WORK OF ENGLISH
Autor: GRAZI | Publicado: 2011-04-19T18:47:00-07:00

The&nbsp;meaning&nbsp;of&nbsp;Easter&nbsp;...Easter is a Christian holiday that celebrates the resurrection of Jesus Christ. After dying on the cross, his body was placed in a tomb where he remained until his resurrection, when spirit and body were reunited. It is the most important day of the Christian religion, when people go to church and participate in religious ceremonies. Many Easter customs related to the stem of the pagan spring festivals. Others come to the conclusion of Pesach, or Passover, the Jewish Easter. It is one of the most important festivals of the Jewish calendar, which is celebrated for eight days and commemorates the Israelites' exodus from Egypt during the reign of Pharaoh Ramses II, from slavery to freedom. A rite of passage, like the "passing" of Christ from death to life.
Symbols
THE EGG&nbsp;Of all the symbols, the easter egg is the most awaited by children.&nbsp;In pagan cultures, the egg brought the idea of ​​early life. People used to give eggs to friends, wishing them good luck. The Chinese have used to distribute among friends colored eggs in the spring, as a reference to the renewal of life.&nbsp;There are many legends about the eggs. The best known is the Persians: they believed that the earth had fallen from a giant egg, and for this reason, the eggs became sacred.&nbsp;The early Christians of the East were the first to give colorful Easter eggs symbolize the resurrection, birth into a new life. European countries used to write messages and dates on eggs and donate them to friends. In others, like Germany, the custom was to give children. In Armenia decorate hollow eggs with pictures of Jesus, Mary and other religious figures.&nbsp;Color eggs with colors of spring to celebrate the Passover, was adopted by Christians in the eighteenth century. The church donated the eggs to the faithful benthos.&nbsp;The replacement of hard-boiled eggs and chocolate eggs painted by, can be justified by the prohibition of the consumption of animal flesh, by some Christians during Lent. The most accepted version is that the appearance of the chocolate industry in 1830 in England, made the consumption of chocolate eggs increase.&nbsp;

RABBIT
The rabbit is a rodent mammal that spends much of his time eating. He has cute hair and good eats carrots and vegetables. Rabbits need to chew food well to prevent their teeth grow continuously.
For its great fertility, the rabbit became the most popular symbol of Easter. Is it symbolizes the church, through the power of Christ, fruitful in its mission to spread the word of God to all people.
There is another legend that says that a poor woman colored some eggs and hid them in a nest to give them as gifts to your children for Easter. When the children found the nest, a rabbit ran great. Then spread the story that the rabbit is what brought the eggs.
In ancient Egypt, the rabbit symbolized the birth and new life. Some peoples of antiquity considered him the symbol of the Moon is possible that he has become a symbol of Easter because of the fact the moon to determine the date of Easter.
But the truth is that even if the image source in the Easter Bunny on fertility is that rabbits possess, to generate life.
BREAD&nbsp;AND&nbsp;WINEThe bread and wine, especially in antiquity, were the most common food and drink for many people. Christ in instituting the Eucharist is the most common foods served to symbolize his constant presence among the people and willingly. Thus, the bread and wine symbolize the eternal covenant of the Creator with his creature and his presence among us.
Jesus knew who would be persecuted, arrested and nailed to across. So, combined with two of his friends (disciples) to prepare the feast of Passover in a safe place.
When everything was ready, Jesus and the other disciples came together to celebrate the feast of Passover. This was the Last Supper of Jesus.
The institution of the Eucharist was made by Jesus at the Last Supper, when he offered bread and wine to his disciples saying "Take, eat, this is my body ... This is my blood ...". The Lord" instituted the Eucharistic Sacrifice of his Body and his Blood so to perpetuate the Sacrifice of the Cross throughout the centuries until He comes again, thus entrusting to his beloved Spouse, the Church, the memorial of his death and resurrection: sacrament of life, a sign of unity, bond of charity, a paschal banquet in which Christ is eaten, which fills the soul of grace and we are given a pledge of future glory "
The Passover reminds Jews by the passage of the Red Sea in search of freedom.
Today, we celebrate Easter recalling the journey of Jesus life, death and resurrection.

THE CROSS
Representing all the meaning of Easter, the resurrection and the Passion of Christ. At the Council of Nice a in AD 325, Constantine decreed the Cross as the official symbol of Christianity. So not only a symbol of Easter, but the primary symbol of the Catholic faith.


