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Every year as Easter
approaches, the stores are filled with jelly beans, candy eggs,
egg-coloring kits, stuffed, real and chocolate bunnies of all types, and
baskets for carrying all of this Easter bounty. However, most of us know
that Easter isn't simply a commercial spring festival about dyeing and
hiding eggs or wearing new spring attire. Easter is the Christian
observance of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ and his resurrection days
later. It is the central festival of the Christian church and, after the
Sabbath, it is the oldest Christian observance. |
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Easter is a time of springtime festivals. In Christian
countries Easter is celebrated as the religious holiday commemorating
the resurrection of Jesus Christ, the son of God. But the celebrations
of Easter have many customs and legends that are pagan in origin and
have nothing to do with Christianity.
 Scholars,
accepting the derivation proposed by the 8th-century English scholar St.
Bede, believe the name Easter is thought to come from the Scandinavian
"Ostra" and the Teutonic "Ostern" or "Eastre,"
both Goddesses of mythology signifying spring and fertility whose
festival was celebrated on the day of the vernal equinox. |
| Traditions
associated with the festival survive in the Easter rabbit, a symbol of
fertility, and in colored Easter eggs, originally painted with bright
colors to represent the sunlight of spring, and used in Easter-egg
rolling contests or given as gifts. |
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The Christian celebration
of Easter embodies a number of converging traditions with emphasis on
the relation of Easter to the Jewish festival of Passover, or Pesach,
from which is derived Pasch, another name used by Europeans for Easter.
Passover is an important feast in the Jewish calendar which is
celebrated for 8 days and commemorates the flight and freedom of the
Israelites from slavery in Egypt.
The
early Christians, many of whom were of Jewish origin, were brought up in
the Hebrew tradition and regarded Easter as a new feature of the
Passover festival, a commemoration of the advent of the Messiah as
foretold by the prophets.
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Easter is observed by the churches
of the West on the first Sunday following the full moon that occurs on
or following the spring equinox (March 2I). So Easter became a "movable"
feast which can occur as early as March 22 or as late as April 25. |
| Christian
churches in the East which were closer to the birthplace of the new
religion and in which old traditions were strong, observe Easter
according to the date of the Passover festival.
Easter
is at the end of the Lenten season, which covers a forty-six-day period
that begins on Ash Wednesday and ends with Easter. The Lenten season
itself comprises forty days, as the six Sundays in Lent are not actually
a part of Lent. Sundays are considered a commemoration of Easter Sunday
and have always been excluded from the Lenten fast. The Lenten season is
a period of penitence in preparation for the highest festival of the
church year, Easter.
Holy
Week, the last week of Lent, begins its with the observance of Palm
Sunday. Palm Sunday takes its name from Jesus' triumphal entry into
Jerusalem where the crowds laid palms at his feet. Holy Thursday
commemorates the Last Supper, which was held the evening before the
Crucifixion. Friday in Holy Week is the anniversary of the Crufixion,
the day that Christ was crucified and died on the cross.
Holy
week and the Lenten season end with Easter Sunday, the day of
resurrection of Jesus. |
For More Information Contact:
Mayfield Electric & Water Systems
301 East Broadway, Mayfield, KY 42066
Tel: 270-247-4661
FAX: 270-247-0550
Internet: jcre@mayfieldews.com
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