Easter traditionsBy Pascu Paul

Easter[nb (Old English Ēostre; Latin: Pascha; Greek Πάσχα Paskha, the latter two derived from Hebrew Pesaḥ is a Christian festival and holiday celebrating the resurrection of Jesus Christ on the third day after his crucifixion at Calvary as described in the New Testament.Easter is the culmination of the Passion of Christ, preceded by Lent, a forty-day period of fasting, prayer, and penance.

The last week of Lent is called Holy Week, and it contains the days of the Easter Triduum, including Maundy Thursday (also known as Holy Thursday), commemorating the Last Supper and its preceding foot washing,as well as Good Friday, commemorating the crucifixion and death of Jesus. Easter is followed by a fifty-day period called Eastertide, or the Easter Season, ending with Pentecost Sunday.

Easter is a moveable feast, meaning it is not fixed in relation to the civil calendar. The First Council of Nicaea (325) established the date of Easter as the first Sunday after the full moon (the Paschal Full Moon) following the March equinox.[7] Ecclesiastically, the equinox is reckoned to be on 21 March (although the astronomical equinox occurs on 20 March in most years), and the "Full Moon" is not necessarily on the astronomically correct date. The date of Easter therefore varies between 22 March and 25 April inclusive. Eastern Christianity bases its calculations on the Julian calendar, whose 21 March corresponds, during the 21st century, to 3 April in the Gregorian calendar, and in which therefore the celebration of Easter varies between 4 April and 8 May.

Easter is linked to the Jewish Passover by much of its symbolism, as well as by its position in the calendar. In many languages, the words for "Easter" and "Passover" are identical or very similar. Easter customs vary across the Christian world, and include sunrise services, exclaiming the Paschal greeting, clipping the church and decorating Easter eggs, a symbol of the empty tomb. Additional customs that have become associated with Easter and are observed by both Christians and some non-Christians include egg hunting, the Easter Bunny, and Easter parades.

EASTER

Easter eggs, also called Paschal eggs, are special eggs that are often given to celebrate Easter or springtime. As such, Easter eggs are common during the season of Eastertide. The oldest tradition is to use dyed and painted chicken eggs, but a modern custom is to substitute chocolate eggs, or plastic eggs filled with confectionery such as jelly beans. Eggs, in general, were a traditional symbol of fertility, and rebirth.In Christianity, for the celebration of Eastertide, Easter eggs symbolize the empty tomb of Jesus: though an egg appears to be like the stone of a tomb, a bird hatches from it with life; similarly, the Easter egg, for Christians, is a reminder that Jesus rose from the grave, and that those who believe will also experience eternal life.

Easter eggs

Palm Sunday is a Christian moveable feast that falls on the Sunday before Easter. The feast commemorates Jesus' triumphal entry into Jerusalem, an event mentioned in all four canonical Gospels.

In many Christian churches, Palm Sunday includes a procession of the assembled worshipers carrying palms, representing the palm branches the crowd scattered in front of Jesus as he rode into Jerusalem. The difficulty of procuring palms in unfavorable climates led to their substitution with branches of native trees, including box, yew, willow, and olive. The Sunday was often designated by the names of these trees, as in Yew Sunday, or by the general term Branch Sunday.

Palm Sunday

In Romania and Moldova, Palm Sunday is known as Duminica Floriilor or simply Florii, translating Flowers' Sunday.

Passion Week

On Good Friday, the day aliturgica believers keep fasting and going to church, where the Holy Shroud is removed from the altar and placed on a table in the middle of the church. Removing Holy Shroud believers relive the descent from the Cross of Christ and His Body preparation for burial according to Christian Orthodox.

Lamentations and evening singing around the church three times, the Holy Shroud, they bear faithful and priests help the body symbolizes the Savior. After the procession around the church, the Holy Shroud is placed on the altar table, where it remains until the Ascension. Putting the Altar of the Lord is placing in the grave

Good Friday

Drob is a traditional Romanian cuisine, one of the lamb dishes specific to Easter.

Romanian Easter food

The main ingredients are lamb offal (liver, lungs, heart and kidneys), vegetables (green onions, dill, parsley, garlic, lovage), eggs (raw and cooked), bread soaked in water or milk. Cooked and chopped entrails mixed with other ingredients and seasonings (salt, pepper). Lamb caul is placed in a tray over which the meat mixture. Haggis is one of the most popular traditional dishes, with a number of variations of the recipe. One of them is to use a sheet of dough in place praporelui. In most variants boiled egg sits in the center of the

Cozonac cake is a traditional Romanian and Bulgarian is traditionally cooked Easter and Christmas. A similar is Panettone cake that is cooked Christmas in Italy in the Lombardy region. The difference vizibUmplutura may contain nuts, peanuts, poppy, raisins, Turkish delight, fruit sugar (dried), curd (so-called feed usually prepared Easter), cocoa, marmalade, or combinations of these ingredients: walnuts and poppy, nuts and cocoa, nuts and shit, nuts, raisins and shit, sweet cheese and raisins, the shape of round and high.

The Thursday Before the Easter is Called " the Great Friday ", " the Thursday of sufferings " or "The Black Thursday " .

Girls and women must finish sewing the new blouses for the Easter until this day . Otherwise They Will be punished by Joimarita , a mythical woman who beats or burns Them . She is Believed to take the laziest girls at her home and eat Them . Another (not so cruel ) version goes Joimarita That spells Those girls , so That They Would not be Able to work all the year .

According to the Romanian tradition , skies , graves , open doors of heaven and hell this day . The dead return to pass the Easter near the loved ones. They Will Remain at Their old houses until the Saturday Before the Pentecost has doled When pies and bowls for Their souls . It Is Believed That the spirits sit on the roofs or in the yards . As it is still Quite cold , fires must be lighted in the morning and in the evening , so That the dead Could have light and heat . The fires have lighted for every soul or is it only lighten the wires for all the dead souls . The brushwood of can only be gathered by children , girls and old women pure , the day the before and only by hand ( They must not be cut) . On the way home They must not be let down and Will Be Placed on the fence or on Another object until morning , When the fire Will be lighted .

Also chairs with blankets is put near the fire , as it is Believed That Some souls Will Will sit on chairs and sit on the ground other . Girls and women carry water buckets to the graves or to the wire for the dead That Will sit there .

Most of the women paint the eggs on the Great Thursday . In Walachia the eggs has painted on Wednesday and Taken to the church on Thursday . They are there until the let Easter , as it is Believed That They won't alter . In other regions , twelve red painted eggs is Taken to the church until the Easter and THEN They are buried at the village boundaries , so the hail That wouldn't come upon it .

Laundry of can not be done this day , so That the dead won't receive the dirty water , but the things That had been doled out in Their memory

Great Thursday

The Good People’s Easter is celebrated a week after the Easter, on Monday, right after Thomas’ Sunday. In the Romanian tradition, the Good People are the ancient spirits, which live between the two worlds, where Saturday’s water spills into the Earth. The Good People are religious people and fast each time they should, according to the traditions. However they are not aware of the day when Easter is celebrated until they see remains of the painted eggs on the water, about eight days later.According to the legend, the Good People have a small stature, do not wear any kind of clothes and are covered by hair. The boys are taken care of by the mothers until they are able to live by themselves. After that, they live in isolation, fasting and praying along the other men. They meet with the women only one time each year, on Good People’s Easter.In gratitude for the dead, packages containing red painted eggs and pies are placed on the graves and candles are lighted.

The Good People’s Easter

HAPPY