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A UMNS Report
By Barbara Dunlap-Berg*
1:00 P.M. EST April 20, 2011
Two boys enjoy an Easter-egg hunt at Calvary United Methodist Church, Holly, Mich.
A web-only photo courtesy of Calvary United Methodist Church.
For most Christians, Easter is the most important day of the year.
However, when it comes to traditions such as decorated eggs, lilies and
Peter Cottontail, even the most seasoned Easter celebrants may have
questions.
How do decorated eggs relate to Easter?
According to Eastern Orthodox tradition, Mary Magdalene visited the
Emperor Tiberius and showed him an egg as a way to talk about the
Resurrection of Jesus.
“One version of this story,” says the Rev. Taylor W. Burton-Edwards,
director of worship resources for the United Methodist Board of
Discipleship, “is that the egg was white to start with, that the emperor
scoffed that resurrection was as likely as the white egg turning red,
and then it did turn red. Another version is that the egg was red to
begin with, as a sign of the blood of Christ.”
Orthodox icons often portray Mary Magdalene holding a red egg or a
flask of myrrh. Burton-Edwards notes, “Iconography means ‘icon writing,’
not ‘icon painting,’ and that the images ‘written’ here were intended
to convey ideas and theology more than factual stories.” The egg itself
was already a sign of new life in Eastern cultures.
An icon of Mary Magdalene features her
holding a red egg. A web-only photo
courtesy of creative commons.
“The flask of myrrh in her other hand, usually also in a reddish hue,
was a sign of Mary’s presence at the tomb to anoint Christ’s body for
burial,” he adds. “If (Mary) needed to be a sign of both death and
resurrection, she might hold both items. If she needed to be a sign more
of one than the other, she might hold only one.”
The origin of people coloring and decorating eggs is not certain.
Some sources report the ancient Egyptians, Greeks, Persians and Romans
colored eggs for spring festivals. In medieval Europe, people offered
beautifully decorated eggs as gifts. In Russia and Poland, writes Pamela
Kennedy in “The Symbols of Easter,” people spent hours drawing
intricate designs on Easter eggs. In early America, children colored
eggs using dyes made from bark, berries and leaves.
As the story of Christ’s Resurrection spread, Kennedy adds, “people
saw the egg as a symbol of the stone tomb from which Christ rose. They
viewed the hatching birds and chicks as symbols of the new life Jesus
promised his followers.”
What is the origin of the Easter-egg hunt?
In England, Germany and some other countries, children rolled eggs
down hills on Easter morning to symbolize the rolling away of the stone
from Jesus’ tomb. British settlers brought this custom to the New World.
In 1814, Dolley Madison, the wife of President James Madison,
introduced the most famous Easter egg roll, which still takes place
annually on the White House south lawn.
How did the Easter Bunny become associated with this sacred Christian season?
Ancient Egyptians, according to Kennedy, believed the rabbit was responsible for the new life that abounded in the spring.
Cousins Lan Bui, 7, and Emily Mai, 8,
meet the Easter Bunny. A UMNS web-only
photo courtesy of Danny Mai.
“An old European legend says that the hare, a relative of the rabbit,
never closed its eyes. Since it watched the other animals all night
long, the hare became a symbol of the moon. The hare was soon connected
with Easter because the holiday’s date depends upon the full moon.”
According to other sources, 18th-century German settlers introduced
"Oschter Haws” (Easter Hare), the character many children know as the
Easter Bunny, to America. Pennsylvania Dutch settlers prepared nests in
the barn or garden for Oschter Haws. On Easter eve, the rabbit laid his
colored eggs in the nests. (In Germany, Oschter Haws lays red eggs on
Maundy Thursday.)
Why do some hold sunrise services in cemeteries?
Different groups may have different answers.
Some sources state that a Moravian congregation in Herrnhut, Saxony,
had the first Easter sunrise service in 1732. After an all-night prayer
vigil, the unmarried men went to the town graveyard to sing hymns of
praise to the risen Lord. The next year, the entire congregation joined
them. Moravian missionaries spread the tradition around the world.
Burton-Edwards cites an ancient tradition recorded in The Apostolic
Constitutions in 380 in Syria. Early Christians held a vigil of prayer
on Holy Saturday in cemeteries where Christians were buried.
“Keeping watch with these dead in Christ was in a way also keeping
watch with Christ who was in the tomb on this day, awaiting
resurrection. It appears to have been a way of identifying themselves
with the ‘voices under the altar’ in Revelation, crying out, ‘How
long?’” This was more than a memorial service or paying respects to the
dead. Burton-Edwards terms it “a true vigil—a watch with the dead in
Christ awaiting the celebration of the Resurrection of Christ and the
return of Christ to raise and judge all the dead.”
The white Easter lily symbolizes purity and resurrection.
A UMNS photo by Kathleen Barry.
View in Photo Gallery
The practice of the early Christians may have informed some traditions in the United States.
Burton-Edwards, who grew up Southern Baptist, says, “We regularly did
sunrise services in a large cemetery on Easter morning. For us, it was
also a way of proclaiming the Resurrection of Christ and awaiting the
resurrection of the dead.”
How did lilies come to be Easter lilies?
The Easter lily is a relatively new tradition — first brought to the
United States in 1882 from Bermuda. The large, pure-white blossoms
remind Christians of the pure, new life that comes through the
Resurrection of Jesus.
According to legend, Kennedy writes, when Jesus prayed in the Garden
of Gethsemane, the flowers bowed their heads in grief and pity. “But the
proud lily would not bow its lovely white head.
“The next day, the lily discovered that Jesus was going to be
crucified. The flower felt so miserable about how it had acted … that it
bowed its head in shame. To honor the Lord Jesus and to show its
sorrow, the lily has grown with a down-turned blossom ever since that
first Good Friday.”
*Dunlap-Berg is internal content editor for United Methodist Communications.
News media contact: Barbara Dunlap-Berg, Nashville, Tenn., (615) 742-5489 or newsdesk@umcom.org.
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