Why
Do We Give Easter Eggs?
The
Easter egg is venerable indeed. While the gaily colored
cardboard ones and rich chocolate ones that we enjoy are
quite recent in origin, the real egg, decorated with colors
or gilt, has been acknowledged as a symbol of continuing
life and resurrection since pre-Christian spring celebrations.
Given
as gifts by the ancient Greeks, Persians, and Chinese
at their spring festivals, the egg also appears in pagan
mythology, where we read of the Sun-Bird being hatched
from the World Egg. in some pagan customs, the Heaven
and Earth were thought to have been formed from two halves
of an egg.
As
the egg was an obvious symbol to early Christians of Jesus'
Resurrection, it was felt to be a most appropriate and
holy part of the Eastertide celebration.
Even
as early as the Middle Ages, eggs were colored to be given
as gifts at Easter; Edward
I's accounts for 1290 include the expense of purchasing
hundreds of eggs to be distributed to his household. in
the 17th century, pope Paul V blessed the humble egg in
a prayer to be used in England, Scotland, and Ireland:
"Bless, O Lord, we beseech Thee, this Thy creature
of eggs, that it may become a wholesome sustenance to
Thy faithful servants, eating in thankfulness to Thee,
on account of the Resurrection of Our Lord." Forbidden
during the solemn fast of Lent, eggs were reintroduced
on Easter Sunday, both as part of the feasting and as
gifts for family, friends, and servants.
source:
From
Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Happy
Easter!!!
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