Easter Traditions May Vary, But Meaning is Much the Same

Easter is often associated with bunnies, bonnets and baskets.

But the sacred traditions of this Holy Day … from services to symbols and fasting to food …can radically differ from church to church.

Baptist

Reverend Darla "Dee Dee" Turlington, Senior Pastor from First Baptist of Westfield, said while core beliefs transcend many churches, traditional practices don't always.

"All the churches, Orthodox, Catholic and all the Protestant churches basically have the same doctrinal claims. We all believe the same things about Jesus and the Messiah."  She added, "We differ in how we structure ourselves as a church, and some of the ways in which we do the sacraments."

She said Baptists, for example, have "only two sacraments …Baptism and the Lord's Supper."

"Palm Sunday is the start of our Holy Week," she said. "Baptists don't always mark the Lenten season. It is becoming increasingly more popular among Baptist churches to mark Lent by fasting from something, just for the spiritual discipline of having power over that thing and a little taste of sacrifice pointing towards the cross."

Reverend Dee Dee said the "major celebration" begins Palm Sunday and often involves children in the "singing and worship."

She said the Thursday before Easter, Maundy Thursday, many Baptist churches will "reenact the washing of the feet" and most will have a "special Lord's Supper." She said there is a Communion service, with the wafer and "grape juice" symbolizing the body and blood of Jesus Christ. Baptists use the fruit of the vine rather than wine like some other churches.

"We do it on Maundy Thursday because that is the date that instituted the Lord's Supper (when Jesus had his last supper)."

On Good Friday, Reverend Dee Dee's Church has an "open Sanctuary" for people to come and observe as they wish. There is music, which is sometimes a classical rendition of the Seven Last Words of Christ and other times contemporary or hymns.   There is also a "rotating slide show….classical art portraying the passion of Christ."

On "Resurrection" or "Easter" Sunday, "we pull out all the stops," said Reverend Dee Dee. There is music and upbeat singing.

Children have an Easter egg hunt and learn about how Easter symbols represent "new life and resurrection."

Some of the traditional symbols in Reverend Dee Dee's church include:

The Egg … a symbol of life

Natural Flowers … blooming indicates another sign of life

Donated Flowers …in memory of loved ones who died (significant to be remembered on the Resurrection)

Potted Plants …for congregation members to take home

On Palm Sunday, the children line up at the entrance of the church and wave Palm branches. She said "higher order churches burn them and use them for the ashes of next year."

Reverend Dee Dee said the "radical reform movement" that her church is rooted in emerged in England and Holland but was not affiliated with any particular nation. So the foods simply vary by region.

"I prefer to have lamb as a symbol of the sacrifice," she said. "It not a church dictated or church advised" food.

And while the bunny is a "symbol of life because they multiply so quickly," Reverend Dee Dee said that's where "this church, in part, draws the line. We do not have an Easter bunny on the church grounds."

She added, "Everything is geared to allow an identification to Jesus as he sacrifices his life for our salvation and as we claim the promise of a resurrected life."

Greek Orthodox

And that sacrifice is an underlying theme in the Greek Orthodox Church where their Lenten period is technically 50 days …a 40 day fast prior to Holy Week, and then another 10 days leading into the holiday.

Father Peter Delvizis, from the local Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church, said the fast includes "abstaining from certain foods and an increase in prayer." He said abstaining from dairy and meat products "represents the diet of paradise before the fall of man. Adam and Eve didn't' kill animals to eat. There's no death in paradise."

"Because not everyone keeps the fast the 40 days, the first week of Lenten there's a greater observance."

Typically, Orthodox Easter is a week behind, because their calendar is based on the moon phase, much like the Jewish calendar. But this year it falls on the same day.

Daily and multiple services begin the Saturday before Palm Sunday. There is a "Bride Groom service in preparation to receive Christ" Sunday through Wednesday evening. "A servant of Christ should always be ready to receive the Lord," said Father Peter.

Wednesday evening there is a Sacrament of Holy Unction or healing, "both of physical and spiritual significance" according to Father Peter.

Oil is used as a symbolic offering. "Oil is a tradition, especially with Greeks …it was always a symbol of something therapeutic. The church took this symbol and adopted it."

On Good Friday, this Church has the "Procession of the Seplicur of Christ" which "represents Christ having died in the flesh."

According to Father Peter, a seven-foot-tall structure, decorated entirely in flowers, sits in the middle of the church. "Inside is a cloth that has embroidered in it the body of Christ. In the tomb, life is appearing."

"We go outside and take the Seplicur in procession around the church," he said.

Carnations, which have been blessed, are passed out, to symbolize the blessing of life.

As for food, the Greek Orthodox Church and Reverend Dee Dee have something in common. "On Easter, it's tradition that we eat Lamb," said Father Peter. "In Scripture, Christ is the lamb of God … it takes away from the sin of the world."

"I would think that every Greek Orthodox would have lamb," he noted, adding that the feast is of great significance. "In the Orthodox Church, Easter is the greatest of all the feasts.

