Easter Customs
The Easter Egg
The exchange of eggs in the springtime is a custom that was centuries old. The egg was a symbol of rebirth in most cultures. Easter eggs were painted with bright colors and were given as gifts. In medieval time, the eggs were exchanged by lovers and servents. Eggs were often wrapped in gold leaf, if they could afford it. If they were poorer, they boil them with the leaves or petals of flowers. Today, children dye the hard boil eggs and place them in Easter baskets. Easter eggs are also made of plastic so you can hide a treat inside. They are make eggs with chocolate candy.
The Easter Egg Hunt
Easter egg hunt is common all over the world. Eggs are hidden and the children hunts and collects them. The one with the most eggs wins the contest. Sometimes prizes of candy are given the child who finds the most eggs.
The Easter Basket
The custom of the blessing the food eaten on Easter Sunday is practiced in some churches. Wicker baskets of food, including bread, decorated eggs, ham, egg-cheese ball, horseradish, sour cream, beets, sausage, butter veal and smoked bacon are brought to the church to be blessed. These foods bear a special symbolism of Easter. Each basket contains also a decorated candle. During the eating of the Paschal food on Easter, this candle is placed in the middle of the table. Today every family has a Easter basket full of candy and eggs that every child gets on Easter morning that the Easter Bunny deliveries in the middle of the night.
Easter Tree
The making of an Easter tree is an old custom in Europe. These Europeans would bring in bare branches and put them in a pot filled with earth. The children will then decorate them with decorated empty eggs. They did this by emptying the eggs, dyed them and then used ribbons to tie and hang them on the bare branches. The bare branches symbolize death while the eggs are a symbol of life.
Easter Egg Rolling
The rules of an Easter Egg Roll are to see who can roll an egg the greatest distance or can make the roll without breaking it, usually down a grassy hillside or slope Maybe the most famous egg rolling takes place on the White House Lawn in America. Hundreds of children come with baskets filled with brightly decorated eggs. On Easter Monday of 1878, President Hayes officially opened the White House grounds to the children for egg rolling. Since then, Easter Monday Egg Roll in the White House is a tradition every year.
Hot Cross Buns
At the feast of Eostre, the Saxon fertility Goddess, they baked a special bread. After an ox was sacrificed, then ox's horns became a symbol for the feast. They were carved into the bread. Later a cross was put on tbuns by monks wanting to give Christian meaning to the the tradition by making "hot cross buns". The cross symbol on the buns is usually made from white icing. Other accounts speak of an English widow whose son went off to sea and she vowed to bake him a bun every Good Friday. When he didn't return she continued to bake a hot cross bun for him each year and hung it in the bakery window in good faith that he would some day return to her. The English people kept the tradition for her even after she passed away.
Easter Parade
The New York’s Easter Parade dates back to the Civil War period. People wear their finest clothes and hats in the parade. The parade begins at 49th Street, near Rockefeller Center and St. Patrick’s Cathedral and goes up Fifth Avenue to 57th Street. The festivities kick off at 10 AM and last until about 4 PM. Other cities have an Easter Parade too.
Easter Candles
Easter candles are sometimes lit in churches on the eve of Easter Sunday. Some commentators believe that these can be directly linked to the Pagan customs of lighting bonfires to welcome the resurrection of their sun God.
Communion
Most Churches offer a Maundy Service in which they serve Communion. This is keeping with the tradition that Jesus had his Last Supper on Holy Thursday, the day before he died. It was a passover meal he ate with them. At the meal Jesus said this is my body as he broke the bread and this is my blood as he drank the wine. Today, Communion is symbolic of his Breaking the Bread and Drinking the wine. We do it in remembrance of Jesus' death.
Foot Washing
During Christ's time, it was tradition for a servant to wash the feet of guests when they arrived. Jesus washed the feet of all his disciples at the Last Supper. It shows people that in order to be good leaders, they must show respect to their followers and be willing to serve. Kings during medieval times would wash the feet of twelve of the poorest men in their kingdom on the Thursday before Easter. Later, the kings and queens to wash the feet of as many poor people as they were in years old. This custom is still practiced today.
