simply.. - 04/18/03 03:46 PM
simply happy easter
Re: simply.. - 04/18/03 04:09 PM
Indeed, Rav. And happy Passover and Beltaine and all spring fests!
Re: simply.. - 04/18/03 07:50 PM
"Here comes Peter Cottontail, Hopping down the bunny trail ..."
wishing you all a happy day on Sunday ... and lots of yummy chocolate - white or dark, whatever is your pleasure.
Aloha and Blessings,
Wow
wishing you all a happy day on Sunday ... and lots of yummy chocolate - white or dark, whatever is your pleasure.
Aloha and Blessings,
Wow
Happy Something - 04/18/03 10:07 PM
How DID Easter get to be called "Easter" in English when so many other languages call it "Pasch" or "Pasqua" or some other derivation of the Hebrew word "Pesach" (which means Passover)?
There are multiple theories.
The majority theory derives from the Venerable Bede, an 8th Century monk in Britain who said that it derived from the name of an Anglo-Saxon goddess -- Eastre -- who was all about spring and ferility and flowers blooming and such. The idea is not that the Celtic Christians of Britain were celebrating a pagan festival instead of an orthodox Easter but rather that they were keeping the feast of the resurrection of our Lord at the time of the spring festival of Eastre, and (typically) borrowed her name.
Another interesting theory, less widely accepted, is that the name derives from the practice of those newly baptised on Easter Day to wear their white baptismal garments (albs) for the whole of the following week. The week came to be know, in Latin, as "hebdomada alba" or "white week." The theory suggests that this was corrupted to "albae" which, when it was translated into German, was mistaken for the Latin plural for "dawn" and thus rendered in High German as "Eostarum" which the Brits corrupted into Easter.
Who knows?
Whatever you are celebrating this weekend, may it be a happy occasion for you.
Father Steve
There are multiple theories.
The majority theory derives from the Venerable Bede, an 8th Century monk in Britain who said that it derived from the name of an Anglo-Saxon goddess -- Eastre -- who was all about spring and ferility and flowers blooming and such. The idea is not that the Celtic Christians of Britain were celebrating a pagan festival instead of an orthodox Easter but rather that they were keeping the feast of the resurrection of our Lord at the time of the spring festival of Eastre, and (typically) borrowed her name.
Another interesting theory, less widely accepted, is that the name derives from the practice of those newly baptised on Easter Day to wear their white baptismal garments (albs) for the whole of the following week. The week came to be know, in Latin, as "hebdomada alba" or "white week." The theory suggests that this was corrupted to "albae" which, when it was translated into German, was mistaken for the Latin plural for "dawn" and thus rendered in High German as "Eostarum" which the Brits corrupted into Easter.
Who knows?
Whatever you are celebrating this weekend, may it be a happy occasion for you.
Father Steve
Re: Happy Something - 04/21/03 01:08 AM
Whatever you are celebrating this weekend, may it be a happy occasion for you.
Ditto. I took a brief look on the 'net, and the Eastre theory seems to be the more popular of the two. I have had a tiring, but good, two days. Much of yesterday was spent in preparation for today: my Sunday School class puts on an Easter brunch for the church, so we set up and cooked what we could, and I made a bunch of crepes here at home. Plus, all the rain we've been having had made the grass, and even more obviously the dandelions, take off; the front of the church looked terrible. Somebody said the hired person had been told not to cut the grass until the roof repairs were all done, so I took our lawn mower down and mowed. The brunch went really well, as did the service. This afternoon was the family gathering. Gorgeous spring weather; earth bedecking herself.
I am SO glad to see you posting again, you dear man!(blush)
Ditto. I took a brief look on the 'net, and the Eastre theory seems to be the more popular of the two. I have had a tiring, but good, two days. Much of yesterday was spent in preparation for today: my Sunday School class puts on an Easter brunch for the church, so we set up and cooked what we could, and I made a bunch of crepes here at home. Plus, all the rain we've been having had made the grass, and even more obviously the dandelions, take off; the front of the church looked terrible. Somebody said the hired person had been told not to cut the grass until the roof repairs were all done, so I took our lawn mower down and mowed. The brunch went really well, as did the service. This afternoon was the family gathering. Gorgeous spring weather; earth bedecking herself.
I am SO glad to see you posting again, you dear man!(blush)
Celebrating Eastre - 04/21/03 03:41 AM
In the Episcopal Church, it is not unusual to celebrate Easter twice: once the night before and again on the morning of. The first one is called "The Great Vigil of Easter" and takes place after the sun goes down on Holy Saturday. It is a service filled with symbols of light. At the beginning, the celebrant strikes new fire from which wax tapers are lit, from which the Paschal Candle is lit, and then there is much singing about the light. I am pleased to report that I managed to strike new fire (again) this year without setting my vestments aflame.
The tradition of crepes on Easter results from the tradition of a severe fast during Lent, in which neither eggs nor fat nor white sugar were consumed between Ash Wednesday and Easter Day. The folks who so abstained were so happy to be freed of these dietary restrictions that they made crepes (with eggs, sugar and butter) to break all of these fasting rules at once.
