What is Easter holiday: history of origin. Resurrection of Christ: history and traditions of Easter A short story about why we celebrate Easter

In a few weeks or days, the Christian world will celebrate one of the most important holidays - Bright Sunday of Christ. This year, 2018, the holiday falls on April 1 for Catholics and April 8 for Orthodox Christians.

I have always been very interested in why it is celebrated on different days every year.

It turns out that 2000 years ago chronology was carried out according to the lunar calendar. And now we count the years according to a calendar tied to the solar cycle, so it was decided to tie the date of Easter to the days of the Moon. And now Christ's Resurrection is celebrated on every first Sunday after the first spring full moon, which is considered the first full moon after the spring equinox. If the full moon falls on Friday, Saturday or Sunday, Easter is moved to the following Sunday.

History of the Easter holiday, brief presentation

The history of the holiday is somewhat shrouded in darkness, since there is no clear answer to how, when and why this holiday began to be celebrated.

According to one version, the Jews first began to celebrate Easter, 1500 years before the birth of Christ. This happened when Moses led the Israelites out of Egypt. The word “Easter” itself translated means “exodus” or “deliverance” from slavery. That is, people simply celebrated their own kind of Independence Day.

But after Judas sold Christ, and the Pharisees crucified him and he was magically resurrected, the people began to celebrate the holiday in this way. In the New Testament, this holiday symbolizes victory over death.

There was a long debate about the celebration. And only in the fifth century AD, church leaders developed clear rules and lines for celebrating the holiday in order to separate the concepts of Jewish, Catholic and Orthodox Easter.

The holiday came to the territory of the Slavs after the baptism of Rus'. Before this, the ancient Slavs celebrated the holiday of the awakening of nature.

Traditions and customs in different countries

For a long time, paganism and Christianity have become so closely intertwined that they have acquired their own traditions and customs. Therefore, they are completely different in different countries. For example, did you know that in America Easter is not complete without the Easter bunny and beautiful baskets of eggs? And in some areas of Latin America and Greece, celebrants burn an effigy of Judas, who betrayed Jesus?

And in Bermuda, Christians fly kites into the sky, which symbolizes the Ascension of Christ into heaven? I didn't know. Our Orthodox traditions are closest to me.

Easter dishes like Easter cakes and decorated eggs

My grandmother always baked and painted eggs on Maundy Thursday. It was such a mystery that we, a gang of young bandits, her grandchildren, watched this process with rapture. It was very interesting to watch how grandma kneaded the dough. Adds raisins and all sorts of goodies to the dough and bakes it. But our favorite thing was picking raisins out of dough while grandma wasn’t looking. Anyone who got burned naturally got hit in the ears.

The process of coloring eggs was also interesting. Grandma always painted eggs in onion skins. And by the way, I still use this method. Synthetic dyes are, of course, very colorful, but I’m somehow more used to it. And there are always onion peels in the house.

By the way, about eggs. Did you know that the most expensive and famous were Faberge eggs manufactured in 1885.

And the first precious Easter egg was gold, covered with white enamel, and inside there was a small golden chicken.

And in the city of Vegreville, in Canada, there is a large Easter egg. It weighs about 2 tons and its length is about 8 meters.
Here are some more interesting facts about the Resurrection of Christ.

In 2010, the largest Easter egg was made in Russia. The weight of which was 880 kg and the height was 2.3 m.

And in 2011, the largest in the world was baked in Ukraine, which weighed more than 2 tons and its height was 2.4 m.

The Slavs kept painted Easter eggs or pysanky at home throughout the year. They believed that in this way they could protect their home from fires, floods and other natural disasters.

There is a Pysanka Museum in Kolomna; the building is built in the shape of an egg.

Belarus is the only country in which both Catholic and Orthodox Easter are considered state holidays.

In America, rolling Easter eggs on a sloping lawn is very popular. The winner of the competition is the person who can roll his colored egg the furthest without stopping.

And in Bulgaria they make a lot of clay products, most often pots. It is customary to throw them from the upper floors of houses to the ground: this marks the victory of good over evil. At the same time, anyone passing by can take a clay fragment for themselves - for good luck.

There is also a tradition of placing a large candle at the altar, from which all other lamps in the church are then lit.

Signs

Easter has also always been associated with many interesting signs.
For example, the thieves They believed that if during the Easter service they would steal something from the parishioners. And he won’t be caught in the act, then you can safely steal all year, you won’t be caught.

A gamblers They believed that a coin would bring good luck in the game. Which is worth putting in your boot before going to church.

How to quickly and easily decorate Easter eggs. Video

In fact, it doesn’t matter at all how we celebrate Easter. It is important to remember that two thousand years ago God gave his only son for the salvation of our souls. After all, very often, in our daily routine, we forget to even call our parents. Therefore, take the opportunity and visit your family. They will be very happy.

