FROschTOsch

by Karolina Krukowska (LOG)

Catholic Church usually celebrates Easter in April. It is the springtime Christian festival, a very specific period of time for all the believers. The celebration of Easter is preceded by Holy Week, which begins with Palm Sunday. Palm twigs are indispensable accessories of the events of this day.  At Easter we celebrate Christ’s Resurrection,  and His victory over death and sin. On Saturday we go to church to consecrate Easter food, like bread, sausages, salt, pepper, and especially eggs. Egg is a symbol of new life. “Pisanki”  are eggs coloured by various colors , with decoration. They are decorated with wax and then soaked in dyes. Like the reason for decoration, people can resort to their imagination: flowers, plants, Jesus, bells, sheep of Easter, rabbits. These beautiful eggs will be a decoration of the table of Easter and it will be eaten next day,  during Sunday breakfast. It is a big ceremony.
Easter Sunday starts with the mass of resurrection. Then, breakfast will be celebrated by the family. Because it is breakfast, known as “holy”, which is the time of meeting with family in Poland during Easter. People wish one another “Happy Easter” (“Wesołego Alleluja” in Poland) and have an occasion to talk together, too. Often breakfast continues all day, because Poles likes much to remain at the table.
On Easter Monday, it is “Smigus-Dyngus” or “Lany Poniedziałek- Wet Monday”. This celebration is only in Poland. During all the day, it is allowed to throw water on others, same unknown! The best idea is thus to remain at home all the day, because during a short walk or  even going on foot to church, we are likely to be wet! And there is not the right to be annoyed. Obviously, one should not exaggerate with the quantity of water thrown on an unknown person. We should cultivate the tradition but without making people angry. Formerly, “Smigus-Dyngus” in the Polish culture was very  particular among the unmarried women and men: the men tried to put the biggest possible amount of water on the girls whom they liked, thus showing them their interest and their feelings! The more received water – the more the girl was loved. And the girls said “thank you” by offering more decorated eggs! It is a beautiful  tradition. Easter isn’t a huge celebration in Poland, but it is the happiest one and it is also the symbol of spring.

by Eileen Ott, Sarah Arns and G. Arnold (BvA)

Our article deals with the typically German Easter customs in our vicinity.Many house doors are decorated with flowers, eggs and wreaths.

In Germany we have got many different Easter traditions. However, the Easter Bunny is the primary symbol. On Easter Sunday, we hide sweets, coloured eggs and little presents in our gardens. In the Easter morning the smaller children go into the gardens and walk along in search of the Easter presents. Of course, Easter Lamb is part of the  Christian Easter celebration, too.

Furthermore, the Easter bonfires complete the nightly celebration. In Germany the Easter celebration is still marked by Christian associations. So we also eat the Easter lamb, because in the Christian faith it is one of the most important symbols. For Easter breakfast there is a plaited yeast bun, sweet bread, chocolate eggs and boiled chicken eggs. Besides, sometimes the whole family comes together and celebrates at an Easter brunch.

A purely Christian sign for the party is the Easter bell which is rung in the Easter morning. For Catholics Easter fair is an essential element of the activities.

by Marco Kluin (BvA)

After Jesus had been crucified and passed away, and everybody thought he was gone forever, so he was taken to a big stone grave, where his followers meant him to last for all times. The entrance to the grave was sealed by a big stone, so nobody could enter or leave the grave. The day after his death Mary of Magdala, among other women,  came to Jesus’s tomb to pray for him. But, to their surprise, they noticed that the big stone, which had been blocking the entrance, had been moved by someone.They went into the grave and noticed that Jesus’s body was gone. They were shocked. Suddenly, a light appeared outside the grave and two men, who  looked unfamiliar to them, were standing in the graveyard. The woman was stunned. She asked, “Who are you?”, and the men said, “Why are you looking for the living among the dead? Go to Jerusalem, and tell everybody that He has been resurrected by the power of His  father. Everybody shall know that.” Stunned, the woman replied, “Oh, uhm….yes, yes! We’ll go!” The women went to Jerusalem and let everybody know, that Jesus has been resurrected.

That’s why we go to church at Eastern every year, to think about Jesus’s resurrection and to remind the people of it.

But we’re not only celebrating Easter to think about Jesus, we often paint, either real chicken eggs or plastic eggs, in our favourite colours or in a fantasyful way  and decorate our houses with them. And on Easter Sunday, hidden presents and candy are being searched by little children, who are thinking that “Easter  Bunny” has hidden those treats at several places in the house. After finding everything, the children are allowed to eat everything they have found.

At the end, we may have a big Easter meal in the evening of Easter Sunday with the family.

That’s how we celebrate Easter in my German family.

by Evangeline Gill

In England feiern wir Ostern, indem man sich gegenseitig Ostereier schenkt. Einige Familien verstecken Ostereier, dann müssen die kleinen Kinder nach ihnen suchen.
In Grundschulen können die Kinder  Ostereier schmücken und dann mit nach Hause nehmen, um sie dort den Eltern zu schenken. Die ältere Generation gibt sich in der Regel  untereinander nur Osterkarten, statt Schokolade. Ostern ist die Feier von Jesus Christus als er wieder zum Leben erweckt wurde.

by Karolina Kowalska (LOG)

Easter is one of the most important and the happiest holidays for Christians. Nowadays people celebrate it on the first Sunday after the first  full moon in spring. Preparations for the feast begin a few weeks earlier. That time starts forty days before Easter, on Ash Wednesday. Then Christians have a strict fast. They do not eat meat on Fridays, because they associate that day with Christ’s martyrdom and His death.

