Happy Easter! Christ has risen that we all might be saved! God bless.
I thought it would be interesting to point out some of the symbolic and historical information about the “things” we surround Easter with.
The word “Easter”. The word “Easter” came to us through the Germans who refer to Easter as "Ostern." Academics today believe this is derived from the German word eastron, which means "dawn." It used to be believed that "Easter" came from the pagan goddess "Eostre," but this is no longer thought to be true. See the Goethe Institute for more information.
Easter Eggs. Colored eggs were used in pre-Christianity to symbolize spring and the rebirth of the world. This was true as far back as ancient Egypt and Persia. Christians confiscated the practice and used it to symbolize the rebirth of man through Easter as well as the tomb of Christ. Interestingly enough, there are numerous wonderful polish legends about how coloring eggs for Easter came about; my favorite is that Simon of Cyrene was carrying a basket of eggs when asked to help carry the cross and when he came back they were all brilliantly covered. One tradition I find interesting is in Greece, where it is common to exchange scarlet eggs that symbolize the blood of Christ as well as the resurrection.
Easter Bunny. The rabbit is also a pagan symbol from the pre-Christian world, however it wasn’t ever brought into Christian celebrations and doesn’t really symbolize anything religious. The rabbit symbolized fertility and, therefore, Spring. The Germans are supposedly the first to tie the rabbit to Easter in the 1,500’s – they were quite the religious inventors in those times. In the 1,700’s the Pennsylvania Dutch brought the Easter bunny to the US, where it was believed the bunny would show up and leave a nest of colored eggs for good children. This evolved over time to become our tradition of leaving baskets that would be filled with candy as well as eggs (part of this was due to the commercialization of Easter).
By the way, the dates for celebrating Easter weren’t decided by the Church until 325 A.D. at the Council of Nicea – before this it was celebrated on various days of the week (not always Sunday). Just a few little tidbits about the history of the greatest Christian holiday (followed closely by Christmas).
God bless,
Jay
Interresting Jay. Thanks for doing this research for all of us.
Interresting Jay. Thanks for doing this research for all of us.
"The word 'Easter' actually has pagan origins, but was taken by the early Christians to symbolize the birth of Christ. It comes from the pagan goddess Eostre and the celebration of Spring associated with her." That is preposterous. Yes, the literal form of our English word "Easter" comes from the name "Eostre". But Easter has nothing to do with the birth of Christ. (Do I really need to say that on a Catholic blog?) And it's only English-speaking Christians that call the holy day "Easter" or anything like that. In Latin it's called "pascha", which means "passover", and AFAIK in most other European languages, at the least, it's called something equivalent to "pascha" or "passover".
ELC,
It turns out that you're right and you're wrong. I did more digging after your comment, since it would be extremly odd for Americans to suddenly pick up the name for an ancient pagan goddess to use in a Christian celebration. Here's what I found:
So, the word "Easter" does have much to do with the birth (or dawn) of Christ. And it does not have pagan origins. I fixed the post above to reflect this new information. Thanks for pointing out the error, but don't get so bent out of shape!
God bless,
Jay
Saint Bede (8th century) tells us that eosturmonath was the old English name for the lunar month in which the Easter festival fell. He writes as if he were fairly sure of this fact. He then writes, somewhat more conjecturally, that the pagan English may have held a festival to a goddess Eostre during that month. Hence modern scholars have reasonably raised doubts about whether this presumed goddess ever existed.
The Easter bunny was originally a hare, brought to the U.S. by German immigrants. It seems unlikely that the ancient pagan inhabitants of Germany would have associated a rabbit with the springtime, because, as I understand, they had no rabbits then--only hares. Rabbits in antiquity, my (admittedly unverified) information goes on, lived only in Spain.
To say that Easter was celebrated on "various days of the week" prior to 325 is an exaggeration. My own opinion is that Easter Sunday is an apostolic institution, though the evidence for this is admittedly sketchy and subject to more than one interpretation. According to my reconstruction, the earliest annual (as opposed to weekly) Christian observances were the Sunday that fell in the week of Unleavened Bread, and Whitsunday 7 weeks later. Later on, in the 2nd century, some of the churches in the Roman province of Asia adopted the practice of ending the Lenten fast on the 14th day of the Spring lunar month regardless of the day of the week, but it is not clear how widespread this quirky practice was. The evidence shows, regardless of whether my own theory about Easter's origins is correct, that in the 2nd century this Asian practice was not a universal custom.
For more on the Nicene Council's Easter discussion and how historians sometimes get it wrong, see my essay here.