Just a little more, and a bright celebration will come! We, adults, reverently prepare for it. Our kids also feel special at these moments. Especially if this is a church-going family, where the baby, as they say, knows everything about church holidays from birth. What should other girls and boys do, how will they learn about Easter? After all, a person from childhood should know the history of his fatherland and its traditions. Tell us about the great event, show in practice what Orthodox symbols and customs we have, make the Easter holiday brighter and clearer for children.

Easter holiday for children - speaking in understandable language

How to convey the biblical story to a little one?

1. Speak clearly in your own words so that the child understands you at his own level. There must be different explanations for different ages.
2. If your story is not boring, you will be asked endlessly. Try not to brush aside questions and answer them as clearly as possible.
3. Don't get philosophical when talking about Easter. Take, for example, a children's Bible with colorful illustrations and short text. Explain everything you see in each picture. Skip what is difficult for a child's mind.
4. It is possible to draw parallels between famous fairy tales that talk about what evil and good, mercy and Christian love are.

History of Easter

Where to start your story? Of course, with a brief narrative about an event in the spiritual life of Christians that happened more than two thousand years ago. There is no need to go too far into history. A child needs to understand simple things. In a word, start with why Jesus Christ came to earth, and then continue in order in a language understandable to the baby.

Betrayal of Judas

And Jesus came to us to save the world. When he was a boy and when he grew up, he never did anything bad. On the contrary, he showed everything in his deeds and words that one can live purely, without envy, without taking what belongs to others, without killing, without being greedy, i.e. without doing harm to others.

However, there were people who did not like such holiness and purity. They were angry because they did not want to live honestly and kindly. Therefore, they dreamed of quickly getting rid of the one who was stopping them from sinning (here you can say a few words about sin, giving an example of a situation with deception or theft)

Even among the students there were traitors. There was a Judas who sold his teacher for only thirty coins. But how can you tell what exactly he sold? The fact is that Judas was ordered to kiss Christ when they met. This was a sign to the enemies that it was Jesus. Although these people did not have evidence of guilt, they sent him, pure and innocent, to execution, paying the traitor in small change. This is where the expression “kiss of Judas” came from, which means a hypocritical attitude and betrayal of ideals.

Crucifixion

Briefly tell your child that previously only terrible criminals were sent to the cross. Although Jesus was holy, he suffered torments that words cannot describe. But suffering had to be endured in order to save the whole world, including us. Therefore, the cross is considered the salvation of Christians. After all, the holy blood cleansed everything around from evil, giving our soul immortality.

When Christ died, according to the evangelists (that is, people who witnessed everything he did), the earth shook, the mountains moved. This happened on Friday, which is now called Passion (after the passion experienced by Jesus). These days we especially pray for our loved ones.

Resurrection

As the history of the origin of Easter tells us, after spending time in a stone cave (which was previously called the tomb), Christ came to life on the third day. The women were convinced of this when they came here to anoint his body with pleasant oils (in those days this was the customary thing to do). The angel announced to them: “He has risen, as he promised...”.

Incredible joy then gripped the people who loved the risen one very much. And it was passed on to us through the centuries. Since then, we have been celebrating Easter, the holiday of victory over death, because the soul always remains alive. Tell your child that it is no coincidence that the seventh day of the week was named this way, because on this day the resurrection of Christ took place.

Holidays for children: about Easter - what the Orthodox do

Tell your child that we celebrate this bright holiday according to tradition. After all, before that there was Lent.

1. During 49 days of fasting, Christians purified themselves in soul and body.
2. The day before on Saturday at 23.30 everyone gathers in the church to participate in the procession of the cross, all-night vigil (i.e. night vigil) and Easter service.
3. After the service, the Orthodox break their fast (that is, they leave fasting, abstinence; you can give an example to your child, they say, you also didn’t play during fasting, now you can have a little fun) and celebrate Christ.
4. During Bright Week (don’t be afraid to say so, because we are talking about a week, that is, seven days), people pay visits to their relatives, do good deeds, visiting the sick and treating the poor.

We talk about customs

Tell your little one what customs we have associated with Easter. At this moment, let me help you, say, paint Easter eggs with regular or finger paints. Tell them that they can be given to grandparents and someone else close to you.

Prepare a basket and place small Easter cakes and colored eggs in it together. Go with the whole family to the temple on Saturday for the consecration, because you won’t get there at night with your baby. You can do this on Sunday morning itself.

Create crafts with your child. This is where, working together, you will quickly understand how to explain to your child what Easter is. Start or continue your story, but don't do it in a boring way! Then it will be easier for the little one to digest what is being told.

Telling a child about Easter: traditions and symbols

It is better to talk about Easter in the context of other Orthodox traditions. Children can and should be introduced to them starting from preschool age, but this should be done gradually and in words that the child can understand.

