In this week’s Blog we will tell you about Easter in England. It’s the biggest event in the Christian church and celebrates the miracle of the death and resurrection (復活) of Christ.
The History of Easter.
Easter celebrates the death and resurrection of Christ. It has been the most important event in the Christian calendar for a long time. For 40 days before Easter there is Lent. This has been a period of fasting when people avoid ‘worldly pleasures’ including eggs, dairy products, meat, sugar and so on, to remember when Christ fasted in the desert. Also, traditionally, sports, gambling, alcohol and other ‘pleasures’ were avoided in this period. Pancake Day (see the earlier blog) marks the beginning of Lent, and people used up their sugar and eggs then.
Good Friday, two days before Easter Sunday, is the first time people could eat, drink and be merry again. It has been a National Holiday in the UK for a long time. Good Friday remembers the day Christ was crucified, while Easter Sunday remembers the day Christ came back from the grave. Churches in England see one of the biggest congregations of the year on Easter Sunday (Around 1.2 million people go).
Easter continues into Monday in many countries. Also, Maundy Thursday, before Good Friday, remembers the Last Supper. Over the long weekend many events are held, such as processions, plays, sports events, parties, and so on. The number of events held in the past, especially up to the 1650s, was much higher than now.
Food: Hot Cross buns have been very popular in the UK at Easter for hundreds of years. Although crosses on bread were common all year, the buns made for Good Friday were special. Many people believed they were magical and could cure illnesses or they would stay fresh for weeks. Rabbits represent new life and are a common image for Easter. Eggs have been very important at Easter for many hundreds of years. Eggs represent new life, like rabbits. After Lent, people could eat eggs again after 40 days of not touching them. As such, many people gave eggs as gifts. Painting or dying eggs has been common for hundreds of years in Europe, but it originally came from Mesopotamia. Recently chocolate eggs and chocolate rabbits are very popular. Another popular activity is an Easter egg hunt. Eggs are hidden around the house and garden and little children can search for them. A famous example of this is seen at Easter in the White House garden in Washington. Another popular food at this time is the Simnel Cake. This cake has a marzipan topping including 11 marzipan balls to represent the Apostles (Judas is not usually represented on this cake).