It’s Not Just About The Easter Bunny – A Short History
Planning a stress-free Easter celebration is great because you will have enough time to focus on the spiritual aspect of this holiday. It’s important to remember that Easter is not just about colored eggs and the Easter bunny. It’s the most significant holiday in the Christian faith, celebrating the day when Jesus Christ rose from the dead.
The Easter festivities commence on Good Friday, which marks the day Jesus was crucified. It’s a significant day in the Christian calendar since he died for the sake of our redemption. Jesus’ blamelessness and willingness to be nailed to the cross are among the reasons he is sometimes referred to as the lamb that was sent for sacrifice, which is why you sometimes see little lamb toys in Easter baskets. For Catholics, Good Friday signifies the conclusion of Lent and is a day of fasting and prayer.
On Easter Sunday, we celebrate the day when Jesus rose from the dead and was called back to heaven by his Father. As you leave the Sunrise Service, take a moment to reflect on the significance of this event. Some churches also hold a midnight service with a candle-lighting ceremony, where an Easter Candle is lit and its flame is passed on to other candles held by parishioners, creating a beautiful display of candlelight throughout the entire church.
Why do we associate colored eggs, spring chicks, and Easter bunnies with a holiday that is deeply spiritual and often emotional? To understand this custom, we need to take a look back at the early years of Christianity.
As Christianity began to spread throughout Europe, church leaders sought to expand their influence and make Christian holidays more accessible to those who were not followers. This led to the celebration of Christmas, the day of Jesus’s birth, in December, coinciding with the Winter Solstice and the ancient Roman festival of Saturnalia. Easter, on the other hand, is celebrated in the spring to represent new life and fertility.
Easter became more popular thanks to the addition of various pagan symbols like eggs, chicks, and rabbits. By blending these symbols with Christian traditions, Christianity was able to spread rapidly around the world.
So, do we overlook Easter bunnies and eggs because they have connections to Paganism? Not necessarily, but we should make certain that Easter isn’t just about sweet treats like chocolate bunnies and Cadbury eggs. We should remind ourselves and our children about the true meaning of this holiday: that Jesus Christ died to absolve our sins.