Lent

During all 49 days of Lent that preceded Easter, Orthodox people fast. What does it mean? Tell them it's abstinence. But it is not shown to children to the extent that is allowed to adults. Tell them that preparing for the baby's holiday can look like obedience and helping adults. It could also be a refusal of those things that entertain the child at normal times, that is, temptations. For example:

• delicious candy,
• games on a smartphone or laptop,
• watching your favorite films,
• noisy activities and games.

Accustomed from childhood to a reverent attitude towards tradition, your child will always greet the celebration in a great mood. The holiday should not be associated with burdens and prohibitions.

Easter service

It starts the night before, at midnight. After the procession of the cross, all the people and the priesthood participate in the Easter service, greeting each other with exclamations of “Christ is Risen!” and “Truly he is risen!” This information will definitely be remembered!

Basic Easter treats: breaking the fast and the festive table

"What do you mean broken fast?" - the child will ask. This word means breaking the fast, switching to regular (non-fasting, that is, meat, fish, milk, eggs) food.

Prepare basic Easter dishes with your child. And these are fish and meat dishes, salads and snacks, quick pickles, desserts, delicious cocktails and other drinks. Here you can explain why everything is delicious and beautiful. Like, our tradition is this: the Easter table should be solemn and elegant.

Christening

What does it mean? This is a three-time hug and kiss while shouting “Christ is Risen!” and “Truly he is risen!” That is, people, meeting each other on the street, greet each other in this way and congratulate them on the holiday. By the way, it is customary to christen yourself at the festive table, singing the words of the festive stichera: “Christ is risen from the dead, trampling down death by death, and giving life to those in the tombs!” So that the child understands their content, say that this is the meaning of the resurrection and eternal life of the human soul.

Egg symbolism, Easter cakes

Painted eggs, Easter cakes and cottage cheese are an integral symbol of the holiday and new life. Therefore, it is customary for us to start the meal after the service in the church with blessed painted eggs, Easter eggs and Easter cakes, and then exchange them after the ceremony of Christ.

If you don’t want to buy ready-made Easter cake and are planning to bake it at home, if you have learned a wonderful Easter cottage cheese recipe, cook it all with your child on the Thursday before the holiday. And at the same time give him a description of the meaning of Easter cakes. After all, the risen Jesus and his disciples ate bread so that everyone would believe that he had risen.

Everything you prepare for Easter will be blessed by the priest in the church. Go there with the whole family!

Easter decor - decorating the house with the children

Before the holiday, invite your child to decorate the house together. After all, you are entering a bright holiday, which has become a symbol of rebirth and new life. When using decor, tell us why you use Easter attributes in this way. So let's get started!

Candles

They may be in the form of eggs. Out of stock? No problem! Make them with your why. Trust him to pour the warm melted wax into the empty eggshell and place the wick in it. Once the candles have cooled, have your little helper arrange them. At the same time, explain the meaning of the candle, remind that you will soon be marching with a burning candle in a religious procession.

Wreaths and garlands

There can never be too many flowers, so create some beautiful composition with your child in the form of a wreath or bouquet. Encourage him to create garlands of cut out circles strung on ribbon, similar to Easter eggs. And then let him hang them around the house.

Krashenki and Easter eggs

It’s also easy to create holiday decor with their help. While you and your little one are coloring eggs, briefly talk about this tradition. Then put everything beautifully in baskets or on plates, decorate with plants, paint the eggs, fill them with wax, etc.

Easter traditions: children's games for Easter

Yes, these games, which our ancient ancestors played, are also popular among modern children 5 years old and older. Here are just a few of them.

1. “Clinking” eggs.” Another tradition that your little one will definitely love. The idea is that two children (or a child and an adult), holding an egg in one hand, hit either end against the opponent’s egg. The winner is the one whose shell cannot withstand such a blow.
2. "Egg Rolling" Play this interesting Easter game with your baby. Along with it, install something like a roller (made of cardboard or plywood) on the floor or table. Place toys and souvenirs next to the colored eggs. So, take turns rolling your own egg on the skating rink. Whoever touches the prize with it will take it.
3. "Search for the Egg." These searches take place in an apartment or in a country house. Here, too, you can come up with some nice rewards for those who find painted eggs and Easter eggs hidden in different places.

Pay attention to children on the bright holiday of Easter. A short and succinct, simple and accessible presentation of the essence of the holiday of holidays will be remembered by your child!

History of Easter

The celebration of Easter began not with the resurrection of Christ from the dead, but much earlier, and is associated with the exodus of the Jews from Egypt. You can find even more ancient references to the spring holiday, on which an animal was sacrificed to God so that the rest would be alive and well.

So, the word “Passover” comes from the Hebrew “passover,” which in turn comes from the word “passover,” which means “to pass.” Why is that?

According to the story told in the Bible, the Jews moved to Egypt after Jacob's son Joseph the Fair became an advisor to Pharaoh.

