5 things about Easter

Among Christian feasts, Easter occupies the most important position equally with Christmas, if not more so. The Christian church agreed earlier to celebrate Easter, circa late 2nd century A.D., while Christmas officially remained a pagan feast until mid- to late 3rd century. As Christian feasts, Christmas and Easter actually have a lot in common, since both celebrate the life of Jesus. One is about the Christ’s nativity, the other about his resurrection. Not surprisingly, in Spanish they are both called Pascua, and among older-generation Filipinos they are both Pasko. We know a lot—a bit too much, some would say—about Christmas traditions. But how much do we know about Easter traditions? 1. Breaking the fast Easter marks the end of the Lenten season, and many people celebrate by stuffing themselves with food they were abstaining from as sacrifice. Nowadays, chocolate seems to be the most popular Easter treat, but different countries have their own special dishes for Easter. In Italy, Torta Pasqualina is a popular Easter dish made with 33 layers of dough and twelve eggs. The layers represent the years of Christ's life, and the twelve eggs represent the apostles. The pie is made with vegetables and cheese. In Spain, a whole egg including the shell inside is baked in a special pastry made to be broken on top of people's heads. In Australia and the United Kingdom, hot cross buns filled with dried fruits and spices are a favorite fare on Good Friday. The cross on top symbolizes the crucifixion. In Ireland and the United Kingdom, they have the Simnel cake, which has eleven marzipan balls on top representing the twelve apostles sans Judas. 2. Follow the rabbit The Easter Bunny can be traced to the pagan festival of the goddess Eastre, worshipped by Anglo-Saxons through her earthly symbol—the rabbit. The Easter bunny is known for delivering sweet treats to young children, so it's no surprise that Easter baskets often feature a chocolate bunny. In Sweden, Germany, Austria and Switzerland, it’s a hare, while some Australians prefer bilbies, one of their endangered marsupial species that resembles a mouse with long ears. 3. Eggs everywhere They're not just fun to paint. Eggs are symbolic of birth, and are tied to the springtime themes of reawakening and blossoming. The egg was considered a symbol of fertility in Ancient Egypt. Many centuries later, the early Christians hence adopted the egg as a symbol of the resurrection of Jesus. The practice of Easter egg painting probably originated in the countries of Eastern Europe that followed the Eastern or Russian Orthodox church traditions—with the most elaborate and best-known styles seen in Ukraine. Thus the Ukrainian term for painted egg, pysanka. At the end of Lent, hard-boiled eggs are colored, and Easter trees or bouquets are decorated with little wooden figurines and hollowed-out painted eggs in some places. Easter egg hunts are often held at home, or kids can be brought to places with public egg hunts. Many hotels and malls have such events, and offer Easter buffet spreads as well. 4. A moveable feast One big difference between Christmas and Easter is that one has a fixed date, December 25 (despite the confusion and debates about the 12 days of Christmas), while the other one is a moveable feast. Easter has no fixed date. Instead, it is celebrated on the first Sunday after the full moon that follows the Spring Equinox, which is on March 21. Before A.D. 325, Easter was celebrated on different days of the week. When the Emperor Constantine convened the Council of Nicaea, the Church elders agreed on the Easter Rule, which states that Easter will be celebrated on the first Sunday following the first ecclesiastical full moon, or the fourteenth day of a tabular lunation, where Day 1 is the ecclesiastical New Moon. The ecclesiastical "vernal equinox" is always on March 21. In simple terms, Easter Sunday always falls between March 21 and April 25. 5. Global holiday, local way Like other traditions that have spread globally, Easter is celebrated in unique local ways. In one quaint example, Brazilians have a tradition of beating up a straw man who is made to represent the traitor apostle Judas. The dummies are hung in the streets and people can take free shots at them. In the Philippines, we have the Easter vigil on Black Saturday and the salubong (“meeting") at the break of dawn on Easter Sunday. In the salubong rite, little girls dressed up as angels and the men of the community make up one procession, led by an image of the Risen Christ, while the women form another, following a Virgin Mary in mourning. When the two groups finally meet—at the church, or plaza, or some major street intersection—the little angels remove Mary's lambong (veil of mourning) and the Easter celebrations begin.—JV, GMANews.TV