Easter

Palm Sunday
Palm Sunday is the Sunday before Easter Day. It is to commemorate Jesus's last journey to Jerusalem, when people cut palm branches to spread on his path as he rode to the city. Many other traditions are associated with Palm Sunday. In some parts of England it used to be called Fig Sunday because people ate fig pies or puddings on that day. In Wales it is called Sul y Blodau, Flowering Sunday.
In Greece people like to eat fish on Palm Sunday. In some German towns people decorate poles with streamers and branches of pussy willow. Christians in Lebanon like to wear new clothes on Palm Sunday. In Italy it is regarded as a day or making up quarrels.

Holy Thursday
Holy Thursday also referred to as Maundy Thursday. In Europe the Christian monarchs used to wash the feet of poor people on the Thursday before Easter in memory of Jesus's Act.

Also on this day Jesus ate and drank with his followers. This meal became known as the Last Supper, because Jesus died soon after.

Good Friday
Good Friday is the commemoration of the Trial and Crucifixion of Jesus. In some countries the bells are tolled while in other countries they are silenced until Sunday. A custom also is the eating of Hot Cross Buns. Many superstitions go with hot cross buns such as they are a charm against evil and to keep indefinitely.


Holy Saturday
Holy Saturday is part of the period mourning which begins on Good Friday. For Christians in countries such as Bulgaria, Greece and Poland, Holy Saturday is a day of cooking, ready for the feasting the following day to celebrate the Resurrection.

Easter Day
Easter day is the Commemoration of the Resurrection of Jesus, with its promise of eternal life. A symbol of the Resurrection is the egg out of which a bird hatches.

It is an ancient tradition in Britain to climb the nearest hill to see the sunrise. In America they hold outdoor services at dawn in such places as the Hollywood Bowl. On this day it is also tradition to wear new clothes which has been carried on to the modern "Easter Parade".

There is always a Feast with various foods in different countries such as hot cross buns in Australia; simnel cake in Britain; pacoca in Brazil; Easter cakes in Finland and Italy; turkey or chicken in Lebanon; and pasenbrood in the Netherlands.

Easter Monday
Easter Monday is day of sports and games of various kinds. In Britain Football is the game played. Also the game of egg shackling in which you hold a hard-boiled egg firmly in your hand and hit against another opponents. Another is Ducking Monday.

Other Easter Days
Eastertide goes on until Whit Sunday, fifty days after Easter day. The day is also known as Pentecost. Several other days during Eastertide are; the first Sunday after Easter is known as Low Sunday. In England the Monday and Tuesday following Low Sunday are called Hocktide. Hocktide Monday is were the women bind and gag them until they pay a ransom, then on Tuesday it's the men's turn to do the same in kind to the women. This tradition is at least a thousand years old.

Ascension
Ascension is the fortieth day from Easter Day. It was on this day that Jesus ascended into Heaven. Ascension Day falls on a Thursday. The Paschal candle which was lit on Easter Day to mark the resurrection is put out to mark Jesus's departure from Earth.