As time passed, the number of the Jewish people increased, and the next Pharaoh ordered to load them with hard work and kill the first-born boys. God commanded Moses, who in his youth killed an Egyptian for mocking a Jew and fled Egypt, to return and free his people. It is believed that God sent ten trials (ten plagues of Egypt) to the country as punishment for the Egyptians. As a result, all the first-born boys died, except for the Jews: on their doors there was a sign drawn in the blood of a lamb. Then Pharaoh agreed to release the Jews from slavery.

Moses took the people and led them back to Canaan. On the seashore they were overtaken by an army of Egyptians, but the waters parted, letting the Jews through and drowning their pursuers.

Since then, on the 14th day of Nisan (March), Jews celebrate Passover for 7 days. At first, a sacrifice was made on this day: each family had to roast and eat a lamb without breaking its knees. However, now it is replaced by a lamb or chicken shank, which is not eaten, but is symbolically left on the table in honor of the holiday.

Easter in the New Testament

Perhaps everyone knows about the modern history of Easter. On this day, Jesus Christ, crucified on the cross two days earlier, rose from the dead. Pontius Pilate was ready to release one prisoner according to the tradition of Good Friday, but the crowd asked not for Christ, but for the criminal Barabbas.

On the second day after the crucifixion, according to the traditions of Jerusalem, his legs should have been broken, but the executioners saw that he was already dead and did not do this. The disciples of Christ wrapped his body in a shroud and hid it in a tomb. The high priests, with the consent of Pilate, posted guards at the tomb so that the promised resurrection could not be faked.

Easter is celebrated in commemoration of Christ's Resurrection. On this day Lent ends, and you can eat whatever you want. No sacrifices are made because it is believed that Jesus Christ became the sacrifice (“lamb of God”) for all the righteous. You can exchange congratulations and triple kisses not only on the day of the holiday, but also during the week after it.

At first, Easter was called two weeks - before the Resurrection of Christ and after. They were called Easter of the Cross (Suffering) and Easter of the Resurrection (Resurrection). Now these are Holy and Bright weeks, and Easter is the holiday itself on Sunday.

It is interesting that in the first centuries of our era Easter was celebrated together with Passover. But later, at the First Ecumenical Council in 325, it was decided to celebrate it on the first Sunday after the full moon, which occurs after the spring equinox. Adjusted to the modern calendar, Orthodox Easter is not celebrated earlier than April 4 and later than May 8.

In our country, approximately 90% of Orthodox Christians have never read the New Testament (not to mention other Holy books), but many of them sacredly honor all religious traditions and observe fasts. And absolutely everyone celebrates holidays like Easter or Christmas, without having the slightest idea about their meaning and history. Therefore, when you ask almost any of them a seemingly elementary question: “Why do you paint eggs and buy Easter cakes every year for Easter? What does all this mean?”- in 99% of cases you get something like this answer:

What are you, a fool or something? That's what EVERYONE does. It's a holiday!
- Whose holiday? What is this all for?

After which your Orthodox interlocutor begins to mutter something unintelligibly, get angry and brush you off. And further questions and clarifications lead him into a state of wildest butthurt and pain.

But our grandmothers can still be understood and forgiven - they do not use your Internet, and in general they grew up in another state where atheism was dominant. The obscurantism of younger generations is more difficult to justify. In addition, few of them know that relatively recently the church itself prohibited all these eggs, Easter cakes and other Easter paraphernalia, considering them ungodly paganism.
In general, for everyone interested in these issues, I wrote this short review post.

Old Testament.

Passover, or Passover in Hebrew, dates back to those distant Old Testament times, when the Jews were enslaved by the Egyptians.
One day, God appeared to the shepherd Moses in the form of a fireproof bush (Ex. 3:2) and commanded him to go to Egypt to lead the Israelites out of there and resettle them in Canaan. This had to be done in order to save the Jews from hunger, because... during the 400 years of slavery in Egypt, their numbers increased sevenfold. And the pharaoh, in order to cope with the demographic explosion, even had to arrange a real genocide for them: first, he exhausted the Jews with hard work, and then completely ordered the “midwives” who delivered children to kill Jewish male babies. (Ex.1:15-22) .

But Pharaoh did not agree to Moses’ requests to release the Jews. And then God Yahweh, in modern language, organized mass terror of the indigenous Egyptian population, in the form of pogroms, arson, murders and the end of the world. All these disasters received the name “Ten Plagues of Egypt” in the Pentateuch:

Execution No. 10: the killing of Pharaoh's firstborn son.

First, Aaron, Moses' older brother and accomplice, poisoned the fresh water in local reservoirs (Ex. 7:20-21)

Then the Lord gave them the wildest invasions of insects and amphibians (execution by toads, punishment by midges, dog flies and locusts (Ex. 8: 8-25).

Further, He caused a cattle plague for the Egyptians, caused dermatological epidemics, brought down fiery hail, and plunged the population into darkness for three days. And when all this did not help, he resorted to extreme measures - mass murder: killing all first-born children (with the exception of Jewish ones). (Ex.12:29) .

