The story behind Easter lies in the New Testament of the Bible which narrates how Jesus was arrested by the Roman authorities because he claimed to be the “Son of God”. He was then sentenced to death by Pontius Pilate, the Roman emperor by crucifixion. His resurrection three days later marks the occasion of Easter.
It marks the Resurrection of Jesus three days after his death by crucifixion. For many Christian churches, Easter is the joyful end to the Lenten season of fasting and penitence.
Easter is the most important Christian festival. It celebrates Jesus Christ's resurrection from the dead, three days after he was executed by crucifixion.
Easter is an important Christian festival - it's when Christians celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ. The Bible says that Christ died on a cross on a day called Good Friday. According to the Bible, Jesus was then resurrected and came back to life on Easter Sunday.
According to some sources, the Easter bunny first arrived in America in the 1700s with German immigrants who settled in Pennsylvania and transported their tradition of an egg-laying hare called “Osterhase” or “Oschter Haws.” Their children made nests in which this creature could lay its colored eggs.
The Teutonic deity Eostra was the goddess of spring and fertility, and feasts were held in her honor on the Vernal Equinox. Her symbol was the rabbit because of the animal's high reproduction rate. Spring also symbolized new life and rebirth; eggs were an ancient symbol of fertility.
The Easter bunny and Easter eggs originated as pagan symbols of spring and rebirth. Over the centuries, these ancient symbols became associated with the Christian holiday of Easter such that the two traditions have merged together to become what some celebrate today.
Purple. While this Easter color is typically associated with royalty, purple symbolizes penance, humility, and sorrow for Jesus' suffering in the context of the holiday. This is why you will frequently see this color associated with Lent, a period of sacrifice that also marks the upcoming resurrection of the Lord.
"That terrible Friday has been called Good Friday because it led to the Resurrection of Jesus and his victory over death and sin and the celebration of Easter, the very pinnacle of Christian celebrations," the Huffington Post reported.
Interesting facts about Easter
To celebrate Easter in Australia, some people eat chocolate bilbies instead of chocolate rabbits. Bilbies are a native Australian marsupial. Many people eat hot cross buns, a spiced fruit bun with a symbolic cross on top.
The colour red is used to symbolise life and victory and the eggs themselves symbolise the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Traditionally the eggs are dyed on Holy Thursday in preparation for a feast on Easter Sunday.
Why do we hide eggs at Easter? In many pre-Christian societies eggs held associations with spring and new life. Early Christians adapted these beliefs, making the egg a symbol of the resurrection and the empty shell a metaphor for Jesus' tomb.
Good Friday is called "good" because of the religious significance of the day for Christians, who believe that Jesus's death on the cross was the ultimate sacrifice for humanity's sins.
The naming of the celebration as “Easter” seems to go back to the name of a pre-Christian goddess in England, Eostre, who was celebrated at beginning of spring. The only reference to this goddess comes from the writings of the Venerable Bede, a British monk who lived in the late seventh and early eighth century.
Easter traditions include sunrise services or late-night vigils, exclamations and exchanges of Paschal greetings, flowering the cross, the wearing of Easter bonnets by women, clipping the church, and the decoration and the communal breaking of Easter eggs (a symbol of the empty tomb).
The character's actual name was “Peter Rabbit,” and he originated with writer Beatrix Potter, who named the character after her childhood pet rabbit Peter Piper. “Burgess tried briefly to call his rabbit Peter Cottontail,” according to a 1944 article in Life magazine.
The holiday of Easter, much like Christmas, has roots in both Christianity and ancient pagan culture. Though it is mostly considered a religious holiday, many of our modern traditions hail from Easter's pagan roots. Easter actually originated as an ancient pagan celebration of the spring equinox.
The chocolate egg started as a pagan symbol of fertility and spring and developed into a representation of Christ's resurrection. To this day, it still holds this meaning for a variety of people from different backgrounds across the country.
Variety of Biblical symbols: Resurrection Eggs for Kids Family Life set includes 12 brightly colored plastic eggs, each with a unique symbol that depicts different parts of Jesus' life and death, including the Last Supper, the crucifixion, and the resurrection.
As long as you use food-safe dyes or food coloring in your decorating, the coloring itself will pose no health risks. If you are treating your dyed eggs just like normal hard-boiled eggs, putting them in the fridge after dyeing and then using them for egg salad, you're good to go.
You may not fancy eating it – because this chocolate Easter egg in a house near Sheffield is now some 83 years old! The foil wrapped egg was given to Alice Bennett by her son Frank Bennett in March 1940, as a present to commemorate him joining the army during World War II, and has been on display every year since.
Also, on Ash Wednesday, Good Friday and all Fridays during Lent, adult Catholics over the age of 14 abstain from eating meat. During these days, it is not acceptable to eat lamb, chicken, beef, pork, ham, deer and most other meats. However, eggs, milk, fish, grains, and fruits and vegetables are all allowed.
Many Christians in Australia belong to the Western Christian tradition, which includes Roman Catholicism and Protestantism. However, Eastern Orthodox Christianity celebrates both Easter and Christmas at slightly different times of the year. In 2023, the Eastern Orthodox Easter falls on 16 April.