Easter Sunday is one of the most festive events among Christians worldwide. It commemorates Jesus Christ’s resurrection from death, as written in the Christian bible.

Based on Wikipedia Easter, also called Pascha (Greek, Latin) or Resurrection Sunday, is a festival and holiday commemorating the resurrection of Jesus from the dead, described in the New Testament as having occurred on the third day after his burial following his crucifixion by the Romans at Calvary c. 30 AD. It is the culmination of the Passion of Jesus, preceded by Lent (or Great Lent), a 40-day period of fasting, prayer, and penance.

Many Christians worldwide celebrate Easter with special church services, music, candlelight, flowers and the ringing of church bells. Easter processions are held in some countries such as the Philippines and Spain. Many Christians view Easter as the greatest feast of the Church year. It is a day of joy and celebration to commemorate that Jesus Christ is risen, according to Christian belief. There are many traditions that surround the entire Lent season, Holy Week, and Easter Sunday. Generally observed traditions across the globe include the Easter bunny, colored eggs, gift baskets, and flowers. We will dive into specific traditions below in more detail, but here are a few more interesting traditions from around the world:

• In Australia, bunnies are considered pests that ruin crops and land. Aussies celebrate with their native marsupial, the Bibly, which has large ears and a more pointy nose.
• In Poland on Easter Monday, boys try to soak people with buckets of water. This tradition has is rooted in the baptism of Polich Prince Mieszko on Easter Monday in 996.
• In Greece, the morning of Holy Saturday is known as the annual “pot throwing” where residents throw pots out of windows. It is a tradition used to mark the beginning of spring and new crops being gathered in new pots.
• In Europe, there are large bonfires called Easter Fires that are lit on Easter Sunday into Monday. The Saxon origin is that the fires will chase away winter and Easter will bring spring.

Candles are used in churches all over the world to start the Easter Day Midnight celebrations. Candles help Christians to remember that Jesus is the light of the world and that when he rose to life on Easter Day he got rid of the darkness of evil.In some churches, the service starts in darkness. Then twelve candles are lit and these are taken round the rest of the church lighting the other candles. When a candle is lit the Priest says ‘Christ is Risen!’ and the congregation respond ‘He is Risen Indeed!’.

In Greece, fireworks are sometimes used to start the service.Churches are filled with flowers on Easter Day. These represent new life. Priests wear their best, brightest robes in celebration. If a Church has a model of a tomb in it from Good Friday, it will be empty with the stone rolled away, as it was on the first Easter Day. An important part of the day is to pick out your best pair of clothes and get dressed. Dressing up on Easter should be on your to-do list because the occasion calls for it.

This year Easter was celebrated differently through the unseen situations of the #CoronaVirus and Easter is celebrated through Social Distancing.

Much Love,

Happy Easter