In general, the next day, the frightened Pharaoh, whose first-born son also died, released all the Jews with their livestock and belongings.
And Moses commanded that Passover be celebrated every year in memory of the day of liberation from slavery.

The exodus of Jews from the devastated Egyptian lands.

But what do colored eggs and holiday cakes have to do with it?

New Testament.

It was in memory of those events that Jesus Christ celebrated Easter for the last time in 33 AD. The table was modest: wine - as a symbol of the blood of the sacrificial lamb, unleavened bread and bitter herbs as a sign of memory of the bitterness of former slavery. This was the last supper of Jesus and the apostles.
(By the way, I will tell you about another ritual associated with the mass killings of artiodactyl mammals before Kurban Bayram).

Last Supper: the last meal of Jesus Christ with His twelve closest disciples, during which He established the sacrament of the Eucharist and predicted the betrayal of one of the disciples.

However, the Bible says that on the eve of his arrest, Jesus changed the meaning of the holiday foods. The Gospel of Luke says the following: “Then he took the bread, gave thanks to God, broke it and gave it to them, saying: “This means my body, which will be given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way, he took the cup after supper, saying: "This cup signifies a new agreement based on my blood, which will be shed for you."(Luke 22:19,20)

Thus, Jesus predicted his death, but somehow He didn't order His disciples celebrate Easter in honor of His resurrection. There is not a single mention of this in the Bible.

The apostles and early Christians celebrated the anniversary of the remembrance of the death of Jesus, every year on the 14th of Nisan according to the Jewish calendar (late March / early April in our opinion). It was a memorable supper at which ate unleavened bread and drank wine.

Thus, while the Jews celebrated their Passover as liberation from Egyptian slavery, Paska was a day of mourning for the first Christians. Since over the next two centuries Christianity successfully gained popularity, rapidly increasing “its electorate,” the first contradictions began to appear both in the celebration of Easter and in the date itself. But more on that a little later.

The First Nicene (Ecumenical) Council.

Long before the arrival of Christianity, the Romans worshiped their own God, Attis, the patron saint of plants. An interesting coincidence can be traced here: the Romans believed that Attis was born as a result of an immaculate conception, died young due to the wrath of Jupiter, but was resurrected a few days after death. And in honor of his resurrection, people began to organize a ritual every spring: they cut down a tree, tied a statue of a young man to it and carried it to the city square, crying. Then they began to dance to the music, and soon fell into a trance: they took out knives, inflicted minor injuries on themselves in the form of stab wounds, and sprinkled their blood on the tree with the statue. Thus the Romans said goodbye to Attis. By the way, they observed fasting and fasted until the feast of the resurrection.

There is one interesting moment in Dan Brown's novel "The Da Vinci Code" where one of the characters talks in detail about how Christ's candidacy was approved "for the position of God" at the First Nicene (Ecumenical) Council, held in 325. This event took place in history.

The First Nicene (Ecumenical) Council. 325 On it Jesus was established and the celebration of Easter was reformed.

It was then that the Roman Emperor Constantine I, fearing a split in society along religious lines, managed to unite two religions together, making Christianity the main state religion. That is why many Christian rituals and sacraments are so similar to pagan ones and have such diametrically opposed meanings “to the original source.” This also affected the celebration of Easter. And in the same year 325, the Christian Easter was separated from the Jewish one.

But where are the eggs, you ask? We'll get to them soon. In the meantime, one more necessary clarification:

Easter date calculation.

Disputes about the correct determination of the date of Easter celebrations have not subsided to this day.

The general rule for calculating the date of Easter is: “Easter is celebrated on the first Sunday after spring full moon».

Those. it should be: a) in the spring, b) the first Sunday, c) after the full moon.

The complexity of the calculation is also due to the mixing of independent astronomical cycles:

The Earth's revolution around the Sun (date of the vernal equinox);
- revolution of the Moon around the Earth (full moon);
- The established day of celebration is Sunday.

But let’s not get into the weeds of these calculations and go straight to the main thing:

Replacement of paganism in Rus' by Christianity.

We will also not delve into the main historical sad facts of those distant years, so as not to turn the post into a kilometer-long treatise on the history of Ancient Rus' - but we will only touch on it lightly and only on one side, naming the main events that predetermined the planting of Christianity on the territory of our state.

Byzantium was interested in the Christianization of Rus'. It was believed that any people who accepted the Christian faith from the hands of the emperor and the Patriarch of Constantinople automatically became a vassal of the empire. Contacts between Rus' and Byzantium contributed to the penetration of Christianity into the Russian environment. Metropolitan Michael was sent to Rus', who, according to legend, baptized the Kyiv prince Askold. Christianity was popular among the warriors and merchant class under Igor and Oleg, and Princess Olga herself became a Christian during a visit to Constantinople in the 950s.