The celebration of Easter is preceded by the Holy Week, which begins with Palm Sunday – the day when Jesus rode into Jerusalem and people greeted Him with palm branches. The Maundy Thursday is the day, which commemorates the Last Supper. Good Friday commemorates the death of Jesus on the cross.

One day before Easter – on Holy Saturday – children paint and decorate eggs [in Poland they are called ”pisanki”]. Then kids prepare the blessing baskets. The basket, filled with ”pisanki”, a piece of bread, sausage, salt, pepper and a tiny sugar lamb is being carried to the church where it is sprinkled with holy water.

On Easter Sunday bells in every church ring exceptionally beautifully, because they announce Christ’s resurrection. On that day all families go to church again to morning Mass at 6 a.m. – which is called Resurrection. Firecrackers often accompany it and that emphasizes the importance of the day.

The family breakfast on Easter Sunday morning is an important part of Polish Easter celebrations. Each member of household receives a piece of the blessed food. At the breakfast table, each of the participants wishes to the others good luck and happiness. The table is decorated with green leaves and spring flowers. Traditional cakes can be found there e.g. gigantic “baby” or a very popular “Mazurek” where in the middle there is a sugar lamb (which symbolizes Christ). No warm meals are served.

Easter Monday is a favourite day for children. It’s a very popular and funny tradition called “Śmigus-Dyngus” in Poland. On this day boys sprinkle girls with water or perfume. On that day everyone is wet but exhilarated because it is believed that being sprinkled with water on that day assures well-being, beauty and health.

I think that Polish Easter traditions are very enthralling and they are unique. Now I just can’t wait for those beautiful days to come again.

by Marta Milczarek

The Catholic Church usually celebrates Easter in April. It is the springtime Christian festival, a very specific period of time for all the believers. The celebration of Easter is preceded by the Holy Week, which begins with Palm Sunday. Palm twigs are indispensable accessories of the events of this day.

At Easter we celebrate Christ’s Resurrection,  and His victory over death and sin. On Saturday we go to church to consecrate Easter food, like bread, sausages, salt, pepper, and especially eggs. The egg is a symbol of new life. “Pisanki”  are eggs coloured by various colours , with decorations. They are decorated with wax and then soaked in dyes. As for the motives for decoration, people can resort to their imagination: flowers, plants, Jesus, bells,  Easter lambs, rabbits. These beautiful eggs will be a decoration of the table on Easter and they will be eaten next day,  during Sunday breakfast. It is a big ceremony.

Easter Sunday starts with the Mass of Resurrection. Then, breakfast will be celebrated by the family. Because it is a breakfast known as “holy breakfast”, it is the time of meeting with all the family in Poland during Easter. People wish one another “Happy Easter” (“Wesołego Alleluja” in Poland) and have an occasion to talk together, too. Often breakfast continues all day, because Poles like it very much to remain at the table.

On Easter Monday, it is “Śmigus-Dyngus” or “Lany Poniedziałek- wet Monday”. This celebration is only in Poland. During all the day, it is allowed to throw water on others, even on unfamiliar people! The best idea is thus to remain at home all the day, because during a short walk or  even going to church on foot , we are likely to get wet! And there is not the right to be annoyed. Obviously, one should not exaggerate with the quantity of water thrown on an unfamiliar person. We should cultivate the tradition but without making people angry. Formerly, “Smigus-Dyngus” in the Polish culture was very  particular among the unmarried women and men: the men tried to put the most possible amount of water on the girls whom they liked, thus showing them their interest and their feelings! The more water received – the more the girl was loved. And the girls said “thank you” by offering more decorated eggs! It is a beautiful  tradition. Easter isn’t a huge celebration in Poland any more, but it is the happiest and it is the symbol of spring.

by Natalia Linska (LOG)

Easter

Easter is the most important Christian festival. Christians are followers of Jesus Christ who lived about 2000 years ago in a country called Palestine. They believe that Jesus was the son of God. At Easter time Christians commemorate the last week of Jesus’ life.

Holy Saturday

On  Holy Saturday people go to church to have baskets blessed. In these baskets are: dyed eggs, a sugar lamb, salt, pepper, a piece of bread, a roll, a cake, ham and other things which are later eaten.

Easter Sunday

Easter Sunday is a happy day for Christians because they believe that Jesus rose from the dead on this day. They believe that Jesus’ resurrection or coming alive shows that death is not the end of everything.

Easter Monday

On Easter Monday which is called ‘śmingus dyngus” (Wet Monday) people pour one another, even strangers,  with water. It is connected with symbolic coming to life of the nature.

Easter Eggs

Easter Eggs symbolize the birth of new life. Christians remember that Jesus, after dying on the cross, rose from the dead. This miracle showed that life could win over death.

Today, children prepare colored eggs and place them in Easter baskets along with the modern version of real Easter eggs – those made of plastic or chocolate candy

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The Easter Bunny

The Easter Bunny is not a modern invention. The symbol originated from the pagan festival of Easter. The goddess, Easter, was worshipped by the Anglo-Saxons through her earthly symbol, the rabbit.

There is also a tradition of the Easter bunny leaving a basket of treats such as Easter eggs and chocolates on Easter Day. Parents  often hide eggs in the garden for children to find. Sometimes their children leave out carrots for the Easter bunny. Parents tell their children to make ‘nests’ before Easter with their caps and bonnets and if they were polite the Easter bunny would leave them coloured eggs.