Easter

B

Maundy Thursday and Good Friday

The next day, known as Maundy Thursday (or Holy Thursday), Jesus and his disciples probably celebrated Passover at the Last Supper. After the meal, while Jesus was praying alone in the garden of Gethsemane, Judas led the arresting officers to him. Jesus was tried, convicted, crucified, and buried on Good Friday, which became the chief fast day of the Christian calendar.

C

Holy Saturday

On Holy Saturday, the body of Jesus rested in the tomb in which it had been sealed. Jesus had said that after three days he would be resurrected. Consequently, according to Saint Matthew, the Roman governor, Pontius Pilate, ordered the posting of guards at the tomb to prevent Jesus’ followers from removing the body and claiming that he had arisen from the dead.

D

Easter Sunday

Early on Easter morning, several women who were among Jesus’ followers came to his tomb to anoint his body. They found that the great stone that sealed the entrance had been rolled away and that the tomb was empty. At that moment, according to Saint Luke, two angels appeared, saying “Why seek ye the living among the dead? He is not here, but is risen!” This momentous event, which was taken as proof of Christ’s divinity and signaled his triumph over death, sin, and evil, is celebrated on Easter Sunday.

IV

Easter Symbols and Traditions

Many Easter traditions originated long before the beginning of the Christian era. Like Christmas, which is related to pre-Christian winter festivals, Easter is connected in many ways with early pagan rituals that accompanied the arrival of spring. Easter is also associated with the Jewish festival of Passover.

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A

Easter Eggs

The Easter egg is associated with beliefs of particularly ancient origin. The egg was an important symbol in the mythologies of many early civilizations, including those of India and Egypt. It was commonly believed that the universe developed from a great egg and that the halves of its shell corresponded to Heaven and Earth. The egg was also connected with the springtime fertility rituals of many pre-Christian and Indo-European peoples, and both the Egyptians and the Persians made a practice of coloring eggs in the spring. In Christianity the egg is a symbol of resurrection, representing the emergence of Christ from his tomb to everlasting life.

Over the centuries the symbolic associations of the egg have been more or less forgotten, and modern Easter eggs are valued primarily for their colorful appearance. Eggs of chocolate or other kinds of candy are also favorites of the season.

Games involving Easter eggs have long been popular in many Christian countries. In France, Germany, and Austria, egg picking is a favorite game. It is played by two people, each of whom holds a hard-boiled egg in his hand. The players knock or roll their eggs together, and the one whose egg shows the fewest cracks may claim both eggs. A well-known Easter event in the United States is the annual egg rolling contest on the White House lawn.

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