In 988, Vladimir the Great baptizes Rus' and begins to fight pagan holidays on the advice of Byzantine monks. But then, for the Russians, Christianity was a foreign and incomprehensible religion, and if the government had begun to openly fight paganism, the people would have rebelled. In addition, the Magi had enormous authority and influence on minds. Therefore, a slightly different tactic was chosen: not by force, but by cunning.

Each pagan holiday was gradually given a new, Christian meaning. Also, the signs of pagan gods familiar to Russians were attributed to Christian saints. Thus, "Kolyada"- the ancient holiday of the winter solstice - gradually transformed into the Nativity of Christ. "Kupailo"- the summer solstice - was renamed the Feast of John the Baptist, who is still popularly called Ivan Kupala. As for Christian Easter, it coincided with a very special Russian holiday called . This holiday was the pagan New Year, and it was celebrated on the day of the spring equinox, when all nature came to life.

Holiday Velikodnya: the most important holiday in the calendar of the Eastern and Western Slavs.

Our ancestors, preparing for the Great Day, painted eggs and baked Easter cakes. But the meanings of these symbols were not at all similar to Christian ones. When the Byzantine monks first saw How people celebrate this holiday - they declared it a terrible sin, and began to fight it in every possible way.

Easter eggs and Easter cakes.

There used to be a game called “red egg”. The men took painted eggs and fought them with each other. The winner was the one who broke the most other people's eggs without breaking his own. This was done in order to attract women, since it was believed that the winning man would be the strongest and best. Women had the same ritual - but their battle with colored kagbe eggs symbolized fertilization, since the egg has long been considered by many peoples of the world to be a symbol of spring rebirth and new life.

Beating eggs was carried out not only for entertainment and gaming purposes, but also in order to appease the goddess of fertility. By appeasing her in this way, they hoped for a future rich harvest, breeding of livestock and the birth of children.

According to one of the variations Makosh - Mokosh. It arose from the word “get wet.” The symbol of Mokosh was water, which gives life to the earth and all living beings.

Some believe that the custom of baking Easter cakes came from the Jews, who baked their own Easter bread, which is called matzo. This is wrong. Jesus himself broke bread and treated it to the apostles at the Last Supper, but this bread was flat and unleavened. And the cake is made loose, with raisins, and sprinkled with glaze on top, and then they compare to see whose type has grown higher.

This tradition arose long before Christianity came to Rus'. Our ancestors worshiped the sun and believed that Dazhdbog dies every winter and is reborn in the spring. And in honor of the new solar birth in those days, every woman had to bake her own cake in the oven (a symbol of the female womb) and perform a birth ritual over her. When baking Easter cake, women raised their hem, simulating pregnancy. This was considered a symbol of new life.

As you might guess, the baked Easter cake, which has a cylindrical shape, covered with white icing and sprinkled with seeds, is nothing more than an erect male penis. The ancestors treated such associations calmly, because for them the main thing was that the land should produce crops and women give birth. Therefore, after Easter was taken out of the oven, a cross was drawn on it, which was a symbol of the sun god. Dazhdbog was responsible for the fertility of women and the fertility of the earth.

These similarities between Dazhdbog and Jesus Christ: the resurrection and the main symbol - the cross, according to historians, were the main signs by which the Byzantine church managed to successfully merge paganism and Christianity.

Maundy Thursday and the zombie apocalypse.

Unlike Easter of the first Christians, who consumed exclusively unleavened bread with wine, our ancestors celebrated Great Day in full: with meat, sausages and other delicacies. With the establishment of Christianity, the church banned the consumption of meat for the holiday. However, once a year they treated meat dishes not to ordinary guests, but to the dead. This ritual was called “Radunitsy”:

People gathered in cemeteries on Thursday, before the Great Day. They brought food in baskets, laid it out on the graves, and then began loudly and protractedly calling out to their dead, asking them to return to the world of the living and try the delicious food. It was believed that it was on the Thursday before the Great Day that the ancestors came out of the earth and remained close to living people until the next Sunday after the holiday. At this time, they could not be called dead, because they hear everything they say and may be offended. People carefully prepared for the “meeting” with relatives: they appeased the brownies with small sacrifices, hung amulets and cleaned their houses.

Today, this completely unkind holiday has been divided into two joyful ones: on Maundy Thursday - when housewives do a general cleaning of the house, and on Sunday - when all our grandmothers rush to cemeteries in a friendly crowd and lay out colored eggs and Easter cakes there on the graves of their relatives.

But this change did not happen immediately. They fought against pagan rituals for quite a long time and harshly, and in the 16th century even Ivan the Terrible joined this fight, who tried to get rid of dual faith. In pursuance of the decrees of Ivan the Terrible, priests began to oversee religious order and even spy. But this did not help, the people still honored their traditions, and, as before, people continued to perform pagan rituals in their homes, and went to church before their eyes. And the church gave in. In the 18th century, pagan symbols were declared Christian, and even a divine origin was invented for them. Thus, fertility eggs became a symbol of Christ’s resurrection, and Dazhdbog’s bread turned into a symbol of Jesus Christ.

