The history of Easter and Easter traditions
Easter Sunday and Easter Monday will be celebrated this year on Sunday, April 5 and Monday, April 6, 2026. At Easter, Christians commemorate Jesus' resurrection from the dead, after he had died on the cross two days earlier. Easter falls annually between March 22 and April 23 on the first Sunday (and Monday) after the full moon marking the beginning of spring. The origins of Easter, the Easter cycle, and Easter traditions are discussed.
Origin
Christian Easter has its origins in the Jewish PesachPassover is one of the most important festivals in Judaism. Passover commemorates the end of Jewish slavery in Egypt and the Exodus from Egypt (as described in the Book of Exodus), and with it the liberation of the Jewish people from slavery. These events are central to the Jewish ethos. The central event of the festival is the Seder, a festive meal eaten at home. During the First Council of Nicaea (325), the dates of both festivals were officially separated.
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In 1972, Israel issued the Passover series consisting of 0.18 (Exodus from Egypt), 0.45 (Baking of matzah), and 0.95 (the Seder evening). In 2002, twelve seals were released with the theme 'Jewish months'. The first seal (1,20) represents Passover with matzes.
In the Netherlands, during Easter, the matzes (unleavened bread) still associated with the Jewish Passover festival. According to the Torah, the Jews were commanded by God to quickly bake bread without adding leaven just before their departure (Exodus 12:8). These matzahs are sold by supermarkets before Passover and eaten during Passover by Jews, Christians, and non-Christians alike.
Paascyclus
Easter is the most important Christian festival in the liturgical year, following Holy Week. Christians celebrate this day based on their belief that Jesus rose from the dead on the third day after his crucifixion. Catholics and Protestants have a name for the week before Easter. They view this week as a period of reflection on the way to Easter. Catholics call it 'Holy Week', while Protestants refer to it as 'Silent Week'.
Lent
Lent is a forty-day period of reflection and austerity, during which certain foods are usually not eaten. Sometimes people do not eat at all, and drinking is also sometimes subject to rules. Lent begins immediately after Shrove Tuesday, on Ash Wednesday. In the past, many families did not have meat on the table for the entire duration of Lent. People often speak of 40 days of fasting, but the fasting period actually lasts a total of 46 days. However, it is customary not to fast on Sundays within that period.
Ash Wednesday
Originally was Ash Wednesday intended for people who had committed great sins. On that day, they were sprinkled with ashes in the church and were not allowed to see each other again until the celebration of the Lord's Supper on Maundy Thursday, the Thursday before Easter. From the 8th century onwards, penance was interpreted more generally, involving a period of fasting, and all churchgoers had ashes sprinkled over them. Nowadays, priests draw a cross on the forehead of the believer with ashes. Ash Wednesday is also linked to the finitude of human life on earth. Readings from the Book of Genesis are often given on this day: 'You are dust, and to dust you shall return'.
Palm Sunday
Holy Week, the Sunday before Easter, begins on Palm Sunday or Palm SundayJesus Christ arrived in Jerusalem on a donkey, which symbolized his humility. The many pilgrims who were in Jerusalem for Passover spread their cloaks on the ground before the donkey and pulled branches from palm trees. These palm branches symbolized the victory of the 'righteous king'. Nowadays, children hold Palm Sunday staffs in their hands during the procession, as a symbol of the palm branches that the pilgrims plucked from the trees. The Palm Sunday staff often takes the form of a cross, representing the symbol of Christ. A rooster is often depicted on top of the staff. This could represent the rooster that crowed on Good Friday, after Peter had claimed three times not to know Christ. Sometimes there is also singing during these processions, similar to how the people cheered at the arrival of Christ. However, these songs can have a somber undertone, because the same people who cheered for Christ would later shout 'Crucify him!'. In the Netherlands, the first Palm Sunday procession took place in Arnhem in 1921.
