Today, Orthodox Christians observe Easter, an important holiday which commemorates the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. Last Sunday was the Catholic Easter. The difference of the date, though these sometimes coincide (next year Easter is on April 4, for everybody) - is because the orthodox church uses in setting the date Julian calendar and the Catholics, the Gregorian one. Also, the Orthodox tradition requires that Easter always to follow Jewish Passover (the escape of Hebrews from enslavement in Egypt). There are some specific customs linked to Easter: Easter Bunny, similar to Santa Claus, brings gifts to good children (the first mentioning of an Easter Bunny was in 1600 in an German writing linked to a tradition from Alsace)
Easter Eggs - in Orthodox tradition the hard shell of the egg symbolises the sealed Tomb of Christ and the cracking, His resurrection from the dead (in Romanian - Cristos a inviat! Adevarat a inviat!). The eggs are dyed red to represent the blood of Christ shed on the Cross .
This year, as we do every year, we went to church for the Midnight Mass and today Corina is hosting the festive dinner. I helped her by cooking some traditional Romanian lamb dishes , but she is coming with some good surprises of her own! Who knew that Corina will turn such a great cook!!!
I will post some pictures not only from our Easter, but from last Sunday the Catholic Easter with their tradition to parade dressed for the occasion with nice or funny hats and/or costumes...
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