For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son

that whosoever believeth in him shall not perish

but have everlasting life.

~Easter Around the World~

Easter is one of the biggest holidays in Christianity.  In Christian
doctrine it is the time when Jesus Christ was crucified, died and rose from the
dead.  But celebrating Easter has become more than a religious tradition.  It has
turned into a celebration of the coming spring - the happy, carefree feeling that
spring brings along - and family integrity.   It has become a family ritual.
By giving it an additional meaning, people have reshaped Easter, actually
transforming the religiuos into a family holiday.   People from different nations
have different traditions connected with Easter.

For instance, poeple in Poland have their own customs attached to
Easter cleebration.  The "blessing basket" is one of the essential Easter
traditions.  Pleple prepare the "blessing basket" Saturday morning before Easter.
They put in a basket colored eggs, bread, cake, salt, pepper and white sausages
and go to the church to bless the food.  They believe that the "Great Lent" --the
forty-day fast before Easter-- is over only after the blessing of the basket.
Everything in the basket has a symbolic meaning.   The red colored eggs
symbolize the risen Christ, the bread and salt are a wish for good health and a
successful life.  The sausages are very important.  They are a special kind,
very tasty and, as an intregal part of the Polish mode of life, express a wish for
enough food and fertility during the coming spring --the beginning of a new
life circuit.  There are, also, two more invaluable parts of the basket:  cheese
cake and marzipan.

The German Easter stars witht he covering of the cross on "Good Friday"
--the Friday before Easter. During that day, Germans by tradition have fish dishes.
The Easter celebration stars with Easter mass, which continues
from Saturday evening to Sunday morning.   Sunday is a special holiday
--"family day",  This is the day for the holy Easter lunch, an
important part of which are colored eggs and a cake, shaped like a lamb.
Also Germans have lots of sweet things, such as cookies, cake and chocolate
on this day, and the most pleasant part of the celebration is the hiding of the
Easter eggs and cookies in the garden.   Perhaps the adults have as much pleasure
hiding the eggs as the children do finding them.   There is another curious
custom united with Easter: "Easter fire."  For the fire, all Christmas trees
are collected and burned in a special place, making a uge fire, this way cleaning
the last signs of the winter and getting ready for the spring.   Pleasant and
practical at the same time.

According to the American Protestant tradition, people have on Sunday a "Sunrise
service."  They get up very early on Easter morning to meet the sun of Easter
day, the symbol of new beginning, with perferably an outdoor service.
Looking at some Eastern European Orthodox traditions, the Easter customs change
in conformity witht he mood of life.  In Bulgaria, for instance, people don't
hide Easter eggs and don't put them in Easter bunny baskets; people
fight with the colored eggs, and whoever comes out from the game with an
unbroken egge is the winner, and he or she will be the most successful
person of the familyduring the year.   Everyone enjoys this game, from
children to grandmas and grandpas.

There are many Easter tradions, as gaily colored as customs of the peoples
all over the world are.  And each of them conveys somehow something
of teh characteristics of that culture's members.   In this short writing I have
just sketched an impression of some of them, and I hope, dear reader, that you
enjoyed it at least as much as I enjoyed bringing it to you..

Kree's Kreations © 1999, 2000
by Kriss aka Lady Kree - webmistress
Site Created with patience and a lot of love
Last Updated Thursday, February 20, 2003
No unauthorized duplication of my graphics