We have a long tradition at Singing Rooster of celebrating holidays by presenting interesting and perhaps unknown facts about special days.
Holy Week is celebrated by many but not all Christians. It’s the week before Easter and includes Palm Sunday, Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and Holy Saturday.
Easter is the most important celebration for most Christians. Easter comes from the Anglo-Saxon, Eostre, the name of the goddess of spring and commemorates the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Maundy Thursday is the day before Good Friday, the day Jesus died. “Maundy” is a Latin word meaning commandment. At the Last Supper, Jesus told all present: “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you are to love one another.” (John 13:34)
One likely origin of the Easter Egg
Medieval Christians abstained from eating eggs and meat during Lent. Eggs laid during that time were boiled for preservation then given as gifts to children and servants. Hmm… a 40 day old boiled egg?
Good Friday commemorates the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. In the U.S, 12 states recognize it as a holiday: Connecticut, Texas, Delaware, Hawaii, Indiana, Tennessee, Florida, Kentucky, Louisiana, New Jersey, North Carolina and North Dakota.
Americans buy more than 700 million marshmallow Peeps during Easter and consume more than 16 million jelly beans (enough to circle the globe 3x).
Where did the bunny come from?
The first edible Easter Bunny was made from pastry and sugar in Germany in the 1800s. Today’s chocolate bunnies are hollow for safety reasons; biting through 2″+ chocolate broke too many teeth!
Since birds lay eggs and rabbits give birth to large litters in early spring, they became symbols of the Vernal Equinox (around March 20th). Easter Bunnies are likely derived from the pagan festival of Eostre, a northern goddess whose symbol was a rabbit and welcomed in Spring.
Exchanging painted eggs started in ancient civilizations (e.g. Egyptians and Persians) and were symbols of fertility and new life. Makes sense that Easter baskets resemble nests! In bygone traditions, girls and boys woke Easter morning to build nests out of sticks and leaves so the Easter Bunny would leave behind eggs. Today’s kids are smarter & know rabbits don’t lay eggs.
Learn more about the History of Easter. Then buy Singing Rooster’s #haitianchocolate for your Easter basket! Want something bigger? Then opt for one of our fair trade word art metal crosses handmade in Haiti –the perfect Easter gift: I have swept away your offenses like a cloud, your sins like the morning mist. Return to me for I have redeemed you.