Holiday Traditions: Easter

Marissa

5 years ago

I haven’t written much about holidays here on the blog. I planned to write more this year and I have been seriously writing less. So now with a little more extra time on my hands, I will try to write more frequently. The first holiday I’ll write about is Easter. Easter is originally the day to celebrate Jesus Christ’s resurrection from the dead. It has also become a somewhat secular celebration as well. Let’s learn more about it.

What is Easter?

Easter (also known as Pascua or Resurrection Sunday) is a holiday celebrated by the Christian religion. Jesus was resurrected from the dead. It occurred on the third day after his burial. He was crucified by the Romans at Calvary around 30 AD. Easter is preceded by lent which is a 40-day period of fasting, prayer, and penance. Below is a children’s video retelling the story.

Holy Week

Palm Sunday

The week before Easter (this week) is known as Holy Week. The week starts off with Palm Sunday. It is a feast that falls before Easter Sunday. The feast commemorates Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem. Churches celebrate palm Sunday by blessing and distributing palm branches or other native plants of the time (box, olive, willow, and yew). The branches represent the palms branches that were laid at Jesus’ feet at his arrival into Jerusalem.

Churches will distribute the palms to their congregation. They typical keep it until Shrove Tuesday (aka Mardi Gras) the following year where the church burns them and uses the ashes for Ash Wednesday.

There is also Holy Monday, Holy (Fig) Tuesday, Holy (Spy)Wednesday-where Judas betrayal is remembered.

Holy (Maudy) Thursday

This day celebrates the washing of feet and Jesus’ last supper with the apostles.

Holy (Good) Friday

Good Friday is the day to commemorate Jesus’ crucifixion and his death. Many denominations perform Stations of the Cross. Some Christians observe it as a day for fasting.

Holy Saturday

Holy Saturday is the day between the Crucifixion and the Resurrection. It is the time for the Easter Vigil. The Easter vigil lasts up to 3-4 hours. Which then leads us to Easter.

It is important to note that not all Christian denominations celebrate Holy Week.

Source

Ways to Celebrate

Attend an online Easter service

Church has now been transported to the online world. There are so many services available. You can look at one of your local church or do an online search to find one.

Easter Egg Hunt

The symbols of Easter are very interesting. I found this video from History Channel about it.

An Easter egg hunt is a game where decorated hard-boiled or plastic eggs (filled with candy) are hidden in various places. This Easter if you are stuck inside, you can hide your eggs around the house, inside or outside. The only difference is that you won’t be with extended family while doing so. Some variations include prizes for the most eggs or smallest eggs, place money in a golden egg, eggs filled with confetti or flour to incite an egg war.

Some other Easter games include:

Egg and Spoon Race: participants must balance an egg on a spoon while racing.
Egg Dance: Dancing while trying not to break any eggs. Another form is to make circle with chalk, place an egg in a bowl, then roll the egg out of the bowl and try to cover it with the bowl without getting out of the cirlce.
Egg Roll: A race where an egg is pushed with a long-handled spoon
Egg Tapping: One tries to crack opponent egg without cracking their own.