The Easter Tradition

Submitted by: Steadfast news correspondent, 13th Apr 09

"Eástre" by Jacques Reich (1909).

Steadfast Trust would like to wish you all the best during this spring time of promise and – we trust - good cheer.

Origins of the Easter Tradition:
Easter is an ancient festival dating back to the very founding of the English people some 1500 years ago.

Extract from 'Anglo-Saxon FAQs' by Stephen Pollington:
The giving of decorated eggs at the time of the spring equinox may well be an older custom than Christianity. There is, after all, nothing specifically Christian in the practice and the symbolism – the egg as a sign of fertility and new life – seems fairly blatantly sexual. Bede says that April was called Eostermonad ‘easter-month’ after a goddess worshipped at this time. The name Eostre (Easter) is derived from the word ‘east’ and represents an ancient word ausosa ‘east, the dawn, the rising sun’; which is also the root of the Latin word aurora ‘dawn, daybreak’.

Modern Times
Today Easter is largely celebrated as a Christian event with Good Friday signifying the death of Jesus Christ and Sunday (or Easter/Resurrection Sunday) his resurrection. Easter itself is a moveable feast falling each year on a Sunday between March 22nd and April 25th inclusive (April 4th and May 8th in Eastern Christianity), following the cycle of the Moon.

Easter is a traditional holiday – a time when family and friends can get together and the Steadfast Trust hopes that you all had a pleasant break.