Today is the second day in the seven-week-long season of
Easter in the life of the Church. Although every Sunday is a "little
Easter" (which is why there are Sundays in Lent, not Sundays of Lent),
this is the beginning of the longest special season of the liturgical year. In
her book, To Dance with God: Family Ritual and Community Celebration, Gertrude Mueller
Nelson shares a story about something her family did each Monday after Easter.
"So it is right and proper
that we celebrate the days of Easter with joy.
I will admit to having kept my children out of school on Easter Monday
for years. The school holidays before
Easter were steeped in preparations and anticipation. Now we needed time for rejoicing. I think the
children liked that Monday holiday especially; it was so unlike us to take a
'well day' off work and school.
"When the
children were small we would plan to meet another family or two, usually by the
marsh waters near our home. That was the favorite Easter Monday picnic place...
Always we got wet. We learned about the traditions of getting wet on Easter
Monday first from a favorite children's book which we have read and reread for
years especially at Eastertime. The Good Master by Kate Seredy tells of an
Hungarian family, and the accounts of their Easter celebrations caught our
interest. On Easter Monday, the young
boys of Hungarian villages went from house to house, and wherever young girls
lived, they came up to the door, recited a blessing and then splashed the girls
with water. The girls in turn invited them in and everyone feasted on Easter specialities,
and the girls gave the boys some of their carefully painted eggs to take
home. On Easter Tuesday they replayed
the whole game in reverse."
The days before Easter are, indeed, filled with
"preparations and anticipation," aren't they? They are days of retelling the ancient
stories, days of drama, days of mixed emotions, days that seem to drag out
until Easter morning. But what about the
days (and weeks) after Easter? Do you have any special traditions that you
observe? We don't... and it makes me wonder why? After all, we Christians believe that
everything has changed because of the Easter message! Why wouldn't we have our own traditions to
continue the wonder, joy, and celebrations?
¡Cristo ha resucitado!
Christos anesti!
Christus ist auferstanden!
Le Christ est ressuscité!
Cristo ressuscitou!
Tá méadú tagtha ar Críost!
Christ is Risen!
Spanish, Greek, German, French, Portuguese, Irish, or
English... It makes no difference. The meaning is the same, and the world was
forever changed by its truth. Let's find
some ways to continue the celebration!
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