We call it the "feast of feasts…a liturgical feast, a religious feast and a feast for the family." 

Red Easter eggs, to represent the blood of Jesus Christ, are passed out in the church. "The egg itself represents the tomb of Christ," said Father Peter.

Congregants hit the eggs against each other to crack them, representing the "opening of the tomb meaning the resurrection of Christ."

"Everyone has eggs in the Orthodox Church," he added.

And he added that on Palm Sunday, the Palms are blessed and distributed to congregants. He noted that Russians, who don't live in a hot climate, give out Pussy Willows rather than Palms.

So to reiterate some Greek Orthodox traditions …

Lenten Period …40 days plus the Holy Week fast

Red Eggs ... represent the blood and tomb of Jesus Christ

The Cracking of the Egg …to represent the opening of the tomb

Lamb …. to represent Christ and "take away" sin

Seplicur, covered in flowers…to represent Christ's death "in the flesh"

Carnations …blessed to represent "life is a blessing"

On Easter morning, members of the Greek Orthodox faith will greet each other with the phrase "Christos Anesti" and respond with "Aliotos Anesti."

The using of special Easter greetings is not limited to the Greek Orthodox faith. The Byzantine Catholic and Carpatho-Russian Orthodox faithful greet each other on Easter morning with the phrase "Christos Voskrese" and repond with "Voistinnu Voskrese."

In both faiths, the greeting roughly translates to "Christ is Risen" and the response roughly translates to "Indeed He has Risen."

Slavic Traditions

Christians of Slavic descent, including Carpatho-Russian, Polish, Ukranian and Slovak, follow several similar traditions in terms of creating Easter baskets. The Easter baskets follow several traditions in the foods placed in them. The list was compiled by Fr. Kris Maslowski, pastor of St. Joseph the Carpenter in Roselle and former parochial vicar of St. Michael's Church in Cranford.

Bread - A sweet yeast bread, it symbolizes Christ who is referred to as the bread of life. The bread is a round loaf with a cross of dough placed on top. The bread can be referred to as either Pascha or Babka.

Eggs - Called Pisanki, the eggs symbolizes that while the shell is dead the spirit is alive. The eggs can be decorated with wax.

Butter - Shaped as a lamb and decorated with cloves of peppercorn, it is a sign of the compassion of Christ.

Ham - This is used as the main dish of the Easter meal due to the richness of the dish and the symbolism of the joy and strength of the Resurrection.

Cheese - A homemade cheese molded into a round shape is created to show the need for moderation. One such homemade cheese is Hrudka. A cup of farmer cheese or creamed cheese can also be placed in the basket.

Bacon - A piece of smoked bacon with spices is used as a show of God's mercy.

Salt - This is placed in the basket to show the need to serve others.

Horseradish - This serves as a reminder of the death of Christ.

Kielbasa - This spicy pork shows God's never ending generosity.

The basket is also topped with a candle and decorated with ribbons. A decorative cloth is placed on the top of the basket and the basket is blessed.

Methodist

Reverend Edward Holmes Carll from First United Methodist Church agreed that  traditions may vary according to religious practice, but meaning is much the same. "The meaning of the celebration is the same, but the way it gets carried out is culturally different."

"One of the things in the Methodist tradition is the music as part of worship …and the hymns that were written by some of the early Methodists in particular."

And he said while it hasn't been done in a few years, for a long time his Church did a Saturday night Easter vigil with Dixieland Jazz Band music. "It resembled a New Orleans funeral. They start out like a funeral procession and they end up just glorious and swinging and upbeat and happy."

"Our congregation has the traditional Holy Week services," he said. "We observe Maundy Thursday and Good Friday.

But what is unique about this church is a sunrise service on the front lawn of the church. "It's pretty unique in Westfield the way the sun comes up. It lights up the whole front of the church. The sun is rising and we're worshipping."

Father Carll said another tradition unique to his church is "a big major music presentation" that is "part of the Lenten practice." An Oratorio Choir performs.

"We have a brass choir that plays also. That doesn't happen every week," he said. "Most of the churches will pull out all the stops for holidays."

The church hosts a breakfast for the kids the Saturday before Easter, complete with egg hunt and Easter bunny. They also read stories and play games.

And while the red egg is not significant to Methodists as it is to Greek Orthodox, Reverend Carll pointed out that Protestants use the color purple during the pre-lenten season because it is "associated with penance." He said the colors "switch to white and gold on Easter." The two colors "are usually reserved for very special High Holy Days."

"We always have Palm fronts …we often decorate with the Palms," said Reverend Carll.

As for the Easter feast, the foods are not dictated by the Church. Rather, the meal is based on "family tradition and a lot of cultural background."

So, to recap some of the Methodist Traditions …

Music … a constant

Egg Hunt & Easter Bunny …. to represent life

Unique services …sunrise and music presentation

Palm Fronts …to represent the story of Jesus Christ arriving in Jerusalum

Meal …based on individual family traditions

And whether you celebrate with bouncing bunnies, pretty palms, seplicurs or special services ...a Happy Easter to all!