| Have we all lost the true meaning
of Easter? By Trevor O’sullivan
THE tradition of Easter has long been at the heart of Irish Catholicism.
In recent years however many have argued that it has been secularised
and commercialised. Nowadays it seems an Irish Easter is less about the
passion of the Christ and more about Easter eggs and a public holiday.
But it wasn’t always like that it used to be a very sacred time
of fasting and prayer.
An Irish Easter was famous for a multitude of traditions and customs
that were strictly adhered to.Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of the
countdown to Ireland’s holy Easter.
It occurs 46 days before Easter but Lent is nevertheless considered
40 days long because Sundays in this period are not counted as days of
penance.
Ash Wednesday falls on different dates from year to year according to
the date of Easter; it can occur as early as February 4 or as late as
March 10. For centuries the faithful have gone to church on this day to
have their brow symbolically marked with a cross of ashes.
Traditionally the ashes came from burning the palms saved from the previous
Palm Sunday but in some areas the custom was for people to bring ashes
from their turf fire into the church to be blessed.
At least one person from every household attended the Ash Wednesday ritual
and they would bring home a pinch or two so that all family members could
have their foreheads marked.
And so with the priest having used his right thumb to apply the ashes
while saying the prayer: “Remember that you are dust and to dust
you shall return,” the 40day Lenten season commenced.
Lent was once a time of austere fasting. No animal products of any kind
were eaten or used in cooking. This meant total abstinence from meat,
eggs, butter, milk and animal fats. Since Lent was supposed to be spent
in penitential prayer all socialising came to a halt. In fact no merry-making
of any kind was allowed or tolerated. That meant no music, dancing, card
games or even visiting the neighbours.
In many homes the musical instruments were stored away and the deck of
cards was burned. A new deck would not be purchased and brought into the
house until Lent was over.
Many people also gave up smoking as well as alcohol ‘for the duration’.
By the middle of the 19th century the rigid austerities of the Lenten
fast had been greatly relaxed so that the majority of Irish people observed
‘the black fast’ one meal and just water to drink only on
Ash Wednesday and Good Friday.
There was also a welcome break from the long, sombre days to look forward
to the feast of St. Patrick on March 17.
In today’s society many believe the sacrifice of giving something
up for Lent doesn’t hold any sway with Ireland’s a-la-carte
Catholics. It’s simply another outdated tradition which has fallen
by the wayside.
One Easter custom that has attempted to remain resolute in the face of
change is the significance of Good Friday.
It was always an extremely sombre day in the Irish calendar.
Even today its solemnity remains and along with Christmas Day it is the
only day of the year when pubs across Ireland are closed.
But even this tradition has come under pressure of late with secular businesses
claiming a loss of earnings by way of a religious festival. Many people
now cross the border to the North of Ireland to shop or visit pubs or
restaurants.
The Good Friday of our forefathers saw a rigid adherence to sacrifice.
It was a day of remembrance for it is the day when the innocent Lord Jesus
was crucified. There was no work done in the fields. No blood was to be
shed, no hammering of nails and no wood-working as to do so would be to
equal oneself with the Roman soldiers who nailed the hands and feet of
the Saviour onto the wood of the cross.
There had to be absolute silence from noon until three in the afternoon
for that was the time of the Lord’s greatest agony on the cross.
Also a baby born on Good Friday and baptised on Easter Sunday was believed
to have special healing powers.
Easter Sunday has probably suffered most from the rampant commercialisation
of the Irish Easter.
In the past its religious significance was undiminished and families would
prepare their homes for Easter Sunday by doing what would be better known
as “spring cleaning” to prepare the house for blessing by
the local priest.
It was an intensely important occasion back then. People liked to look
their best for church and it was often the first outing for new clothes
and a beautiful Easter bonnet.
People even danced in the streets on Easter Sunday. The dancers competed
for the prize of a cake.
Butchers who for the long days of lent had gone through some slow business
would often hold a mock funeral for a herring.
This was the symbolic end of Lent, the end of abstinence and the return
to eating meat. It was naturally a day of great joy for all butchers.
These days the only frivolities many Irish people partake in on Easter
Sunday is the gorging of chocolate eggs. Irish people now buy well over
5million Easter eggs and due to this high chocolate consumption Easter
sales represent the second-biggest chocolate event of the year after Christmas
in Ireland.
But there was a time in Ireland when duck eggs would have been eaten
in large quantities on that day with a competition to see who could eat
the most!
Easter on the calendar
MOST of our Western festivals are simple to predict. They either occur
on the same date each year or at a fixed position such as the first Sunday
of a month.
Easter on the other hand is what is called a moveable feast and so the
date changes every year. Easter Sunday can fall on any date from March
22 to April 25.
The reason for this variation in the date of Easter is its origins in
pagan festivals.
The date is actually based on the lunar calendar rather than our more
well known solar one. There have been some attempts to change the date
of Easter away from the old pagan-inspired lunar calendar, however these
have met with little support.
The official definition of Western Easter is that it takes place on:
The first Sunday after the first full moon on or after the vernal equinox.
The Western date for 2007 Easter Sunday will be April 8.
Western Easter dates for the next few years are:
2008 — March 23
2009 — April 12
2010 — April 14.
Irish Easter Customs
Good Friday
n Clean house thoroughly both inside and out.
n Obtain new clothes.
n Plant a small amount of crop seed to a bring blessing on it all.
n Maintain quiet on Good Friday from noon until 3pm.
n Visit church, holy wells and graveyards.
nCut your hair on Good Friday to prevent headaches in the year to come.
Easter Saturday:
n Have holy water blessed.
n Drink three sips of holy water for health. Sprinkle on everything for
good luck.
n Bring cinders from the paschal fire to be blessed.
Easter Sunday:
n Go to church and then herring procession.
nGet up at sunrise to view the sun dancing with joy.
n View the reflection of the sun in a pail of water and move it so the
sun appears to dance.
n Do something with eggs — give them or colour them.
n Have a feast.
n Take down the spoilin meith na hlnidea little piece of meat pinned
up at lent and burn it to give the house a rich smell.
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