Monday 17 March 2008

DOUG R. (England)

British Easter Week  

Are you surprised that a story from 2000 years ago has survived so long? 

With variations it is almost intact.

Our British celebration style has idiosyncrasies.

Here they are, with some suggested explanations 

What have eggs to do with anything?

Why are rabbits or hares involved?  Where and why did chocolate eggs originate?

What are hot cross buns and why?

 

Other questions;

What does the Jewish religion have to do with this? What is the connection between the Protestant, Roman Catholic, Russian Orthodox, Eastern Orthodox religions?

Why are their celebration days different?

What are the differences between these churches and the Church of England?

 

Your days of the Easter week have special names. Why? 

It is often forgotten that Britain is a Protestant country.

Attitudes and ceremonies have changed little from 500 years ago, when the independent Church of England was founded by King Henry Eighth.

He released our Church from the control and influence of the Roman Catholics.

 

Easter Week.

Easter week is usually in the month of April.

The precise date of Easter has historically been contentious, even though it is such an important period in our religious calendar.

The date relates not to any calendar, but to the timing of the Spring Equinox.

This is the moment when the Sun reverses southward direction and returns north to warm us. The days are always accompanied by strong winds and rain.

Celebrating this natural moment in nature has pagan origins, as explained below.

 

Easter Sunday.

Always falls on the first Sunday after the full moon on or after the spring equinox.   If that full moon is on a Sunday, the next Sunday becomes Easter Sunday.

The entire Easter Season lasts 50 days from Easter Sunday to Pentecost.  We have special days for this week;

Palm Sunday, Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, Easter Day, Easter Monday. 

Easter follows the 40 days of Lent, that period of penance and abstinence to remind us of Jesus’ time spent fasting in the wilderness. 

 

Palm Sunday.

Marks the start of the seven days before Easter Sunday.

On this day Jesus entered Jerusalem to be welcomed by the crowds who laid down leaves from palm trees for Jesus' donkey to walk over.

A branch or leaf from a palm tree was an ancient symbol of success or victory, usually military, in this case the anticipated civil rights victory over the Romans.

 

Maundy Thursday.

Our next named day is ‘Maundy Thursday.’ This is the first of the three days leading up to the climax on Sunday, ‘the third day’, as prophesied by Jesus before his arrest.

 

Maundy Money.

On this day the English Monarch gives selected poor people specially minted coins, in a public civil ceremony.

The English word maundy probably originates from the Latin words of Jesus ' ‘Mandatum novum do vobis’ meaning ‘A new commandment I give you.’

 

Passover.

Jewish custom celebrates this significant day with a special ‘seder ‘ceremonial meal.

Their day of ‘Passover’ celebrates Moses leading the Jews out of Egypt and away from their life of slavery.  This moment is considered the start of Judaism.

As a Jew, Jesus was celebrating this Passover day with his closest friends.

It was also the day of the ceremonial washing of his disciples' feet by Jesus.

It would be their last meal together.

Maundy Thursday is the Day of the Last Supper.

 

Good Friday.

The next day Jesus was seized by the Romans, put on trial, condemned to death by crucifixion.

Although this is known as Good Friday, surely it was an unhappy day?

Since Jesus came back to life, he did not die. On the third day He arose from the dead and went to Heaven.

This is the basis of Christianity.  That day was therefore a Good Day, hence Good Friday.

 

Easter Sunday.

AAccording to the Gospels, Mary Magdalena visited the tomb only to find it empty.

An angel told her ‘Jesus had risen and ascended to Heaven.’ This is a simple story, what differences are there and why?

Over the years the important matter of fixing a day or date,/strong>  have been disputed or changed  by one or other of the many religions and churches involved. 

An important but vital decision for those early church leaders was on which day should the Resurrection be celebrated.

 

SShould it be the Passover day?

If so, it would always be a different day of the week.  Or should a specific weekday be chosen? This would be on the same day of the week every year.

In those days, Alexandria was the centre of the astronomical world. Their scholars were acknowledged as experts. Around 235 AD, they were asked to adjudicate and decide how to relate Easter Day to the spring equinox.

They chose the fixed weekday of first Sunday after the spring equinox.

Asian Christians chose to follow the Jewish dating of Passover. 

Everyone else chose the fixed day of Sunday.

 

Was that the end of that argument?& 

Not exactly.  Churches used two different calendars.

Most (West) European churches use the Gregorian calendar.  Most (East) Orthodox churches follow the (older) Julian one.