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Maundy Thursday
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On Maundy Thursday, Jesus ate the Last SupperPrior to the Passover meal, of which Jesus alone knew that it would be his last, Jesus washed the feet of his disciples. He then broke the bread according to Jewish custom and distributed it to his disciples, saying: 'Take and eat, for this is my body which is given for you'. He also distributed the wine, with the message: 'Drink from it, all of you, for this is my blood of the covenant, poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins'. Later that evening, Jesus was betrayed in the Garden of Gethsemane on the Mount of Olives by one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot. Suspected of blasphemy, Jesus was arrested by the Sanhedrin and interrogated and imprisoned that very same night. The next day his condemnation to death and crucifixion followed. A tradition in the Catholic Church is to on Maundy Thursday to cover all crucifixes with a white cloth. After all, Maundy Thursday symbolizes the beginning of the suffering of Jesus.
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The Passion is a Dutch musical-Biblical event about the suffering and death of Jesus Christ, which has been held annually on Maundy Thursday since 2011, each time in a different Dutch city. The event is also broadcast live on television. The Passion 2026 takes place on Maundy Thursday, April 2, in Dwingeloo (municipality of Westerveld), Drenthe. This 16th edition, with the theme “Come Closer”, will be broadcast live on NPO 1.
Good Friday
Good Friday It is the Friday before Easter. On this day, Christians commemorate the crucifixion and death of Jesus. On Maundy Thursday, after the Last Supper, Jesus is condemned to death by crucifixion by Pontius Pilate. Pilate attempts to secure Jesus' release by allowing the people of Jerusalem to choose between pardon for a murderer (Barabbas) or pardon for Jesus. The people of Jerusalem choose the freedom of the murderer, after which Pilate has Jesus mistreated and mocked. The people do not consider this sufficient and demand the death of Jesus by crucifixion, whereupon Pilate gives in.
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On the hill of Golgotha, near Jerusalem, Jesus is nailed to the cross. After six hours of torture, he dies at exactly 3:00 PM. Before his death, he is said to have uttered a few words, which are referred to as the words from the cross. As a check, a spear is driven through his side. According to the Gospel of Matthew, an earthquake occurred at the moment Jesus died. The other two criminals on the cross were subsequently killed. That evening, Joseph of Arimathea receives permission from Pilate to take Jesus down from the cross and bury him near Golgotha.
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Jesus of Nazareth wearing the crown of thorns before his crucifixion was published by Slovakia on February 15, 2000.
True to tradition, on Good Friday, symphonies and orchestras throughout the country perform Bach's St Matthew Passion, a musical piece about the suffering and death of Jesus as described in the Gospel written by Matthew. See my earlier blog about Bach's St Matthew Passion:
https://www.postzegelblog.nl/2018/03/28/johann-sebastian-bach-matthaus-passion/
Holy Saturday
Holy Saturday It is the Saturday between Good Friday and Easter. Holy Saturday is a day of silence and reflection; it is the day of realizing that Jesus truly died. Therefore, church bells are not rung until the Easter Vigil. Holy Saturday is also the last day of the 40-day Christian Lenten season, which begins on Ash Wednesday. This is the day Jesus lay in the tomb. Churches are decorated very simply on this Saturday, and the Eucharist is not celebrated.
Easter candle
De Easter candle is lit for the first time on Easter night and symbolizes the light of the risen Christ in Catholic as well as Protestant worship. It is a large candle, decorated with the cross, the Greek letters alpha en omega and the year. In the Catholic Church, five grains of incense are also added, known as Paschal nails, which symbolize the five wounds of Christ on the cross. The Paschal candle is lit during the Easter Vigil, the most important celebration of the liturgical year.
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Easter Sunday and Easter Monday
Easter traditions
Ineke Strouken, former director of the Dutch Centre for Intangible Cultural Heritage, explains our Easter traditions. Easter used to be a seasonal agricultural festival as well. It marked the beginning of spring and the end of a time of scarcity that prevailed when winter supplies ran out.
