While Easter has become synonymous with chocolate eggs and a long weekend, traditionally it was considered by many Christian denominations as an event bigger than Christmas. Families gathered on Easter Sunday with various customs and rites, some of which survive today.
Many establishments are closed on Good Friday as a mark of respect for the day of Jesus’ death on the cross. It is a day of fasting, or abstaining from meat, and so fish is often on the menu, along with hot cross buns. The cross drawn on the top signifies the Easter cross that Jesus died on. They are still popular today, although we can now buy them at the shops weeks before Easter – indeed, just a few days after Christmas!
Rather than chocolate eggs, children were given hard-boiled eggs which they decorated. Parents would often organise an egg hunt, hiding the eggs in shady spots in the garden. Eggs have represented fertility and new life for many cultures since ancient times, and in 19th century Russia a famous jeweller and goldsmith named Peter Carl Fabergé created an Imperial Easter Egg as a gift for Tsar Alexander III, known as the Fabergé egg.
On Easter Sunday, the family would attend church, the ladies wearing their new Easter bonnets decorated with ribbons and flowers. Easter Sunday lunch was traditionally roast lamb, followed by simnel cake.
Whether you follow any of these traditions, or none, I hope you all have a very Happy Easter!