Hence the modern differences and confusion. /strong>

Orthodox use of the Julian calendar has kept their Easter celebrations anything up to five weeks apart from other (western) Christian churches.

Today it is easy to criticise both sets of church leaders for not promoting a more focussed date, for not choosing and promoting a common (sensible?)Date.

The problem is not ecclesiastic. 

Before indulging in criticism we, in the free west, should remember Orthodox religion is based in the /strong> Middle East. It is in a minority, with members often surrounded by hostility.

Communist governments have been equally hostile towards Christianity.

For those Orthodox Church leaders to think about changing any fundamentals could become an attack on their church foundations. 

IIt has been crucial for them to keep intact their rules as followed for so many years.

 

The name ‘Easter’ seems irrelevant.

Where does it come from?

OOther words describing this moment of ceremony seem to relate to pesache or pasch or paschal, the Jewish based names for Passover. So why do we use Easter?

The truth originates in pagan rites associated to the spring equinox.  This is a natural, seasonal, and annual moment of climate improvement after winter.

Wise men of the time noted how this improvement seemed related to the regular movements of the Sun.

How it coincided with renewed growth of plants.  They depended on these plants to sustain life as they knew it.  They recognised its importance to their lifestyle with rites and ceremonies of gratitude. 

This springtime renewal of life with its promise of renewed fertility was marked by a Saxon festival named ‘stre,’ after their Goddess of Dawn.

Eostre Monath meant ‘the month of openings’.&n 

The word for the month of ‘April’ seems to originate here too. The Jewish Pascha usually occurred during this month of April.

So their familiar word stre became our word for Easter and was taken up by early Christians.&n 

By this familiar manoeuvre a pagan ritual was adapted to suit the Christian cause.   The death and resurrection story fitted into conversion from paganism to Christianity.

 

Eggs./span>

Why are they associated with Easter?/strong>

Eggs were also adapted from these Saxon pagan fertility celebrations. 

IIn those days they represented re-birth and fertility.

Jews also approved eggs. /strong>

It is the only animal product to become harder by cooking.

Cooking meat softens it.

In Jewish eyes the egg is made ever stronger by external forces (cooking).

TThis makes it symbolic of the constant Jewish battle for survival and existence.

For some an egg symbolises the stone used to block the sepulchre of Jesus. /strong>

TThis had rolled away before Mary made her visit.

There are other ancient stories to do with eggs and Easter./strong>

While walking in the forest one winter’s day, the Saxon Goddess Eostre came across a wounded bird. She changed it into a hare to help it survive the winter.

As a hare it survived, and then discovered it could still lay eggs.

AAs a thank you message, it laid a few eggs, decorated and hid them for Eostre to find on her next walk.

Modern children play ‘hunt the eggs’ to find (chocolate) eggs hidden around the garden or house.

Eggs are forbidden during Lent, but available on Easter Day,  

Eating an egg proves the end of the Fast, so symbolic of a continuing renewed life. 

For some, the egg’s structure of yolk represents the Sun and its life giving warmth, and the white represents the maiden goddess. These are married at spring equinox.

 Decorating eggs became common practice in Europe.

Various production methods using different materials were tried out. /strong>

These were given as presents, often being hollow and filled with gifts.

TThe most famous and expensive examples were made by Carl Faberge as gifts for the Russian Czar.

In the early eighteen hundreds chocolate became generally available. /strong>

Solid chocolate eggs were very acceptable gifts.

HHollow eggs were too difficult to make in chocolate.

By the end of that century, modern production methods allowed viable production of hollow chocolate eggs, filled or not, with gifts and other chocolate based products./strong>

& 

Hot Cross Buns.

While on the subject of food, our tradition of ‘hot cross buns’ must be explained./strong>

These are small buns made with spice and fruit added. The bun is finished off on the top with a cross of icing sugar.

They should be eaten warm direct from the oven, before or during breakfast.

IIn Victorian Days they were sold in the streets by vendors who sang a traditional song;

Hot Cross buns!/strong>  Hot Cross buns!

One a penny, two a penny,

Hot Cross buns!

If you don’t have a daughter, give one to your son

OOne a penny, two a penny Hot Cross buns!

Charles Dickens quotes their street-vendors cries in ‘Oliver’./strong> 

I hope you found this brief explanation of our British foibles interesting.

& 

Have a Happy Easter!

 

DOUG R. (England)/strong>

 

Published in Woman's Magazine Russian Woman Journal  www.russianwomanjournal.com -  17 March 2008

Culture

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