Easter

Ana Moreira, Ana Martins, Carla Costa

ORIGIN AND MEANING OF EASTERAfter Carnival, Christians don’t eat meat on Fridays; On Sunday before Easter, children and young people take

an olive brunch to the mess to be blessed by the priest and then offered to their godmother.

People usually dress new clothes to go to the mess on Easter Sunday.

On Holy Friday, in many villages and small towns (Braga), people take part in a procession and go to the

mess in the evening.

ORIGIN AND MEANING OF EASTER - continuation

On Easter Sunday, church bells wake up people to announce Jesus

ressurrection, People go to the mess and then go

back home to wait for the priest. Everybody receive the priest at

home so that the whole family and the house itself could be blessed

with holy water. All people kiss the holy cross.

ORIGIN AND MEANING OF EASTER - continuation

The priest visit at home

Many of these traditions are still alive, specially in villages and small towns. Today, as fewer

people receive the priest at home, those who want their houses to be blessed put flowers on

the floor in front of them so that the priest knows where to take the holy cross.

All streets are beautifully decorated with flowers on the floor and the richer people

put at the windows rich embroidery coverlets.

ORIGIN AND MEANING OF EASTER - continuation

In the city In the village

The houses are very well cleaned; people put a very nice table-cloth on a

table. Thus, all the fruit would be blessed.

Families offer a “Congrua” (money) given for the church as a gift.)

ORIGIN AND MEANING OF EASTER - continuation

Gastronomy

• The typical ‘FOLAR’- in two versions: sweet and with brown boiled eggs on the top; and made of salty smoked ham used to be offered to the priest and his fellows and, later, eaten by the whole family at lunch

.People eat roast meat, specially lamb, with rice and potatoes and the ‘folar’. Godmothers used

to give a gift to their god children (money or new clothes or sweet almonds).

Gastronomy

Folar

.People eat roast meat, specially lamb, with rice

and potatoes and the ‘folar’.

Gastronomy

Typical tradition

• Godmothers used to give a gift to their god children (money or new clothes or sweet almonds).

The eggs guard itself the image of a new life, so were adopted as a symbol of renewal. They used to be

offered as gifts in many civilizations. In ancient Egypt and Persia, for example, were painted in

shades of spring. In Catholic Europe of the eighteenth century, eggs lap laughed became blessed by Christians

and offered to the faithful. This tradition is recent (dates back to the last century- related to

consumerism)

EASTER SYMBOLS