Epilogue.

Now, brothers and sisters, you know almost everything about Easter. It remains only to draw a small parallel.
Over many centuries, Easter, like our Victory Day, has turned from a Day of Mourning for the dead into a festive bacchanalia. Almost no one knows or remembers how it all started and why all this is needed. Just another holiday from which you can get Orthodox drunk and go off on a hellish Christian drunken stupor with impunity.

Now you will KNOW what to drink for. And should I drink at all? After all, perhaps for some this day will be a day of sorrow. Or a day of great sad thoughts...

History of Easter. The true meaning of the holiday. Pagan and Christian traditions in the celebration of Easter. Easter symbols, rituals and beliefs. Modern Easter traditions.

Easter is the most joyful and most revered holiday in the Orthodox world. It is preceded by a severe forty-day fast, they prepare for it in advance: they clean houses, prepare a festive meal, bake Easter cakes. Many traditions, rituals and beliefs are associated with it. But do we know what kind of holiday this is, Easter? How did it appear and what does it mean? What is the history of Easter?

History of Easter

The holiday in honor of the Resurrection of God existed among different peoples long before the emergence of Christianity. On April eve, the Egyptians held festivities in honor of the resurrection of the god Osiris. The ancient Celts and Germans worshiped the goddess of spring and fertility, Ostara, by celebrating the arrival of spring with colored eggs and small wheat buns. And in Ancient Greece, the goddess of fertility Demeter was glorified.

Spring Festival among the Slavs

The Slavs also celebrated the holiday of the awakening of nature. Our ancestors had their own patroness - the Tsar Maiden or Zorya. The Slavs believed: when the two spring months of March and April meet, the Tsar Maiden appears from across the sea and with one look makes plants bloom wildly, chickens lay eggs, cows give more milk. Yarilo, the God of the Spring Sun, who wears white clothes and a wreath of the first herbs, falls in love with the beautiful Zorya.

On the Spring Festival, men lit fires, trying their best to imitate the Sun: if the fire burns until the dawn goes out, all wishes will come true. Burning bonfires also symbolized the victory of spring over winter. And for the fair half of the population, Easter was more exotic. At dawn, the women gathered in an appointed place, chose a goddess, stripped her naked and doused her with cold water. The friends decorated the girl’s body with herbs and wildflowers and harnessed her to a plow: in this form she had to walk around the entire village. The meaning of this custom is very simple: Zorya (Tsar-Maiden, aka Spring) called for fertility of the earth and awakened plants to life.

Upon returning home, the tired but satisfied villagers set the festive table, and after the meal they poured water on each other, danced in circles and jumped over the fire.

The history of Easter. Origin of the word "Easter"

Among the Jewish tribes, 5 thousand years ago, Passover was the calving holiday of livestock, then it was associated with the beginning of the harvest, and later with the liberation of the Jewish people from Egyptian slavery. It was after Moses led the Jews out of Egypt that a holiday was established called Passover, which translated means “deliverance.” Just as the Jews escaped death in slavery and found the Promised Land thanks to Moses, so Orthodox Christians found eternal life thanks to faith in their Savior - Jesus Christ. The New Testament Christian Easter is celebrated after the Old Testament Jewish one: it so happens that Christ was crucified on the very evening when Jews customarily slaughter a lamb for Easter, and rose again after the onset of the Jewish holiday.

Christian Easter

Every year we celebrate Easter at different times. In the Gregorian calendar, this holiday is not tied to any specific day, since since 325 its date has been calculated according to the solar-lunar cycles: Easter is celebrated on the first Sunday after the full moon, which occurs after the spring equinox.

Christian or New Testament Easter is a holiday that is filled with a new meaning: the joy of the resurrection of the Son of God, the victory of Life over death, light over darkness. It is very symbolic that Russians celebrate Easter on Sunday: this serves as a reminder to us that it was on this day, Sunday, that Jesus Christ was resurrected.

History of the Easter holiday in Russia. Orthodox Easter

Traditional Orthodox Easter came to Rus' along with baptism, and the people accepted the new God - Jesus Christ, transferring to him the functions of the Tsar-Maiden. But the traditions of the celebration remained the same. For a long time Easter looked like a pagan festival.

Easter traditions and rituals

Over time, new beliefs, rituals, and customs appeared among the Orthodox Slavs. Many are dedicated to Holy Week (Holy Week), preceding the Great Day of the Bright Resurrection of Christ.

