Easter Traditions Through the Years

Easter Sunday is April 17. Easter is an old holiday and has many traditions that have changed or endured through the years.

Easter is also called, Pascha or Resurrection Sunday. Each year, Christians commemorate their Savior’s victory over sin and death.

Christ was crucified on Good Friday, and his body was laid in a tomb owned by Joseph of Arimathea, a Jewish follower of Christ. According to Bible prophesy, the grave, or death, could not hold Him. On the third day, Easter Sunday, Mary Magdalene and ‘the other Mary’ as the Bible states, came to the tomb near sunrise, to grieve for their friend.

According to the Bible account, there was a great earthquake, and an angeldescended from heaven, and rolled back the stone that sealed the tomb. The angels appearance was like lightning, his clothing was white as snow. Out of fear, the guards became as dead men. However, the angel told the two women, not to fear, as Jesus has been raised from the dead, just as he said.

The cross, a common Easter symbol, represents the empty cross of Christ.

To most Christians, the week before Easter is referred to as Holy Week, which begins on Palm Sunday and contains Maundry Thursday, the day of the last supper; Good Friday, to mourn the crucifixion, and of course, the triumph of the resurrection on Easter Sunday.

Easter is a movable holiday, that is, not falling on a fixed date; through the ages it has come to be the first Sunday after the first full moon after the 21 of March.

The Cheyenne Weekly Sun, on April 10, 1890: The Passover. One reason for making Easter a movable feast was that it might never fall on the same day as the Jewish Passover. They did occur together on April 14th, 1805 and will do so again in 1903 and in 1925 on April 1. The latest Easter in this century and the following, occur in 1886 and 1943 on the 25th of April.

The Wheatland Times, January 24, 1913 An Early Easter … the next Easter falls on March 23. Not since 1819 did it arrive sooner in that year it came on March 22 Not until after the year 2000 will it come so early. Sixty-seven years ago and fifty-six years ago respectively Easter occurred on the same date as it does in 1913… The latest Easter of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries was in 1859, when it fell on April 24. In 1848 and 1905 it occurred on April 23. Last Easter was on April 7. Easter can never come earlier than March 22, and the only time it did or could do this from the year 1801 to 2000 was in 1818. This was made possible by having a full moon, on March 21 and the following day being Sunday. This coincidence does not occur more than once in a century.

There are many Easter traditions that are observed for the holiday. The Cheyenne Weekly Sun, on April 10, 1890: Easter DaysFacts, Fancies and Quaint Customs Relating to Easter, in an article reprinted from Vanity Fair April 5, 1890, Mr. Editor: The closing days of Lent put a stop to society’s busy whirl and having but little social gossip it may not be amiss to give you some thoughts, facts and fancies about Easter day.

Easter history. Easter derives its Teutonic name from the Pagan goddess Ostera or Eastre. She was the personification of the morning or east and also of the opening of spring.

The worship of Easter seems to have struck deep root in Germany and was brought into England by the Saxons. With its usual policy the Church endeavored to give a Christian significance to such of the Pagan rites as could not be rooted out and here the conversion was easy. Joy at the rising of the natural sun, and the awakening of nature from the death of winter, beamed joy at the raising of the Son of Righteousness— at the resurrection of Christ from the grave. It typified with the raising of the Savior, a refreshing of love, a revival of life here, and a renewal of hope for life hereafter.

Easter Observances. The proper time for the observance of Easter easily caused controversies and in the second century a dispute arose between the eastern and western churches. The great mass of eastern Christians celebrates Easter on the fourteenth day of the first Jewish moon, considering it the same as the Jewish Passover, while the western church kept Easter the Sunday after the fourteenth day commemorating the resurrection of Jesus. The Council of Nice (325 A.D.) decided in favor of the western usage, holding the eastern usage heresy.

Churches around the area celebrate Easter with special music and services.

The Sheridan Enterprise, March 27, 1921, Easter Services in all Churches Are to Be Featured with Special Music and Special Sermons Easter Sunday Easter in Sheridan will be observed in all of Sheridan’s churches with appropriate services: practically every evangelical church having prepared special programs, while in the Catholic. Episcopal and Lutheran churches the usual Easter devotions with special music.

A sunrise meeting: at 6 o’clock a.m. will open the Easter Services of the Sheridan corps of the Salvation Army. Ensign and Mrs. Lorenzen will be in charge of the service. An Easter breakfast, served by Mrs. Lorenzen will follow this early morning prayer service at 11 o’clock a Holiness meeting will be held in the barracks, and at 2:30 o’clock children of the corps will be honored with a special program, At 8 o’clock in the evening a general Easter service., with special music and sermon by Ensign Lorenzen will be conducted.

St. Peter’s Episcopal church begins is observance of Easter Day with Holy Communion at 7:30 a. m. At 11 o’clock here will be Holy Communication and a sermon by the rector. Dean Samuel E. West. A choral even song at 4:30 o’clock will take the place of the usual vesper service. The program for this hour includes the cantata. “The New Life.” As there is no Sunday school hour m the morning,*the children will present their Lenten mite boxes at the afternoon hour.

