Easter always falls on a Sunday. Many churches will offer worship services on Good Friday (the Friday just before Easter) along with one or more services on Easter Sunday itself. Easter Sunday marks the end of the 46-day preparatory season of Lent, which is significant in cultures around the world.
The exact date of Easter varies from year to year, but it typically falls during the month of April or sometimes late March. This seasonal timing gives the holiday its strong associations with springtime and rebirth in the natural world. Easter icons such as eggs, baby chicks, bunnies and tulips symbolize new life and renewed hope. Those are powerful ideas to embrace whether you celebrate Easter for religious reasons or simply because you enjoy the vibrant traditions that go along with the holiday.
The Resurrection Sunday church service is at the heart of African-American Easter traditions. Everyone dresses up in their best—new suits, shined shoes, bright dresses, hats, gloves. The worship services feature prayer, singing, Easter pageants, parades and speeches or recitations. Afterwards, the day focuses on family and togetherness, including a big dinner and often an egg hunt for the kids. Hiding a special empty golden egg that represents Jesus’ empty tomb is a time-honored Easter tradition for many African-American families.
“Pascha” is the term for Easter used in the Eastern Orthodox Church (also known as the Greek Orthodox Church). The date of Orthodox Easter is reckoned according to a different calendar, so it usually falls a few weeks later than Easter in Western Christian traditions. The word “Pascha” is familiar both within and beyond the Orthodox Church because of the traditional “Paschal Greeting” (also called the Easter Acclamation). In this celebratory exchange, one believer proclaims “He is risen!” and a fellow believer responds with either “Truly He is risen!” or “He is risen indeed!”
Easter is a very important religious holiday for Latinx people. The celebration is an entire week of events that begins with Palm Sunday (“Día de Ramos” in Spanish) and ends with the celebration of Jesus’ Resurrection. During the Holy Week (“Semana Santa” in Spanish), masses and prayer services are held on Thursday, Friday and Saturday, and it’s common to see processions through towns and cities and people carrying crucifixes or statues of Jesus. Most of those events involve the entire family because they explore the biblical ideas of sacrifice, giving and forgiveness.
A simple “Happy Easter” wish can be a great option, especially when the card itself has already said a lot or when keeping it short simply feels right for your relationship with your recipient.
If you belong to a Christian faith tradition, then sharing the hope and joy of Christ’s Resurrection may be the key message you want to send in an Easter card. And there are lots of great ways to do that.
Celebrating the miracle of Easter, the beauty of God’s creation and the blessing of having you in my life.
No comments:
Post a Comment