Easter, the holiday when followers of Christianity commemorate the resurrection of Jesus Christ three days after his crucifixion, is celebrated in many different ways around the world. People in Europe, Asia, Australia and Africa have unique ways of celebrating Easter in their households and communities.
The different countries of Europe have their own traditions. In Florence, Italy, there is an extensive parade where the crowd sings “Gloria in Excelsis Deo.” This latin phrase means “Glory to God,” which originates from the angels’ song Luke 2:14. Following that, there is a firework show in the center of the city, meant to symbolize a good harvest for the farmers and a strong business year ahead for everyone. The celebrations in Florence are vastly different from the celebrations in Greece. In Greece, they celebrate a week later than Easter Sunday because of the Orthodox Easter calendar. The most popular tradition of Greece is Tsougrisma, which is the Greek Red Egg Easter Game. To dye the eggs, one uses red and yellow onion skins or specialized red dye packets that are mixed with vinegar. To play the game, one uses a red hard boiled egg and taps it on their opponent’s egg, hoping for the opponents egg to crack. The red egg is used as a symbol that represents the blood of Christ. The full, uncracked shell symbolizes the sealed tomb and the cracked egg shell represents Jesus’s emergence from it. The celebrations in Florence and Greece are very specific to their culture and celebrated in distinctive ways.
Asia commemorates Easter in a unique way which differs from Europe. In the Philippines, people rise early on the morning of Easter Sunday to watch the sunrise and have a pre-dawn church service before their main service, also that morning. The pre-dawn service is known as the Salubong, where there is a re-enactment of Christ meeting his mother, Mary. Many families visit church during “Holy Week,” which includes Palm Sunday, Holy Thursday and Good Friday, so their prayers can be heard. Celebration in the Philippines differs from the celebration in Thailand, where they often meet in a public park with worship songs and proclaim the risen Lord. A pastor, local church member or missionary then shares a Bible testimony and gives a Bible message prior to everyone taking holy communion. Those who are in the park that are not with the worshipping group sometimes stop to listen to this service. Following this, they have an Easter egg hunt in a park. After the egg hunt, they have rice soup for breakfast. One church holds an Easter egg decorating competition where contestants are judged by priests and the winner receives a cash prize. The traditions in the Philippines, as well as in Thailand, are very special in their own ways.
Standard traditions, such as egg hunts and painting eggs are what mainly is celebrated in Australia; however, they have other celebrations that are different from other places. Australia has a four day weekend off of school and work, starting on Good Friday and goes until Easter Monday. Their weekend consists of family gatherings, eating Cadbury chocolate and participating in outdoor activities like hiking and camping. There are many religious celebrations that Australians participate in during Easter, like attending church or breaking their 40 day Lent period which breaking lent involves praying and fasting. Lent is broken on Holy Thursday, just before the Mass of the Lord’s supper. In addition, families getting togethers are often prioritized over this long weekend so people can gather with their family members they haven’t seen in a while. Most people look forward to the long weekend of relaxation and connecting with family which is very similar to American traditions.
Africa is another continent that has different ways of celebrating Easter than those in other continents. Easter is celebrated by relaxation and church services spanning from Holy Thursday to Easter Sunday. Easter vigils are filled with various activities like hymns, praying, reading Bible verses and watching movies about Jesus’s death and resurrection. Some movies that are watched are “The Gospel of John” and “The King of Kings,” which the priests would find and display for the people. Many families gather at parties or in their own household together to celebrate this holiday. In Africa, there are many different celebrations associated with the holiday such as wearing black clothing on Good Friday to represent the mourning and sorrow of the death of Jesus, then wearing white on Easter Sunday to resemble his resurrection. Africans have a feast that is specific to their denomination. One popular dish is fufu, made from cassava or yams and often served with soup or stew and popular desserts including akara, which is fried bean fritters and kola nut pudding. The earliest findings of eggs in Africa were 60,000 years ago. Many tribes used to make jewelry out of the eggshells; now they do similar traditions where eggs are decorated with bright colors and hidden for children to find. The different traditions of Africa are very unusual and different.
Easter is a globally celebrated holiday and is an extremely important holiday to celebrate. Celebrations like food, eggs, parades, the red egg game or church services are critically important to these continents’ cultures. Easter is a popular and unique holiday that is celebrated across the whole world that many enjoy their traditions they have in their country.