At our house, I kept the Easter Feast by roasting a leg of lamb in the Greek fashion: boned and stuffed with garlic, onion, kalamata olives, lemon juice and wads of fresh oregano.
The blush, by the by, is on MY face, to have such nice things said about me by so wonderful a person as our Jackie.
Happy Easter!
Father Steve
The tradition of crepes on Easter results from the tradition of a severe fast during Lent, in which neither eggs nor fat nor white sugar were consumed between Ash Wednesday and Easter Day. The folks who so abstained were so happy to be freed of these dietary restrictions that they made crepes (with eggs, sugar and butter) to break all of these fasting rules at once.
At our house, I kept the Easter Feast by roasting a leg of lamb in the Greek fashion: boned and stuffed with garlic, onion, kalamata olives, lemon juice and wads of fresh oregano.
The blush, by the by, is on MY face, to have such nice things said about me by so wonderful a person as our Jackie.
Happy Easter!
Father Steve
Re: Celebrating Eastre - 04/21/03 04:21 AM
It's good to see you posting again, Padre. I hope all is well with you professionally and personally.
Ah, burning vestments - that reminds me. When I was younger, the priest in the local Anglican parish (St Mary's Mornington) was, unlike you, well disliked. He had the pastoral approach of the Cray brothers - you were either with him or agin him, and if you were agin him you'd better watch your back. The priest before him had been the "typical" pastoralist, visits to old folks and the sick, the welcoming and inclusive type, a nice guy, so having this new fellow turn up with his "business-like" attitude was a bit of a shock for the folks, including my mother who was involved at the time with the Girl Guide movement and, by extension, with the church.
One Sunday, a neighbour of Mum's was at church, and the priest's surplus caught fire from a candle. He didn't notice it immediately, and was told about it by someone in the congregation. Apparently he put the fire out somehow, but it was accompanied by a lot of swearing and unseemly cursing. This shocked the people in the church, most of whom were older.
There appeared to be little sympathy for him, and he left soon after. Not sure if the two were connected!
Ah, burning vestments - that reminds me. When I was younger, the priest in the local Anglican parish (St Mary's Mornington) was, unlike you, well disliked. He had the pastoral approach of the Cray brothers - you were either with him or agin him, and if you were agin him you'd better watch your back. The priest before him had been the "typical" pastoralist, visits to old folks and the sick, the welcoming and inclusive type, a nice guy, so having this new fellow turn up with his "business-like" attitude was a bit of a shock for the folks, including my mother who was involved at the time with the Girl Guide movement and, by extension, with the church.
One Sunday, a neighbour of Mum's was at church, and the priest's surplus caught fire from a candle. He didn't notice it immediately, and was told about it by someone in the congregation. Apparently he put the fire out somehow, but it was accompanied by a lot of swearing and unseemly cursing. This shocked the people in the church, most of whom were older.
There appeared to be little sympathy for him, and he left soon after. Not sure if the two were connected!
Re: Celebrating Eastre - 04/21/03 07:52 PM
Hope it was only the surplus surplices that burned up, Cap. 
Re: simply.. - 04/21/03 09:04 PM
And Happy Smigus Dyngus.
Re: Celebrating Eastre - 04/21/03 09:06 PM
Okay, okay. Spotted it immediately. You live too close to Ithaca, Nancy. It's catching!
Re: simply.. - 04/22/03 06:20 AM
i would say not happy but wet dyngus 
Re: Wet dyngus - 04/22/03 09:58 AM
So, rav, krzysztof, tell us about dyngus. They had a little bit about it on NPR the yesterday, but they left me wanting to know more.
Re: Wet dyngus - 04/22/03 10:25 AM
i'm afraid i'm not ready for such explanations :) but it's easy to find a lot about it by googling :)):
http://www.polishamericancenter.org/Dyngus.htm - here some basic version
http://www.polamjournal.com/polka/dyngus.html - and here some more sofisticated
http://www.polishamericancenter.org/Dyngus.htm - here some basic version
http://www.polamjournal.com/polka/dyngus.html - and here some more sofisticated
Re: Wet dyngus - 04/22/03 12:04 PM
kind of like what we'd do on May Day, but instead of throwing water, we'd steal kisses... 
Re: May Day - 04/23/03 03:40 PM
In my salad days the tradition on May 1st was to leave a bouquet at someone's door, ring the bell and leave.
Most traditional was a small basket of flowers hung on the doorknob. Older people were special recipients of childrens largesse.
Most traditional was a small basket of flowers hung on the doorknob. Older people were special recipients of childrens largesse.
Re: Wet dyngus - 04/23/03 07:09 PM
>kind of like what we'd do on May Day
I wonder if one's taking one's first ever long-haul flight on May Day is a bad omen?
I wonder if one's taking one's first ever long-haul flight on May Day is a bad omen?
Re: May Day - 04/23/03 08:46 PM
Older people were special recipients of childrens largesse.
Oh, that's still true in a funny kind of way. They'll carry things for the old people, like their wallets, and they'll give freely, especially bruises and the occasional good kicking.
Oh, that's still true in a funny kind of way. They'll carry things for the old people, like their wallets, and they'll give freely, especially bruises and the occasional good kicking.