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 8thcentury 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
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. (For more information please visit our
Passover celebration - Passover on the Net)
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 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
The Story of
http://www.holidays.net/easter/story.htm
Easter is a Christian holiday. It celebrates the Resurrection, or return to life, of Jesus Christ. Easter is celebrated on the Sunday after the fourth full moon
following Christmas, which is also the first full moon after the vernal equinox.
Easter is the end of a season in the church called Lent. Lent is the season after Carnival. During Lent, it is a tradition to give up eating meat and other
animal fats. The word carnival comes from this tradition (carne = meat). Mardi Gras means “Fat Tuesday” and is the last day of Carnival.
The Lenten season begins with Ash Wednesday. On Ash Wednesday, many Christians (especially Catholics) go to church. The priest rubs ashes on their
foreheads in the shape of a cross. Lent is a time to be penitent, or sorry for bad things in the past. This penitence starts on Ash Wednesday, and the ashes are a
sign of it. Although not many people today give up all meat and animal products, people do often try to give up a vice, or bad habit, for Lent. They might try to
be kinder to strangers, or stop biting their nails. Lent lasts forty days (the Sundays of Lent are not counted).
The Sunday before Easter is Palm Sunday. According to the Gospels, the books of the Bible that tell the story of Christ and his teaching, Jesus Christ went
to Jerusalem on Palm Sunday. Many people were very happy to see him and laid palm fronds at his feet. Jesus Christ had told people that he was the son of
God, but some of them didn’t believe him, and some even felt that his ideas were dangerous. Thus, while many people were happy to see his arrival in
Jerusalem, others were not pleased and wanted him arrested. The Thursday after Palm Sunday (Holy Thursday), Jesus and his disciples, or followers, ate
supper together. This is called the Last Supper. Jesus declared that one of his
disciples would betray him. His disciple Judas told the King’s soldiers where to find Jesus Christ, and he was put into jail.
Pontius Pilate, who was the King’s official, arrested Christ. Christ was teased and beaten. He was crucified, or killed on a cross, the next day; on a hill called Calvary (the
hill is also called Golgotha). The day of the crucifixion is now observed as Good Friday. After Jesus Christ died, his followers were very sad about his death, and some of
them went to the place where he had been buried to mourn him. When they got there, he was not in the tomb. According to the Gospels, Christ had risen from the dead three
days after he was buried. He then ascended, or rose, into heaven, to be with God, his father. Christians believe that Jesus Christ died for the sins of the world through his
crucifixion, and that his resurrection proves that he was the son of God.
This resurrection is celebrated on Easter.
March 23, 2008!
The Traditions of Easter
As with almost all "Christian" holidays, Easter has been secularized
and commercialized. The dichotomous nature of Easter and its
symbols, however, is not necessarily a modern fabrication.
Since its conception as a holy celebration in the second century,
Easter has had its non-religious side. In fact, Easter was originally a
pagan festival.
The ancient Saxons celebrated the return of spring with an
uproarious festival commemorating their goddess of offspring and of
springtime, Eastre. When the second-century Christian missionaries
encountered the tribes of the north with their pagan celebrations, they
attempted to convert them to Christianity. They did so, however, in a
clandestine manner.
It would have been suicide for the very early Christian converts to
celebrate their holy days with observances that did not coincide with
celebrations that already existed. To save lives, the missionaries
cleverly decided to spread their religious message slowly throughout
the populations by allowing them to continue to celebrate pagan feasts,
but to do so in a Christian manner.
As it happened, the pagan festival of Eastre occurred at the same
time of year as the Christian observance of the Resurrection of Christ.
It made sense, therefore, to alter the festival itself, to make it a
Christian celebration as converts were slowly won over. The early
name, Eastre, was eventually changed to its modern spelling, Easter.
The Date of Easter
Prior to A.D. 325, Easter was variously celebrated on
different days of the week, including Friday, Saturday, and
Sunday. In that year, the Council of Nicaea was convened by
emperor Constantine. It issued the Easter Rule which states that
Easter shall be celebrated on the first Sunday that occurs after
the first full moon on or after the vernal equinox. However, a
caveat must be introduced here. The "full moon" in the rule is
the ecclesiastical full moon, which is defined as the fourteenth
day of a tabular lunation, where day 1 corresponds to the
Las tradiciones de Pascua
Como con casi todo los días de fiesta " Christiano", Pascua se ha
secularizado y comercializado. La naturaleza dicótoma de Pascua y sus
símbolos, sin embargo, no es necesario una fabricación moderna.
Desde su concepto como celebración santa en el segundo siglo, Pascua
ha tenido su lado no religioso. De hecho, Pascua era original un festival
pagano.
Los Sajones antiguos celebraron la vuelta de la primavera con un festival
estruendoso que conmemoraba a su diosa del descendiente y de la
primavera, Eastre. Cuando los misionarios cristianos del segundo-siglo
encontraron las tribus del norte con sus celebraciones paganas, intentaron
convertirlas al Cristianismo. Hicieron así pues, sin embargo, de una
manera clandestina.
