Easter Eggs

Easter Sunday is a prominent religious holiday as well as a delightful day to celebrate the springtime! For some people, Easter Sunday is the day to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ. For many others, it is simply a Sunday in the spring in which people can spend the day eating, hunting for Easter eggs and spending time with loved ones. This holiday is a day for people to celebrate spring, fertility and rebirth.

Easter has a religious history. According to historical records, Jesus Christ died when he was crucified around 32 A.D. Three days later, on a Sunday, he was resurrected. This affirmed many peoples’ views that he truly was the son of God.

This day of Jesus’ resurrection is called Easter Sunday. Easter Sunday is a “movable” holiday though. What exactly is a movable holiday?

Easter is celebrated once a year on a Sunday and is a “movable” holiday. This means that Easter is not celebrated on a set date such as Christmas (December 25) or St. Valentine’s Day (February 14). In the West, Easter is celebrated on the first Sunday after the first full moon after the vernal equinox. The vernal equinox occurs when the center of the sun is located on the same plane as Earth’s equator at one point in time and space. (The autumnal equinox is the only other point in time when the sun’s center is located on the same plane as Earth’s equator).

Here are six interesting facts about Easter:

• Easter is arguably the most important Christian holiday. This is because many people believe that Jesus’ resurrection may be the sign that Jesus truly is the son of God.
• Easter may have gotten its name from a Germanic goddess named Ēostre. Her “Anglo-saxon month,” April, was called Ēostur-monath. “Easter” may have been derived from the word “Ēostur-monath.” However, this may have been invented by The Venerable Bede, a Christian scholar.
• According to www.history.com, Easter has the second largest candy sales after Halloween. Popular candy choices include chocolate eggs and chocolate bunnies.
• The Easter bunny, Easter egg hunting and Easter egg ornaments are important Easter traditions. Children can collect decorative eggs and put them in a personalized Easter basket. These events may have originated from Pagan traditions.
• The Easter bunny may have originated around the 1600’s in the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation or, more specifically, around Alsace and the Upper Rhineland. A German publication was the earliest known record of an Easter bunny. This tradition of an Easter bunny bringing Easter toys to good children spread to the United States when German settlers came to the Pennsylvania Dutch country in the 1700s. The Easter bunny and his eggs symbolize fertility and spring.
• Small, dark chocolate eggs may be beneficial to your health! The flavonoids found in dark chocolate, red wine and many vegetables have proven to be beneficial to cardiovascular health.

Whether Easter has an important religious background or it is just a fun holiday to eat chocolate and paint eggs, this is the perfect holiday for celebrating loved ones, the springtime and rebirth! So go out and hunt for chocolate eggs in the beautiful spring sunshine!

- Michele