By Milica Yaksich

Ah, it is that time again when Holy Pascha marks the beginning of a new Spring, giving us great joy, great hope and reminding us of all that we have to thank God for. I love this time, when everywhere you look life is rising up out of the ground and what seemed once dark and dead is alive and bursting with colour. I am overwhelmed by the miracle and the glory of God reflected in all His creation. All the days of fasting make the feast that much sweeter and all the prayers, the inner reflection, the repentance humble the spirit so that we may appreciate the greatness and splendour of God's gifts! Let us not cheapen this feast, our faith, in fact, the most important and glorious event in all of time, by calling it "Easter"! It is the Resurrection of Our Lord, or Holy Pascha.

To better understand where the name "Easter" and the abundantly commercialized "Easter Bunny" with his eggs and chicks, etc. come from, we embark on a journey through numerous writings on pagan mythology. A Benedictine monk, the Venerable Bede (673-735 A.D.), asserts in his writings on Anglo-Saxon mythology that the Sunday of Holy Pascha came to be known as "Easter" in the English language based on the name of a Germanic fertility goddess called Eostre/Ostara, the mythical goddess of spring. Some sources suggest that she was worshipped at the Vernal Equinox, but according to the earliest and most legitimate sources including the Venerable Bede it was, more accurately, sometime in April. In Teutonic Mythology, Jacob Grimm explains that the Anglo-Saxon name Eostre is derived from the Old High German adverb ostar expressing movement toward the rising sun. He also writes of the goddess' existence in folklore and attributes the traditional German 'Easter' festival Ostarun to her. There is a story of Eostre saving a bird whose wings were frozen during a harsh winter by turning it into a hare. This was said to be a magical hare that could lay eggs. Now, perhaps, we can better understand why Eostre was almost always depicted in myth and in art with a hare (in addition to the obvious symbolic references to fertility). This also puts the "Easter Bunny" with his basket of eggs in perspective.

I do not mean to be cynical about the symbols and traditions of Holy Pascha just because they may share some similarities to pagan symbols and traditions, but it is important to understand certain things, so that we can give glory to our Lord in the right way. That is what Orthodox means, isn't it: to worship in the right way?

The egg has been a symbol of life, rebirth, renewal, eternity, and in the spherical aspect perfection, even virgin purity and the kosmos. It was well known as a spiritual symbol in ancient Persian and Jewish culture as well as in the orient. In Christian tradition it has been likened to the tomb of Christ from which He emerged when He resurrected. There are numerous stories about the relevance of red eggs in the Christian Paschal tradition, but the one I have known the longest and the only one that I believe the Orthodox Church endorses tells of Mary Magdalene visiting Rome after the Resurrection of our Lord. It was at the time of the New Year and as it was customary to greet someone with a red egg as a symbol of the rebirth of the year, Mary Magdalene approached the Emperor Tiberius, presented him with a red egg and exclaimed, "Christ is Risen!" The red colour in Christian tradition has always represented the blood of Christ and so the red egg representing the blood of Christ and the Resurrection is an appropriate symbol for Paschal celebrations when accompanied with the joyous announcement "Christ is risen!" and the response, "Truly He is risen!"

Eostre (sometimes spelled Eastre) was not only the name of a pagan Germanic goddess but it was also the name of her festival. Easter, a direct derivative of Eastre, has no relevance or meaning to justify using it to describe the most Holy Feast of the Christian Church. The Hebrew word Pesah or Pesach means passing over, deliverance and is used to describe the (first) Passover when the Jewish people of the Old Testament were delivered from bondage and slavery out of Egypt and it was the blood of the lamb without blemish that saved their firstborn from death so that they could travel to the Promised Land. Greek, the original language of most of the New Testament, derived the word Pascha from the Hebrew word for Passover and all modern Latin languages adopted it from the Greek. The Pascha of the New Testament, the second Passover has through the blood of God's spotless Lamb delivered His people from the bondage of the devil, saved them from death to live forever with the Crucified and Risen Christ in Heavenly Jerusalem. It is this deliverance, this Passover, this Pascha that we are celebrating when we celebrate the Resurrection of the Lord. In the Russian language the word for Resurrection is Voskreseniye and this is also the word for Sunday, for it is every Sunday, during the Liturgy that we celebrate the Resurrection of the Lord with the Eucharist. Our Christian Orthodox Church is the Church of the Resurrection. It is the Church of the second Passover, "For Christ our Paschal Lamb, was sacrificed for us" (I Cor. 5:7).

Let us keep Holy Pascha, the Resurrection of Our Lord, unblemished like the unblemished Lamb of God. Let us remember the true meaning of the feast. Let us start the day with Liturgy in Church and then share the joy of Pascha with family and friends. Let us understand the symbols: the red is the Blood of the Lamb, the red egg is likened to the tomb from which Christ arose. This is because of the miracle of new life which comes from the egg, just as Christ miraculously came forth from the tomb. Multicoloured eggs express joy, the lily symbolizes Resurrection/immortality and the lighting of the candle symbolizes Christ's light and that He is always among us. Incense is symbolic of our prayers rising to heaven. Kolach, sweet leavened bread with yeast is a symbol of the New Covenant; the Jews made unleavened bread, and we, the Children of the New Covenant, make leavened bread. Tsourekia is the traditional Greek braided bread. The braided form of this bread is a display of the Trinity. Wine, cheese, and butter represent all the good things of life, and remind us of the earthly gifts that come from God. Meat, traditionally lamb, is included in remembrance of the sacrifice of the Old Testament Passover, which has been replaced by Christ, the New Passover and Lamb of God. Bitter herbs (horseradish, garlic?) remind us of the first Passover and the bitter sufferings that Christ endured for us. The family gathered all together to share the paschal meal in love and peace with prayer and grateful thanks to God for all His gifts - This is the way Pascha is to be celebrated. May you have a joyous Pascha.
CHRIST IS RISEN! TRULY HE IS RISEN!