On Maundy Thursday, before sunrise, they swam in an ice hole, a river or in a bathhouse, on this day they received communion and received the sacrament, they cleaned the hut, whitewashed the stoves, repaired fences, tidied up wells, and in Central Russia and the North they fumigated houses and barns juniper branches. Juniper smoke was considered healing: people believed that it protected loved ones and “little animals” from diseases and all evil spirits. On Maundy Thursday, salt was blessed and placed on the table next to bread, Easter cakes, Easter bread, honey gingerbread were baked, and oatmeal jelly was cooked to appease the frost.

Easter meal

Since ancient times, on Sunday morning the whole family gathered at the festive table. After the solemn service in the temple, they returned home, covered the table with a white tablecloth and laid out the ritual food brought from the church on it. The family meal began with a blessed egg: a piece of it went to everyone who sat at the table. After that, everyone was given a spoonful of Easter cottage cheese and a piece of Easter cake. And only then other dishes prepared in honor of the holiday were placed on the table, and the joyful feast began.

On this day, they decorated houses with wreaths of green branches and fresh flowers, invited godfathers and friends to visit, organized lavish feasts, said Christ to each other, exchanged eggs, Easter cakes and triple kisses, rested and socialized all day.

For the holiday, lamps and candles were lit in houses. Priests in festive clothes, belted with white towels, made a religious procession around the temple, and then walked around the courtyards. In the villages, violins were played at dusk. Throughout Bright Week (it was also called Red Week, Bright Week) they walked and had fun, and the remains of the food consecrated in the church were buried in the field so that the harvest would be rich.

Easter beliefs

There are a huge number of beliefs associated with Easter. People believed that this day was so holy and pure that with the Easter gospel, demons and devils fall through the ground, and in the church, during the Easter service, you can see a sorcerer with horns and a witch with a small ponytail.

On Easter Sunday, one was allowed to ask God for everything the soul desired: success in business, a generous harvest, a good groom. On Easter night, they collected water from a spring, brought it home, without uttering a single word along the way, and sprinkled their homes and barns with this water - for happiness and well-being.
There was also such a belief: if you eat eggs laid by chickens on Holy Thursday on Easter, you will protect yourself from illnesses, and if you bury their shells in the ground in the pasture, you will protect the cattle from any misfortune.

Easter symbols and ancient rituals associated with them

Easter fire, spring water of a stream, wreath, eggs, hares, Easter cakes - all these symbols of the Great Day have roots in the distant past. The Easter holiday itself embodies the ancient beliefs of different peoples. Water purifies and protects against illness and misfortune. The fact that on Maundy Thursday you need to wash yourself so as not to get sick for a whole year is the embodiment of ancient beliefs about the power of stream water.

Fire protected our ancestors from predatory animals and evil spirits; people lit fires to drive away winter and welcome spring faster. The Easter fire embodied the power of the hearth. The fire of a hot candle is, in the church sense, a symbol of the Resurrection.

The Easter wreath is the personification of eternal life. Even among ancient tribes, an egg symbolized a small miracle of birth, many nations have long considered hares a symbol of fertility and prosperity, and the prototypes of Easter cakes are babkas, which the Slavs have baked since time immemorial.

There are many customs associated with the egg. Our ancestors wrote prayers and magic spells on them, they laid them at the feet of the gods and asked them to send them prosperity and fertility. In the first Slavic cities, lovers gave colored eggs to each other in the spring, thus expressing their sympathy. And the favorite Easter entertainment in Rus' was rolling colored eggs.

In Russia, there has long been a tradition of making glass, wooden, chocolate, sugar eggs, as well as silver and gold eggs decorated with precious stones. Temples, icons, genre scenes, and landscapes were painted on Easter eggs.

Modern Easter traditions

The bright holiday of the Resurrection of Christ has its own special traditions and customs. Painting eggs for Easter, the birth of Christ, solemn morning services at which candles, water and food for the Easter table are blessed, a festive dinner with the family - these customs are very old, they have been preserved not only in Russia, but also in many other countries.

Egg fights during the Easter meal, or “clinking” eggs, as people say, are popular among the Slavs. This is a very simple and funny game: someone holds an egg with the nose up, and the “opponent” hits him with the nose of another egg. Those whose shells have not cracked continue to “clink glasses” with another person.

In Europe and America, one of the most popular Easter traditions is the “egg hunt,” a children's game that involves hiding, searching for, and rolling toy and chocolate eggs along a sloping lawn. Every Easter, such a holiday is held in Washington - right on the lawn in front of the White House.

Sweet pastries are also traditional for Easter: baba in Poland, babobka in the Czech Republic, babki and poppy seed rolls in Ukraine, muffins and sweet buns in the UK, Easter cake and Easter cake in Russia, cakes with chocolate filling in France, sweet hot buns and meringue cake, garnished with tangerines, pineapples, kiwis and strawberries in Australia.

History of Easter is a journey through millennia. Leafing through its pages, you can discover something new every time, because the history of the origin of Easter is an interweaving of pagan and Christian traditions, the beliefs of ancient tribes and the customs of different peoples.