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Paasvuur
Easter fires According to Strouken, they have a practical origin: 'It has to do with clearing out your house and your land. All sorts of things were thrown onto that pile, sometimes even car tires, to be burned. At a certain point, it got so out of hand that the Easter bonfire organizations started monitoring more strictly what was being burned, because the bonfires were becoming increasingly polluting.” The Easter bonfires also have a religious and social significance. “There is also something convivial about it; you do it together with the whole village. In addition, fires are part of many cultures and religions. It also represents the farewell to an era, and the fire symbolizes fertility.” See the stamps of Ireland from 1937: St. Patrick, the national patron saint of Ireland, is making preparations for an Easter bonfire.
Also the Easter breakfast It has a long history. Many people think that the abundance of food during the holidays is a modern phenomenon, but in the past, too, the Easter breakfast was the highlight of Easter. Strouken: 'You have to remember that people fasted before Easter. In addition, a major clean-up of the house and land took place. Winter clothes went into the closet and summer clothes came out. After all this work, you were naturally starving. Eating and celebrating go very much together. Good food also meant eating a lot. We might eat one or two eggs today, but in the past, people ate ten or fifteen. Sharing was also very important: at Easter, you did that with eggs, while during New Year's, people handed out oliebollen (Dutch doughnuts).' Coloring eggs is also an old tradition: an 18th-century cookbook already mentions how to do it. Strouken: 'In the past, eggs were colored using natural dyes: when you boil eggs in onion skins, they turn red.'
The program Easter bread It was eaten primarily by Roman Catholics. Precisely after the fasting period, so that it could be concluded festively, a great deal of delicious baking took place. Easter bread therefore contains almond paste, raisins, currants, candied citron, and orange zest. The fruit is soaked and finely chopped before baking. This is mixed into the dough, which is then baked on a baking sheet. After baking, it is usually finished with slivered almonds. Nowadays, this ritual has been adapted to include much more food, such as an Easter lunch or an Easter brunch. In 2009, Finland issued the Easter Menu stamp by chef Hans Valimaki.
The egg
The program ei According to Strouken, it has been associated with Easter since the 4th century. 'In Christianity, an egg symbolizes fertility. Additionally, eating eggs was important at Easter because it was known to strengthen you. This was necessary after harsh winters with little food. Chickens did not lay many eggs in the winter, and by the time Easter arrived, there was a surplus of eggs. Therefore, farmers painted the eggs—as was done when giving an egg as a gift—and distributed them to the poor.'
The church is said to have superimposed Easter onto a pagan spring festival in an attempt to Christianize it. This theory regarding Germanic mythology emerged during the Romantic era. Nowadays, however, it is assumed that knowledge of that mythology is based on all sorts of questionable reconstructions and speculations. Many of these views have been uncritically adopted time and again from popular publications, in which such theories are still mentioned, even though they have long been abandoned by serious science. There is a tradition of Easter eggs in the Christian tradition: with the introduction of Lent, the church forbade the eating of eggs between Ash Wednesday and Easter. These eggs were then only eaten at Easter, with the oldest eggs being used for decoration.
Some theories suggest that the Easter egg represents the stone of the tomb of Joseph of Arimathea, from which Jesus Christ rose. Catholics brought baskets full of eggs to the church to have them blessed. According to Catholic tradition, Easter eggs are thrown by the bells of Rome. According to that tradition, all the bells departed for Rome after ringing during the Gloria at Mass on Maundy Thursday to throw out the eggs they had brought with them on Easter Sunday. One theory suggests that Protestants did not want to tell the Catholic story about the bells. They supposedly attached the Easter bunny to the story.
Easter Bunny
De Easter bunny "Compared to other traditions, it is fairly new," Strouken explains. "The first mention of the Easter Bunny was made around 1840. Initially, we Dutch didn't think much of the Easter Bunny. After all, the Easter Bunny came from Germany, from a distant German culture: we wanted nothing to do with that. At some point, however, it made its way into the Netherlands via a children's book." But what do Easter and rabbits have in common? Strouken: "A hare is already busy reproducing early in the spring; it is very fertile. The Easter festival stands for fertility and reproduction. Easter was the most important festival of the year; it was more important than Christmas. It has a religious side, but it is also a spring festival."
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