~~~Happy Easter~~~

[fatma]

Happy Easter to all.

I am just curios about Easter Day and want to know Why do people celebrate this day???

[Graehstone]

Happy Easter to you as well Fatma. Here is, I hope, an answer to your question.

History Of Easter

Easter, the principal festival of the Christian church year, celebrates the Resurrection of Jesus Christ on the third day after his Crucifixion. The origins of Easter date to the beginnings of Christianity, and it is probably the oldest Christian observance after the Sabbath (originally observed on Saturday, later on Sunday). Later, the Sabbath subsequently came to be regarded as the weekly celebration of the Resurrection.

Meanwhile, many of the cultural historians find, in the celebration of Easter, a convergence of the three traditions - Pagan, Hebrew and Christian.

According to St. Bede, an English historian of the early 8th century, Easter owes its origin to the old Teutonic mythology. It was derived from the name Eostre, the Anglo-Saxon goddess of spring, to whom the month of April was dedicated. The festival of Eostre was celebrated at the vernal equinox, when the day and night gets an equal share of the day.

The English name "Easter" is much newer. When the early English Christians wanted others to accept Christianity, they decided to use the name Easter for this holiday so that it would match the name of the old spring celebration. This made it more comfortable for other people to accept Christianity.

But it is pointed out by some that the Easter festival, as celebrated today, is related with the Hebrew tradition, the Jewish Passover. This is being celebrated during Nisan, the first month of the Hebrew lunar year. The Jewish Passover under Moses commemorates Israel's deliverance from about 300 years of bondage in Egypt.

It was in during this Passover in 30 AD Christ was crucified under the order of the Roman governor Pontius Pilate as the then Jewish high priests accused Jesus of "blasphemy". The resurrection came three days later, on the Easter Sunday. The early Christians, many of them being brought up in Jewish tradition regarded Easter as a new feature of the Pascha (Passover). It was observed in memory of the advent of the Messiah, as foretold by the prophets. And it is equanimous with the proclamation of the resurrection. Thus the early Christian Passover turned out to be a unitive celebration in memory of the passion-death-resurrection of Jesus. However, by the 4th century, Good Friday came to be observed as a separate occasion. And the Pascha Sunday had been devoted exclusively to the honor of the glorious resurrection.

Throughout the Christendom the Sunday of Pascha had become a holiday to honor Christ. At the same time many of the pagan spring rites came to be a part of its celebration. May be it was the increasing number of new converts who could not totally break free of the influence of pagan culture of their forefathers.

But despite all the influence there was an important shift in the spirit. No more glorification of the physical return of the Sun God. Instead the emphasis was shifted to the Sun of Righteousness who had won banishing the horrors of death for ever.

The Feast of Easter was well established by the second century. But there had been dispute over the exact date of the Easter observance between the Eastern and Western Churches. The East wanted to have it on a weekday because early Christians observed Passover every year on the 14th of Nisan, the month based on the lunar calendar. But, the West wanted that Easter should always be a Sunday regardless of the date.

To solve this problem the emperor Constantine called the Council of Nicaea in 325. The question of the date of Easter was one of its main concerns. The council decided that Easter should fall on Sunday following the first full moon after the vernal equinox. But fixing up the date of the Equinox was still a problem. The Alexandrians, noted for their rich knowledge in astronomical calculations were given the task. And March 21 was made out to be the perfect date for spring equinox.

The dating of Easter today follows the same. Accordingly, churches in the West observe it on the first day of the full moon that occurs on or following the Spring equinox on March 21., it became a movable feast between March 21 and April 25.

[fatma]

I can't thank you enough!
I would like to know if there was any special things or traditions to do in the Easter?

[Regina U.]

Some things that have become associated with Easter is an Easter Basket filled with candy. Easter Bunny, that is suppose to deliver the basket to children. Dying of hard boiled, "Easter Eggs" in various colors. The hiding of Easter Eggs and having an Easter Egg Hunt, that children enjoy. Families gather for dinner. Those that are religous, go to church.

That is just some things. I know that others can describe it better. I am hoping they will jump in. Mike is great at explaining things, like he did with the answer before.

Fatma...hope things are going well for you.

[Graehstone]

Fatma, pretty much every country that celebrates Easter has customs and traditions of their own. Just do a quick search on Google and a world of information is at your finger tips.
Try some of these for starters:
http://www.luth.se/luth/present/swed...re/easter.html
http://www.b-info.com/places/Bulgaria/Easter/
http://virtual.finland.fi/netcomm/ne...ntNWSAID=26050
http://acweb.colum.edu/users/agunkel...er/easter.html

There are many more from all over the world. Have fun.

[Regina U.]

Mike,
I knew you would come through. You are so good at answering questions. Thanks for helping out Fatma.

[Tiki]

That was very interesting, Mike. I never knew the bit about the Spring Equinox.

Fatma, why don't you educate us about your important holidays like the Eids. I know they change every year, don't know if you have one coming up soon?

[fatma]

Thanks all for this great information about Easter. If there will be any important holidays I will sure to talk to you about them If you would like to know about them. And I'll be so happy to do that!
Thanks again....Mike!

[Regina U.]

I would be interested Fatma!

[Tiki]

Me too! When is Ramadan this year?