Regional Center for Independent Living
1641 East Avenue, Rochester, NY 14610
http://www.rcil.org/
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 2, 2004
For more information, contact C. Jean Penner, Communications and
Outreach Coordinator, at 585-442-6470 v/tty, or 585-797-7260
Green Ribbon Ceremony at RCIL Will Celebrate the Life -- and Right to
Live -- of Terri Schindler-Schiavo
The Regional Center for Independent Living (RCIL) will host an outdoor
green ribbon ceremony on Friday, June 4, 2004, in honor of the
controversial struggle to preserve Terri Schindler-Schiavo's right to
live. The cermony will be held at RCIL, 1641 East Avenue in Rochester,
at 12 noon, to commemorate Terri's half-birthday. It will be free and
open to the public.
Those who attend will receive green tartan ribbons; part of a national
campaign to raise awareness of this issue. The color green symbolizes
life, while the tartan pattern symbolizes the diversity in human life,
which includes -- and embraces -- disability. Additional ribbons will
be available at RCIL for members of the community, free of charge;
donations will be accepted by RCIL for the Terri Schindler-Schiavo
Foundation.
This national observance -- the Life Ribbon Campaign -- encourages
community supporters to wear the ribbons until Terri comes home to her
family.
In 1990, Terri Schindler-Schiavo collapsed in the home she shared with
her husband, Michael Schiavo. The cause of her collapse is unknown to
this day. Terri receives food and water by way of a gastric feeding
tube; and a battle rages currently in Florida courts, in which her
husband is demanding the removal of the feeding tube, while her parents
are fighting for her right to live, and challenging his right to act as
her guardian.
Terri originally fell into a coma but awakened from her comatose state
weeks later. She was left in what medical professionals call a "locked
in state" with limited abilities to communicate or move.
To this day, Terri remains disabled. Though she is responsive to
stimuli, interacts with her environment and her loved ones and is
capable of communicating in limited ways, she is a disabled and
vulnerable adult -- requiring protection, therapy and the route to
recovery. RCIL's ceremony to honor her life will acknowledge the
reality in our society that disability is too frequently equated with a
"better off dead" presumption; and that this has sobering implications
for all Americans with disabilities.
"Despite any particular physical or mental impairments, life is our
most precious gift," states Todd Eggert, Executive Director of RCIL,
"and with this effort, RCIL is choosing to positively support Terri's
right to life. Given that she is showing responsiveness and
recognition of loved ones, how can anyone question that right?"
During the first months that followed Terri's mysterious collapse, she
made progress. Medical practitioners noted her efforts to speak and her
responsiveness. Terri, however, has not received meaningful therapy
since 1991 on the orders of her husband. In 1998, Terri's husband made
his initial petition to the circuit courts of Pinellas County, Florida
to end her life by removing her feeding tube. If he had been
successful, Terri would have died of dehydration and starvation over
the course of 10 to 14 days. Terri's parents are fighting her husband,
saying that her wish -- if she were able to speak -- would be for
therapy and rehabilitation, rather than death from dehydration and
starvation.
In the most recent developments, over the objections of Florida
Governor Jeb Bush, a Florida state appeals court has sent this case to
the state's highest court. The Florida Supreme Court will hear the case
filed by Terri Schiavo's estranged husband seeking to overturn a law
Bush signed -- Terri's Law -- that saved her life.
The Florida 2nd District Court of Appeal approved a motion put forward
by George Felos, the euthanasia advocate who is Michael Schiavo's
lawyer, asking the appeals court to let the Florida Supreme Court
decide the case. But attorneys for the governor say they want the case
halted while the issue of whether Michael should have the authority to
speak for Terri is resolved.
Governor Bush also said that Michael's interests may conflict with
Terri's, implying it may be appropriate to appoint a new guardian on
her behalf. But, Felos said the matter is so important that the
state's high court should decide the case.
The appeals court agreed and, in granting Felos' request, denied the
Bush team an opportunity to gather further information showing that
Terri would not want to be killed.
The Florida Supreme Court can either take the case or tell the appeals
court to hear it and issue a ruling before deciding to hear the
lawsuit.
Last August, the Florida Supreme Court refused to hear an appeal filed
by Terri's family of a local judge's order allowing Michael to remove
Terri's feeding tube.
For more information and actions to take please refer to the following
links:
http://www.terrisfight.org
http://www.cogforlife.org/schiavo.htm
http://heavenlyhands.net/terrislinks.html
http://www.prayforterri.net
###
C. Jean Penner
Communications and Outreach Coordinator
Regional Center for Independent Living
1641 East Avenue
Rochester, NY 14610
585-442-6470 v/tty
www.rcil.org
___
pc93: ref -> Google -> Life Ribbon
http://bellsouthpwp.net/p/c/pc93/terri_schindler_life_ribbon_campaign.htm