Habría sido suicidio para que los convertidos Cristianos muy tempranos
celebren sus días santos con las observancias que no coincidieron con las
celebraciones que existieron ya. Para ahorrar vidas, los misionarios
decidieron ingeniosamente separar su mensaje religioso lentamente a
través de las poblaciones permitiendo que continúen celebrando
banquetes paganos, pero haciendo tan de una manera Cristiana.
Mientras que sucedió, el festival pagano de Eastre ocurrió al mismo
tiempo de año como la observancia cristiana de la resurrección de Cristo.
Tuvo sentido, por lo tanto, de alterar el festival sí mismo, para hacerlo
una celebración cristiana como lentamente ganaron a los convertidos l. El
nombre temprano, Eastre, fue cambiado eventual a su deletreo moderno,
Pascua.
La Fecha De Pascua
Antes de A.D. 325, Pascua fue celebrada vario en diversos días de
la semana, incluyendo viernes, sábado, y domingo. En ese año, el
emperador Constantina convocó al consejo de Nicaea. Publicó la
regla de Pascua que indica que Pascua será celebrada el primer
domingo en el cual ocurre después de la primera Luna Llena o
después del equinoccio vernal. Sin embargo, una a amonestación
ecclesiastical New Moon. It does not always occur on the same
date as the astronomical full moon. The ecclesiastical "vernal
equinox" is always on March 21. Therefore, Easter must be
celebrated on a Sunday between the dates of March 22 and
April 25.
The Lenten Season
Lent is the forty-six day period just prior to Easter Sunday. It
begins on Ash Wednesday. Mardi Gras (French for "Fat Tuesday") is a
celebration, sometimes called "Carnival," practiced around the world,
on the Tuesday prior to Ash Wednesday. It was designed as a way to
"get it all out" before the sacrifices of Lent began. New Orleans is the
focal point of Mardi Gras celebrations in the U.S.
The Easter Bunny
The Easter Bunny is not a modern invention. The symbol originated
with the pagan festival of Eastre. The goddess, Eastre, was worshipped
by the Anglo-Saxons through her earthly symbol, the rabbit.
The Germans brought the symbol of the Easter rabbit to America. It
was widely ignored by other Christians until shortly after the Civil
War. In fact, Easter itself was not widely celebrated in America until
after that time.
The Easter Egg
As with the Easter Bunny and the holiday itself, the Easter Egg
predates the Christian holiday of Easter. The exchange of eggs in the
springtime is a custom that was centuries old when Easter was first
celebrated by Christians.
From the earliest times, the egg was a symbol of rebirth in most
cultures. Eggs were often wrapped in gold leaf or, if you were a
peasant, colored brightly by boiling them with the leaves or petals of
certain flowers.
Today, children hunt colored eggs and place them in Easter baskets
along with the modern version of real Easter eggs -- those made of
plastic or chocolate candy.
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this article.
se debe estar introducido aquí. La " luna llena" completo; en la
regla es la Luna Llena eclesiástica, que se define como el
catorceno día de una lunación tabular, donde el día 1
corresponde a la Luna Nueva eclesiástica. No ocurre siempre la
misma fecha que la Luna Llena astronómica. El eclesiástico
“astronomica equinoccio de primavera” es siempre el 21 de
marzo. Por lo tanto, Pascua se debe celebrar el domingo entre las
fechas del 22 de marzo y 25 de abril.
La Estación Cuaresmal
Se presta los cuarenta y seis períodos del día apenas antes de pascua
domingo. Comienza por la ceniza miércoles. Carnaval (francés para el "
Tuesday" gordo;) es una celebración, a veces llamada " Carnaval, "
practicado en todo el mundo, el martes antes de la ceniza miércoles. Fue
diseñado como manera al " conseguirte todo el out" antes de los
sacrificios de prestado comenzó. New Orleans es el punto focal de las
celebraciones del carnaval en los E.E.U.U.
El Conejito De Pascua
El conejito de pascua no es una invención moderna. El símbolo originó
con el festival pagano de Eastre. A los anglosajones con su símbolo
terrenal adoraba a la diosa, Eastre, el conejo.
Los alemanes trajeron el símbolo del conejo de Pascua a América. Fue
no hecha caso extensamente por otros cristianos hasta poco después de la
guerra civil. De hecho, Pascua sí mismo no fue celebrada extensamente
en América hasta después de ese tiempo.
El Huevo De Pascua
Como con el conejito de pascua y el día de fiesta sí mismo, el huevo de
Pascua precede el día de fiesta cristiano de Pascua. El intercambio de
huevos en la primavera es una aduana que era siglos viejos cuando
Pascua primero fue celebrada por Christians.
A partir de los tiempos más tempranos, el huevo era un símbolo del
renacimiento en la mayoría de las culturas. Los huevos fueron envueltos
en hoja de oro o, si eras un campesino, coloreados a menudo
brillantemente hirviéndolas con las hojas o los pétalos de ciertas flores.
Hoy, los niños buscan los huevos coloreados y los colocan en las cestas
de Pascua junto con la versión moderna de los huevos de Pascua
verdaderos -- ésos hicieron del caramelo del plástico o de chocolate.