Easter is one of the most important moments in the calendar of celebrations for the Catholic faithful, a holiday that falls on different days depending on the year.

In the Christian church Easter is preceded by a season of prayer, abstinence, and fasting called Lent. In Western churches Lent is 40 days (not counting Sundays), beginning on Ash Wednesday and ending with Easter Sunday. This 40-day fast period is to imitate Jesus Christ’s fasting in the wilderness.

After taking part in Way of the Cross procession, on Saturday, Catholics headed to the church for the blessing of food, another ritual of the feast of Easter. The food basket on the Easter Sunday table contains Easter bread, a bottle of wine, some cheese and green garlic that symbolize the arrival of spring as well as colored egg, the symbol of Christ’s resurrection and hope.

The Easter celebrations begin with the great Saturday evening mass held in all Catholic churches and end with the traditional Sunday lunch.

For the feast of Easter, the believers exchange and crack red-painted eggs, the symbol of life and then share Easter greetings with one another. The red egg is a distinguishing feature of this holiday that symbolizes life, which is closed and drowsy inside its shell, while the red color of the eggs symbolizes the sacrifice of Christ, symbolic of victory, joy and life.

The Easter celebrations begin with the great Saturday evening mass held in all Catholic churches and end with the traditional Sunday lunch.
/sm/