By Marianne Furtado de Nazareth –
You know that Easter is around the corner when you start getting brochures from friends in your email, with the list of goodies they are making for Easter. Chocolate Eggs, bunnies and Cinnamon bread among all the baskets of lip- smacking goodies, including marzipan sweets.
Easter according to a religious website is the most important and oldest festival of the Christian Church, celebrating the resurrection of Jesus Christ and held (in the Western Church) between March 21 and April 25, on the first Sunday after the first full moon following the northern spring equinox.
Easter brings back memories of celebrating the feast in Germany, with my Aunt and her family. We were visiting at the time and one of my young cousins went out with a group of her church buddies and they had to ring wooden clappers or clackers through the streets of the little village of Schweinfurt, on Maundy Thursday and Good Friday.
Reading up on a church site, there is a fascinating detail given about this rare liturgical instrument, that we were lucky to hear. This liturgical instrument is known as the Crotalus. In the Roman Rite, altar bells are not supposed to be rung after the Gloria in the liturgy on the evening of Maundy Thursday, and are supposed to remain unused until the Gloria on Holy Saturday. The tradition of using a wooden clapper or noise-maker, in the place of altar bells, is supposed to make things more somber, as we commemorate the passion and death of our Lord Jesus Christ. They take the place of the altar bells, but in a less “sweet” way and thus maintain the somber tone during the service. The term “crotalus” is a Latin term that comes from the Greek word “krotalon”, which means “rattle.” And the sound made is literally a harsh rattle.
But she also organised an ‘egg- hunt’ in the garden and my youngest son Steven who was 6 at the time, will never forget the joy of finding all sorts of colourful chocolate eggs hidden away in their scented garden. That was their fun side of the Easter celebration.
So, what do bunnies, baby chicks, and eggs have to do amidst the resurrection of Jesus Christ – What does the Bible say about Easter? What is the meaning of Easter? And, should Christians observe Easter?
Reading up on the net about Easter the history of the name “Easter” comes from the Anglo-Saxon, Eostre, which is the name of the goddess of spring. And why bunnies? Bunnies are symbols of fertility, while eggs were seen as pagan symbols of death and life. And, the symbol of the egg has been connected since time immemorial with the reality of life, birth, rebirth, and in particular, with the time of spring new growth .
It is deeply interwoven with prehistoric creation myths and ancient stories about the creation of life. It has been given cosmic significance, representing the birth and rebirth of many gods and powerful spiritual beings, on account of its link to life and fertility. And then, the beloved chocolate egg has now come to be the ubiquitous and central image of Easter and the Easter celebration.
Easter celebrates the resurrection of Jesus from the dead, described in the New Testament as having occurred on the third day of his burial, after his crucifixion by the Romans at Calvary 30 AD. It is the culmination of the Passion of Jesus, preceded by Lent, a forty-day period of fasting, prayer, and penance.
According to a religious site, all Catholics refer to the week before Easter as “Holy Week”—it contains the days of the Easter Triduum, including Maundy Thursday, commemorating the Maundy and Last Supper, as well as Good Friday, commemorating the crucifixion and death of Jesus. In Western Christianity, Eastertide, or the Easter Season, begins on Easter Sunday and lasts seven weeks, ending with the coming of the fiftieth day, Pentecost Sunday. In Eastern Christianity, the season of Pascha begins on Pascha and ends with the coming of the fortieth day, the Feast of the Ascension.
Interestingly, unlike Christmas, Easter and the festivities that are related to it are moveable feasts, which do not fall on a fixed date in the Gregorian calendars which follow only the cycle of the sun. It has come to be the first Sunday after the full moon that occurs on or after 21 March, but calculations vary.
The white Easter lily, too is a symbol of the resurrection, and traditionally decorates the church on this day and for the rest of Eastertide. In Bangalore, Richard the sacristan in St. Joseph’s chapel decorates the altar with scented tube roses or white Lilliums since the ceremonial white lily is unavailable commercially. Additional customs that have become associated with Easter and are observed are egg hunting, the Easter Bunny and also various Easter foods have evolved and become traditional across the world.
Finally we all need to introspect and ask ourselves — What does Easter mean to you?
It should mean that Easter is Jesus Christ’s victory over death. His resurrection symbolizes the eternal life that is granted to all who believe in Him. The meaning of Easter also symbolizes the complete verification of all that Jesus preached and taught during His three-year ministry. If He had not risen from the dead, if He had merely died and not resurrected, He would have been considered just another teacher or Rabbi. However, His resurrection changed all that and gave final and irrefutable proof that He was really the Son of God and that He had conquered death once and for all.
Today, the meaning of Easter, for million of Christians, is that of honouring and recognizing Jesus Christ’s resurrection from the dead, and His glorious promises of eternal life for all who believe in Him.
Dr Marianne Furtado de Nazareth,
Former Asst. Editor, The Deccan Herald, &
Adjunct faculty St. Joseph’s College of Arts and Science, Bangalore.