Easter is the most important holy day in the Christian year. It commemorates the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Like many Christian holidays, the celebration of Easter has been secularized to the point that it is now all about new clothes, coloured eggs, and chocolate—lots and lots of chocolate!
Perhaps you would like to test yourself with this Easter quiz.
1. Unlike Christmas, there is no fixed date for celebrating Easter. How is the date for Easter determined each year?
2. According to tradition, the Easter bunny brings coloured eggs to children. Where did this tradition originate?
3. Decorating eggs is a Ukrainian tradition. What is it called and what does it mean?
4. Why are eggs associated with Easter?
5. How many crème eggs does Cadbury produce?
6. What is prohibited in Germany on the Friday before Easter?
7. How did Easter Island get its name?
8. How do most people eat a chocolate Easter bunny?
9. Where did Easter get its name?
10. Why do we wear new clothes on Easter Sunday?
ANSWERS.
1. Easter is the first Sunday after the first full moon after the spring equinox.
2. The Easter bunny’s story dates back to pre-Christian Germany, where hares and eggs were symbols of fertility and new life.
3. The Ukrainian tradition of decorating eggs, known as Pysanka, has been practised for generations to honour health and fertility. This traditional art form involves designs on eggs created with wax and dyes. Settlers from Ukraine have made this a popular art form in Saskatchewan.
4. Since ancient times, eggs have been a symbol of new life.
5. Cadbury produces about 1.2 million crème eggs every day.
6. Public dancing is prohibited in most parts of Germany on Good Friday, where it is considered to be a “quiet day”.
7. Easter Island was named by Dutch explorer Jacob Roggeveen, who first encountered the island on Easter Sunday, April 5, 1722. The indigenous people of this Chilean island referred to it as Rapa Nui.
8. 78% of people eat the ears of their chocolate bunny first.
9. Easter’s name may come from the Anglo-Saxon goddess Eostre, associated with spring and fertility.
10. The new Easter clothes publicly state that the wearer really is a new person after Lent, the 40 days of self-reflection before Easter.
