Easter
Symbols of Easter Now why would a rabbit have eggs in an Easter basket? Well, there was a legend about how Eastre, the goddess of spring, changed an eagle into a hare (a rabbit). The rabbit could not forget his old habits, however, and the changed rabbit kept on building nests and filling them with eggs.
Guest Columnist Father Michael Bergeron
Easter Eggs A lot of people are concerned about our holidays. They say Christmas and Easter are so commercialized that we have taken the religious significance out of the celebrations. But is that really right? Or has the religious significance always been there and we simply fail to see it. If we take a closer look at the symbols of Easter we might be surprised to find Christ everywhere.
spring equinox (March 21) is Easter. So it falls on different days between March 22 and April 25, depending when the first full moon occurs after March 21. Rabbits
Easter
It was St. Bede, in the eighth century, who proposed that the name Easter is from the Scandinavian Ostra and Teutonic Ostern or Eastre, both names for the Goddess of mythology signifying spring and fertility whose festival was celebrated on the day of the vernal equinox. Early Christians and Jews referred to the Easter as “Passover.” Passover is celebrated for eight days and commemorates the flight and freedom of the Israelites from slavery in Egypt.
The hare or the rabbit is a symbol of the moon. So, it became associated with Easter since the moon is used to determine the date of Easter. Some early Christians used the rabbit as a symbol of Christ after his resurrection. You see, rabbits can be seen, and then they disappear and begin being seen somewhere else. So that reminded them of the Risen Christ.
Date of Easter The date of Easter is determined by the moon. The first Sunday following the full moon that occurs or follows the 36 • Bayou Catholic • Diocese of Houma-Thibodaux • April 2021
Eggs, of course, are a big symbol of Easter. Even before Jesus walked the earth, eggs were a symbol of creation, fertility and new life. For Christians it represents a new beginning. The shell can be seen as a nurturing, life-giving tomb. The hatching chick represents the emerging of Christ from the tomb. Chicks
Easter Baskets
In early times, people were mystified by eggs. They felt the hatching of a chick was a miracle. From out of a lifeless shell, a tiny beak would appear, then a fuzzy head, and then the small warm body of a living baby bird. The miracle of this birth represented the miracle of Christ leaving the tomb and being re-born in resurrection.
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