HE SUFFERED, HE DIED, HE IS RISEN
Three verbs representing the events of the end of Jesus’ life on earth: his suffering, his death by
crucifixion, his rise to life again. These events are celebrated in a series of festivals leading up to
Easter. We have taken a look at this festive period and this is what we have found out.
EASTER KEY FACTS
Easter celebrates the resurrection of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. It is now a Christian festival but
it is believed that the holiday originated with the pagan rituals of spring.
There are different names for Easter : the English speaking countries use the word Easter based on
the goddess Eostre, the Lithuanian word Velykos and the Latvian word Lieldienas are based on
Great Day or Great Night, whereasthe Italian one Pasqua and the Russian Pascha are based on
Pesach the name for Passover.
Have you ever wondered why Easter is on different dates every year? Easy:Easter is a movable
feast because it is celebrated on the first Sunday following the full moon of the spring equinox and
in western churches this is always between 22nd March and 25th April.
The 40 days before Easter are called Lent. But the days before Easter are 46. How come? Easy: the
Lent is made up of 40 days since the 6 Sundays are considered a commemoration of Easter Sunday
and they have always been excluded.
The Holy Week is the week before Easter Sunday and the start is Palm Sunday that celebrates the
entry of Jesus in Jerusalem. Jesus entered Jerusalem on the back of a donkey and he was greeted by
people who laid palms on his feet and this day is commemorated with the blessing of palm or olive
leaves. According to a German scholar Anton Baumstark (1872-1848) the custom of blessing the
palms goes back to the 8th century and in cold countries flowers or different trees were used such as
willow, box or yew. Later on this ritual was followed by a procession. The blessed branches were
then put over the bed or decorate the frame of some holypicture, a custom which still exists today
in Italy since it is believed that they can protect people. You won’t believe it but in Lithuania the
elders whip the children with palm branches or branches of juniper to clean them of their sins and it
is believed that if a child is whipped hard enough heor she will have a good year.In Vilnius region
people also make lovely compositions of dried flowers , they are called Verbos which is the word
for palm.
The Holy Thursday or Maundy Thursday is the night on which Jesus was betrayed by Judas in the
Garden of Gethsemane.
The word “maundy “comes from the command (mandate) given by Christ at the Last Supper, that
we should love one another.
In Roman Catholic churches the anthem “Mandatum novum do vobis” (a new commandment I give
to you)is sung on Maundy Thursday.
Holy Fridaycommemorates Jesus' s death and it is a day of prayer, repentance and fasting . In
many churches services begin at 3 o'clock, the time Christ is believed to have died.
EASTER SYMBOLS AND EGG DECORATION
Easter has a lot of symbols, most of them common in the world and representing spring, fertility,
renewal, abundant new life. Everybody knows what these symbols are: the rabbit, or hare, which
is a symbol of abundant new life, the spring flowers like daffodils and tulips that bloom in the
spring or the lily that represents also the purity of Jesus.
What is symbol number one? The egg: in every tradition it represents birth. We have found out that
according to an Indian myth the universe originated from a cosmic egg that was then divided into
two giving origin to the sky and the earth, whereas according to a Greek myth a bird symbolizing
the night was fertilized by the wind, it laid a silver egg and from this egg the universe was born. The
egg is also a symbol of the rock tomb out of which Christ emerged when he rose again.
The tradition of donating Easter eggs comes from this symbolism and it goes back as far as the
12th century and in the time of the Sun King it became a custom to give eggs made of precious
materials and to hide a surprise inside the egg. Any comment on what you found inside your
delicious chocolate egg ?
Eggs are also painted and different cultures have developed their own way to paint Easter eggs.
In Greece they are painted dark red to symbolize the blood of Christ;
in Germany and Austria the eggs are green and the Austrian artists design patterns by tying tiny
plants around the egg and after boiling it , the plants are removed and a nice pattern appears.
In Poland and Russia eggs are decorated in a manner called Pysanki. Melted beeswax is put on the
egg and then the egg is dipped into successive baths of dye and after every dip the egg is painted so
that at the end a pattern of lines and colours emerges.
In Lithuania two methods are used, one based on producing designs on dyed eggs by scratching
them or using wax to create patterns. Why the decoration? Well, people believed that patterns and
especially colours had special meanings: black symbolized earth, fertility abundance; red meant life,
energy, birth; green had to insure growth health and peace; yellow and brown harvest and light and
blue meant blessing and heaven. So a decorated egg was supposed to bring health, prosperity and
happiness.
An egg tree: photo taken in Vilnius
Eggs are good also to play games like egg hunt, egg roll and egg tapping. In some countries like
UK and Latvia egg knocking competitions are held: competitors line up and knock eggs together, if
an egg is cracked, the competitor is out. Lithuanians also compete in egg rolling. The eggs are
rolled from a ramp made from a piece of wood, bark or cartonwith a downward incline. They aim
at the eggs of another player located in the circle on the ground. When the rolled egg hits another
egg then thelucky player takesboth eggs. The winner is the person who has the most eggs left. In
the USA an Easter party is hosted by the President and the highlight of the event is the egg rolling
race.