LAMB
The&nbsp;lamb&nbsp;is&nbsp;the&nbsp;most ancient&nbsp;symbol&nbsp;of Easter,&nbsp;is the&nbsp;symbol&nbsp;of the covenant&nbsp;made&nbsp;​​between&nbsp;God&nbsp;and&nbsp;the Jewish people&nbsp;at Passover&nbsp;of&nbsp;the Old Law.&nbsp;In&nbsp;the Old&nbsp;Testament,&nbsp;Easter&nbsp;was celebrated&nbsp;with&nbsp;unleavened bread&nbsp;(no&nbsp;yeast)&nbsp;and with the sacrifice of&nbsp;a lamb&nbsp;as a&nbsp;reminder&nbsp;of the&nbsp;great deed&nbsp;of&nbsp;God in behalf&nbsp;of&nbsp;his people,&nbsp;the&nbsp;liberation&nbsp;from slavery in&nbsp;Egypt.&nbsp;So the&nbsp;people&nbsp;of Israel celebrated the&nbsp;deliverance&nbsp;and&nbsp;God's covenant&nbsp;with&nbsp;his people.
Moses, chosen&nbsp;by&nbsp;God to&nbsp;liberate&nbsp;the Jewish people&nbsp;from&nbsp;slavery of the Pharaohs,&nbsp;celebrated&nbsp;the&nbsp;passage&nbsp;to&nbsp;freedom,&nbsp;sacrificing&nbsp;a lamb.
For&nbsp;Christians,&nbsp;the&nbsp;lamb&nbsp;is Jesus, Lamb&nbsp;of&nbsp;God&nbsp;who&nbsp;was sacrificed&nbsp;on&nbsp;the cross&nbsp;for&nbsp;our&nbsp;sins,&nbsp;and whose&nbsp;blood&nbsp;redeemed us,&nbsp;"dying&nbsp;he destroyed&nbsp;our&nbsp;death&nbsp;and&nbsp;rising he&nbsp;restored&nbsp;our life."It is the&nbsp;new&nbsp;covenant of&nbsp;God&nbsp;made&nbsp;​​by&nbsp;His&nbsp;Son,&nbsp;now&nbsp;not only&nbsp;a people&nbsp;but&nbsp;all peoples.
&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;BELL  
The bell is a symbol of Easter.&nbsp;Many churches have bells that are suspended in towers and play to announce the celebrations.On Easter Sunday, playing festive bells joyfully announce the celebration of the resurrection of Christ.


PASCHAL CANDLEIt is a great candle lit in the church, on Easter Saturday. Means that "Christ is the light of the people. "This candle, engraved with the Greek letters "alpha" and "omega", which means: God is the beginning and end. The digits of the year are also written in the Pascal Candle.The paschal candle symbolizes that Christ rose from darkness to light our way..



COLOMBA PASCHALThe pie-shaped "dove of peace" means the coming of the Holy Spirit. Legend has it that the tradition arose in the town of Pavia (northern Italy), where a baker would have presented the Lombard king Albuíno with delicacy. The sovereign, in turn, would have saved the town from an invasion through the cruel satisfaction.

SUNFLOWER&nbsp;Sunflower is a yellow flower, composed of many petals, usually largein size. It got this name because it is always facing the sun.The sunflower as a symbol of Easter, is the pursuit of light that is Jesus Christ and, as he follows the star king, Christians seek in Christ the way, the truth and the life.

Curiosity
But&nbsp;why&nbsp;Easter&nbsp;never&nbsp;falls&nbsp;on the same&nbsp;day&nbsp;every year?
The&nbsp;date of Easter&nbsp;is&nbsp;the&nbsp;first&nbsp;Sunday after&nbsp;the&nbsp;full moon&nbsp;that&nbsp;occurs on&nbsp;or&nbsp;after&nbsp;March 21&nbsp;(the&nbsp;date&nbsp;of&nbsp;the equinox).&nbsp;However,&nbsp;the date&nbsp;of the full moon&nbsp;is not&nbsp;real,&nbsp;but&nbsp;defined&nbsp;in&nbsp;Tables&nbsp;Ecclesiastical.&nbsp;(The church,&nbsp;for&nbsp;consistency&nbsp;on the date&nbsp;of Easter&nbsp;has decided in the Council of Nice&nbsp;in 325&nbsp;AD&nbsp;set&nbsp;the&nbsp;Easter&nbsp;related&nbsp;to&nbsp;an&nbsp;imaginary moon&nbsp;- known&nbsp;as&nbsp;the "ecclesiastical moon").
With this&nbsp;definition,&nbsp;the&nbsp;date&nbsp;of&nbsp;Easter&nbsp;can&nbsp;be determined&nbsp;with out great&nbsp;astronomical knowledge.&nbsp;But&nbsp;the sequence&nbsp;of&nbsp;dates&nbsp;varies from&nbsp;year to&nbsp;year,&nbsp;at least&nbsp;on&nbsp;March 22&nbsp;and&nbsp;no later than&nbsp;April 24,becoming&nbsp;the&nbsp;Passover&nbsp;feast&nbsp;in a&nbsp;"mobile".
In fact,&nbsp;the exact sequence of&nbsp;Easter dates&nbsp;repeats&nbsp;itself approximately&nbsp;5.7 million years&nbsp;in our Gregorian calendar.