In the First Congregational church Rev. Raymond B. Walker, pastor, will give a special Easter sermon to the Junior congregation at 10:30 o’clock, following the usual church school assembly. At 11 o’clock Rev. Mr. Walker will deliver an Easter sermon to the adult congregation on “The Triumphant Christ.” Special Easter music at this hour has been arranged by tho choir.

In the Church of the Holy Name Easter day services begin with the administering of Holy Communion at 6:30 a.m.

The Cheyenne Weekly Sun, on April 10, 1890 article continues ,Easter-Tide In Egypt. I passed one Easter tide In Cairo, Egypt, in 18— and was much interested in the ceremonies in the Greek, Roman Catholic and Coptic churches. At midnight on Easter eve the members of the Greek church marched through the streets with torches and candles and crosses and chanting in unison when the processions met. The leaders would embrace each other, crying In Arabic, “Christ Has Risen.” From midnight until day the Greek church was illuminated as brilliantly as possible and the service celebrated with great splendor and magnificence, and on Easter day the celebration of the mass was a grand pageant. The service in the Roman Catholic and Episcopal churches was much like that we have in America.

Although Easter is a holiday celebrated by Christians, there are many different customs related to Easter, such as Easter eggs, and the Easter Bunny, as in the following articles. The Cheyenne Weekly Sun, on April 10, 1890: Quaint Easter Customs. All through the old countries there abound quaint and curious customs of keeping Easter, but perhaps the most characteristic Easter rite and the one most widely diffused is the use of Pasch or Easter eggs; they are dyed of all colors, and people make presents of them, they are sometimes kept as amulets and games are played with them by striking them together. This practice is not confined to Christians; the Jews use eggs in the feast of the Passover, and the Persians present colored eggs to each other when they celebrate the festival of the solar new year in March. The Egyptians considered the eggs sacred emblem of man’s new life and his release from the burden of sin. His bondsmen, the children of Israel accepted the emblem, from them it has come to the Christians who use it with a different belief.

The Wheatland World, April 2, 1909, Eggs and Easter. The egg has from time immemorial been connected with this season of the year. The custom of using eggs is supposed to have originated with the ancient Greeks and Romans, who colored them lo use in their pagan festival.

Marvelous stories may be found of bewitched eggs, said to be able to fly straight toward the sun, and one famous variety was said to have been laid by a rabbit. So even in those remote times the Easter “bunny” had a place.

In Gerrnany he has been known these many years. The children of the fatherland watch eagerly for the hare who hides his eggs so carefully for their finding on Easter morning.

Russia is really the paradise of the Easter egg. Everyone carries one on the street and presents to his friends, saying “Christ is risen,” the recipient responding: “He is risen, indeed.” In practical bustling America this |season is becoming a much-looked-for I occasion. We are beginning to live up to many of the beautiful traditions of the past, of which the legends concerning Easter are the most beautiful of all.

Easter lilies are a popular decoration at Easter, especially in Churches.

Lilies are mentioned in the Bible, in the Rock River Review, March 26, 1920 there is an article about Easter Lilies. In the Sermon on the Mount Jesus spoke of the “lilies of the field,” which, though they neither toiled nor spun, out did King Solomon in the beauty of their raiment. It has been popularly supposed that the lily of the valley was the one he meant.

In Catholic countries the lily was sacred to the Virgin Mary, because It is a symbol of purity. The angels painted by the old masters frequently carry lilies in their hands. And legend tells that, when the disciples looked into the tomb of Jesus after the resurrection, it was filled with lilies. The lilies that appear in the paintings of Murlllo and other old masters are not callas. They are of the familiar Easter Lily type, and are easily recognizable as the Madonna or annunciation Lily— the latter name being given them because of the belief that the angel of the Annunciation appeared to the Virgin Mary with these lilies in his hands. Other traditions include dressing up as fine as possible to attend Easter services, Easter bonnets were especially popular with well-dressed women and girls. Many towns, including New York, had and still have Easter parades. In 1933, Irving Berlin wrote a song “Easter Parade”, which became an Easter standard, and in 1948 it was the basis for the film ‘Easter Parade’ a Technicolor musical starring Judy Garland and Fred Astaire.

Cheyenne State Leader, April 4, 1920: The possibilities for an Easter parade in Cheyenne were rather remote following the snow on the last two days and the threatening appearance of the elements last night.

Cheyenne Daily Leader, April 23, 1905: New York, April 22— The Easter parade on Fifth Avenue tomorrow will eclipse those of former years In brilliance, If the weather is fair. It is estimated that nearly $3,000,000 have been spent by women of this for Easter finery alone. Special services will be held in the churches, all of which have been gorgeously decorated for the occasion.

So, no matter what tradition appeals to you at Eastern enjoy the season. It is a time of resurrection and renewal, like the grass and flowers of spring. And remember also that many of the traditions we celebrate go back into antiquity.