but, in the secular realm, a day when an iconic hare leaves baskets of candy for children and decorated eggs are hunted.
In some cultures, the traditions overlap.
Many Christians of the Eastern Orthodox and Catholic churches dye Easter eggs red, the color of blood, in recognition of the sacrifices made by Jesus Christ and renewal of life in springtime.
The orthodox church believes the custom of decorating and eating eggs is tied to Lent, the 40-day period leading up to Easter Sunday that is intended to be a time of reflection and repentance.
Because eggs were originally forbidden during Lent, where fasting was encouraged, parishioners boiled or roasted them to keep them from being wasted.
Later, German Protestants retained the custom of eating colored eggs for Easter, although they did not continue the tradition of fasting.
Some Catholics say Easter baskets derived from the custom of bringing dinner food to Mass to be blessed.
Other faiths have chosen to view Easter eggs as a symbol of the empty tomb of Jesus: the egg appears to be like the stone of a tomb and a bird hatches from it with life, which is a reminder that Christ rose from the grave, and that those who believe will also experience eternal life.
Christian churches in America celebrate Easter on the first Sunday following the full moon after the vernal equinox on March 21.
Therefore, the observance can take place each year anywhere between March 22 and April 25.
Orthodox Christians use the Julian calendar to calculate when Easter will occur and typically hold services a week or two after the Western churches, which follow the Gregorian calendar.
There are an estimated 2.1 billion Christians in the world today, slightly less than one- third of the global population, so the Easter observance is a time of great spiritual significance.
Lent reflects the 40 days that Jesus spent alone in the wilderness before starting his ministry.
During that time, the Bible states that he overcame various temptations by Satan.
The week preceding Easter is called Holy Week and includes Maundy Thursday, which commemorates Jesus’ last supper with his disciples.
Good Friday honors the day of his crucifixion and Holy Saturday focuses on the transition between Jesus’ death and his resurrection, which is celebrated by churches on Easter Sunday.
Christians believe Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection occurred after he went to Jerusalem to celebrate Passover, which was the Jewish commemoration of the Israelites’ exodus from slavery in Egypt.
The 50-day period following Easter Sunday is called Eastertide and includes a celebration of Jesus’ ascension into heaven. On the commercial side, more than 90 million chocolate Easter bunnies are made each year in the U.S. for baskets, along with 16 billion jelly beans.
Peeps are another popular candy — a marshmallow chick that is covered with sugar crystals and pretty much indestructible, as evidenced by websites devoted to its demise.
According to the National Retail Federation, Americans are expected to spend about $17 billion to buy an estimated 7.1 billion pounds of candy, meals and clothing for Easter.
The idea of an egg-giving rabbit came to the U.S. in the 18th century. Protestant German immigrants in the Pennsylvania Dutch area reportedly told their children about a hare that rewarded good children with gifts of colored eggs.
Eggs, in general, were a traditional symbol of fertility, and rebirth around the world.
The celebrated Fabergé workshops created exquisite jeweled Easter eggs for the Russian Imperial Court. Most of these creations themselves contained hidden surprises such as clock-work birds, or miniature ships.
Ostrich eggs with engraved decorations that are 60,000 years old have been found in Africa. Decorated ostrich eggs were commonly placed in graves of the ancient Sumerians and Egyptians as early as 5,000 years ago.
Commented