A picture showing Lithuanian children playing the egg rolling game.
Egg rolling: picture taken in Vilnius
TRADITIONS
In many parts of Europe huge bonfires are lighted on hilltops and inchurchyards on Easter Eve.
They are sometimes called Judas fires, because effigies of Judas are frequently burned in them.
Originally the bonfires celebrated the arrival of spring and the burning effigy symbolized winter. It
reminds us of More the puppetburnt in Vilnius on Shrove Tuesday: many festivals include the
renewal of life and springtime!The period of Lent is filled with customs and traditions marking
the way to the most important celebration: Easter Sunday. During this period Christians stop eating
afavourite food, like chocolates; in the past people stopped eating milk and eggs so just before Lent
began, they took all their eggs and milk and made pancakes. Search the blog for our recipe of
pancakes!We ate a lot of them in Vilnius!
On Palm Sunday, in Lithuania the elders whip the children with palm branches to clean them of
their sins and it is believed that is a child or an adult is whipped hard enough he or she will have a
good year. People also make lovely compositions of dried flowers, they are called Verbos .
On Holy Thursday in RomanCatholic churches there is a ceremony in which the priest washes
the feet of 12 people to commemorate Jesus' washing the feet of his disciples. Some other churches
nowadays also have foot-washing ceremonies as part of their Maundy Thursday services. Maundy
Thursday is usually the day on which the supply of anointing oil to be used in ceremonies during
the year is consecrated. In Italy people go and visit the “Santi Sepolcri” ( Saint Sepulchres):
churches decorated with a lot of flowers and candles are visited by people who kneels and pray,
According to the traditon the number of churches visited should be an odd one.
Picture taken on Maundy Thursday. Easter 2011
In some countries, there are specialGood Friday processions, or re-enactments of the Crucifixion.
The Passion of Christ is staged by the faithful also throughout the Marche Region. In Porto
Recanati Good Friday is celebrated with the procession called “Bara de Notte” during which people
support a wooden cross followed by women who sing traditional songs. In Tolentino there is the
procession of the Sacconi : friars wearing a sackcloth tunic and a hood covering their heads carry
the instruments of passion in their hands. Their slow tread and their resemblance with the hooded
figures of the Middle Ages are one of the most evocative moments of the Holy Week.
Picture taken in Macerata on Good Friday
Other ways to celebrate Easter:we just want to point out the most curious tradition we found to
celebrate Easter. It’s inNorway. The Easter holiday is associated with murder mysteries, Tv
stations run crime and detective marathons and publishing houses release novels just before Easter.
Does it have to do with the death of Jesus?
On Easter Monday( Pasquetta in Italian, it means Little Easter) it is custom to go out for the day,
or if the weather is good to go on a picnic and enjoy the sunshine. In the past in the Marche region it
was usual to visit relatives carrying Easter foodspecialities as gifts. It is said that the custom
derived from the biblical story in which Jesus travelling as an unknown pilgrim met two of his
disciples who didn't recognize him and they invited him to share their simple meals. Naturally this
custom lost its significance and became and it still is a simple outing.
Easter has always been associated with food and in many cases they have pagan roots. Bread and
yeast are symbols of Easter since the dough rises again after being punched down. People in many
countries bake traditional Easter bread like the British Hot Cross Bun, the Russian Kulich , a
yeast dough decorated with crystallized citrus peel, the German Pretzels whose twisted shapes
symbolizes arms crossed in prayer or the Italian Pizza Dolce containing pieces of candied fruit and on top there is a kind of icing consisting of sugar and egg white. Hot cross buns are linked to
superstition: sharing one of these buns is meant to cement friendships, which is a good excuse to
bake a lot of them! Another traditional British cake is the Simnel: the Simnel cake has been eaten
since medieval times as both a rich, sweet treat and a symbolic ritual. The fruit cake is topped with
eleven marzipan balls to represent the eleven apostles of Christ, minus Judas. Another Eastern
European bread is Paska made of flour, cream, sugar, butter and yeast. In Portugal the Folare is
traditionally the bread of Easter, a food made by the mixture of water, salt, eggs and flour. The
form, the content and the secret varies from region of Portugal and goes from the salty to the sweet
bread, in different forms.
Among Easter foods the most significant is the lamb which is in many places the main dish of the
Easter meal. Also popular among European and American people is ham because pig was
considered a symbol of luck in pre- Christian Europe.
In Italy a traditional lunch would start with antipasto consisting of ciabuscolo, pizza salata, that is
pizza filled with cheese and pepper,(we suggest you try the recipe given in the blog, it’s really
good), a first course and then lamb. Among the sweet dishes there are the ciambelle, ring shaped
cakes and Colomba that has become THE cake. It may be interpreted in different ways. It may
symbolize Christ who brings peace to the mankind or it may be the symbol of the Holy Spirit
descending on the faithful thanks to the sacrifice of Jesus. Well, just interpret it according to
your heart!
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