Happy Easter to all believers in Christ.

Easter , or the Feast of the Resurrection , is a holiday in the Christian year, falling on a Sunday in March or April. Christians believe that on this day, Jesus Christ rose from the dead after being crucified.

Easter marks the end of Holy Week, when Jesus entered Jerusalem, was arrested by Roman soldiers, and after suffering and suffering, was crucified on Golgotha ​​Hill in Jerusalem. Unlike other holidays and celebrations, the date of this feast is not fixed and changes every year between March 22 and April 25.

Historical roots

This celebration, called Passover or the Feast of Unleavened Bread, was the greatest Jewish holiday, which was celebrated to commemorate the exodus of the Israelites from Egypt.

The Jews knew it as Passover or Pascha (with the first letter), which means “passover.” The words Passover, Passover, and finally “Passover” are derived from this word. This holiday is called Easter or Oster in other European languages, and there are reasons for this that are not agreed upon.

In his "Athar al-Baqiyyah", the Iranian scholar Abu Rayhan al-Biruni has explained in detail the significance of this festival for Jews and Christians.

According to al-Biruni, followers of Judaism call the first day of the seven days, which they call "unleavened bread," Passover; and it is the day on which the Israelites left Egypt, went to the land of Canaan, and arrived in the inhabited land of Palestine.

The Israelites, who had recovered from their time of suffering and captivity in Egypt, celebrated and rejoiced at their freedom upon reaching the Promised Land.

This Jewish holiday begins on the evening of the 14th of Nisan and lasts for a week.

The greatest Christian holiday

For Christians, Easter is associated with the resurrection and ascension of Christ.

According to the New Testament, Jesus Christ was crucified two days before Passover, and on the third day, on a Sunday when the moon was full, he rose from the grave, lived on earth for 40 days, and then ascended to heaven.

The early Christians, who lived in a Jewish community, celebrated the resurrection of their leader at the same time as the Passover.

In 325 AD, after Christianity was recognized as the official religion by the Roman government, the Church Fathers separated the feast of the Resurrection of Christ from the Jewish Passover, and harmonized it with Christian traditions.

Thus, the first Sunday after the full moon (Badr) rises after the sun reaches Aries was considered the Day of Resurrection, which could fall between the third of Farvardin to the end of Farvardin (March 22 to April 25).

Holy days and rituals

Both Jews and Christians celebrate Passover with a series of rituals and customs. The ceremony takes different forms in different synagogues and churches, but many of its elements are common.

The Passover celebrations usually begin a week before, known as Holy Week. Believers are advised to spend these days fasting, abstinence, piety, and piety.

Easter week begins with Palm Sunday, the sixth and final Sunday of Lent.

According to tradition, on the last Sunday before the Feast of Unleavened Bread, Jesus triumphantly entered Jerusalem, holding a palm branch in his hand, and his followers paved his path with palm branches and leaves.

On this day, believers go to church to pray and worship, and sing religious hymns and songs with others.

The Last Supper

On Thursday evening, Jesus Christ called his close friends (the apostles) to have dinner with him. At this feast, he offered them bread and wine, then gave them a speech and announced that he would soon be arrested.

After the supper, according to tradition, one of the apostles, Judas Iscariot, secretly went to the Roman rulers and, in exchange for a small sum of money, revealed Christ's hiding place to them, paving the way for his arrest.

At the end of the night, when the apostles had gone to bed, Jesus went alone to the top of the Mount of Olives to pray, knowing that a severe punishment awaited him.

At dawn on Friday (Good Friday), Roman soldiers arrested Jesus at a location called the "Garden of Gethsemane" and took him to the headquarters.

The Roman rulers of Jerusalem, at the instigation of the "chief priests and elders of the people," forced Christ, after much torture and persecution, to carry a heavy cross on his shoulders to the top of Golgotha.

Good Friday is a day of mourning. On this day, churchgoers usually abstain from eating meat. Both vegetarianism and gardening are recommended.

On Saturday, which is the day of Christ's burial, church members observe a day of prayer, reflection, and self-control.

Christians today are usually busy cleaning their homes, shopping, cooking, and preparing for Easter on Holy Saturday.

According to the story, on the third day after the crucifixion, Christ's friends and relatives went to his tomb at dawn to anoint his body, but they did not find Jesus and learned that he had gone to "the Lord."

On Sunday and Monday, celebrations are held in all homes, accompanied by joy, feasting, and drinking. The main dish on this day is usually lamb.

Customs and traditions

Many of the customs and traditions prevalent at Easter have ancient roots in the rituals of pastoral and agricultural peoples. The entire myth of Christ, his death and resurrection on the eve of spring, is reminiscent of fertility celebrations at the dawn of human civilization.

One of the most common customs at Easter is dyeing eggs and eating them, which undoubtedly has symbolic meaning.

On Eid, children in particular find and eat the colorful eggs that the "rabbit" has hidden in every corner of the garden.

Dyeing eggs is an ancient tradition, and is likely a reference to the art of dyeing Jesus Christ's clothes in any color he wanted, as the Iranian poet Khaghani Shervani has also noted:

Jesus, by the command of the dyer, overcame his affliction.

He wore a black dress near the sun.

And the rabbit is a symbol of birth and fertility, an agile animal that strives with all its might to reproduce at the beginning of spring!

Source: Wikipedia