Easter cake and Easter symbols of what. What do eggs for Easter symbolize?
The holiday, which commemorates the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who by his resurrection from the dead showed the possibility of an afterlife, made it clear to people that death is not the end of life, but only a stage in the transition to another level of life. The word "Easter" itself means in translation from the Greek "transition" and "deliverance". The celebration of Easter was approved by the First All-Ukrainian Council back in 325. Each year the date of the celebration is different and occurs on the next Sunday after the spring full moon and usually occurs between the beginning of April and the beginning of May.
Read in this article:
How to Celebrate Easter?
The celebration of Easter always starts with a long preparation. Starting from Great (Clean) Thursday, Christians carry out general cleaning in their homes, wash their bodies before sunrise, bake Easter cakes and Easter cottage cheese, paint eggs. Easter is generally the most joyful and happy holiday for all Christians and they prepare for it very seriously. The main event of this day is the festive Easter service and the consecration of Easter symbols and attributes, as well as other products.
Easter table.
Since ancient times, it was customary to celebrate the Easter holiday very solemnly and widely. Traditionally, a very rich and varied table was set. On the first day of the celebration, it was customary to celebrate it with your family. The feast began with the use of dishes consecrated in the church. First, the consecrated painted egg was divided among all family members, then they ate a piece of Easter cake and a spoonful of Easter cottage cheese. On a real Easter table, there must be a lamb made of butter dough, which is one of the symbols of the sacrifice made by Jesus and atonement for the sins of all mankind.
The abundant festive table was laid with diligence. The best option was a white festive tablecloth. At the head of the table, of course, were Easter cakes, Easter cottage cheese and colored eggs. Mainly hot meats and snacks, poultry dishes, a lot of various pastries were prepared from the dishes. Decorated the table with lighted candles, icons, Easter compositions.
The main symbol of Easter is the Easter cake.
Easter cake is the present Easter symbol, which in fact has practically nothing to do with Christianity and its customs. Ancient Slavs began to bake cakes to praise and gratify the pagan god Phaloss. The cake itself has an oblong shape, reminiscent of the male reproductive organ. Decorate it with white sugar icing, symbolizing the poured out seed, and sprinkling with grains, a symbol of fertility.
Christians, on the other hand, baked unleavened Orthodox bread with a cross or the letters XB for Easter. Such bread is a symbol of Jesus Christ himself, a symbol of daily bread and a symbol of God's care for all mankind. Nowadays, tasty, sweet and fragrant Easter cake has replaced unleavened bread and has become one of the main attributes of the Easter celebration.
There are an incredible variety of recipes for making Easter cake. Each house has its own unique and beloved by all family members recipe for Easter baking, passed from hand to hand, from generation to generation!
However, there are general principles of its preparation, which have remained unchanged for many years. They begin to cook Easter cakes on Maundy Thursday. The main ingredients of the dough are: flour, yeast, eggs, milk, sugar and butter. The dough should stand well and fit well, and since it is very rich, it takes a lot of time. The dough is put into the mold, filling only one third of the part so that there is room for raising. The top of the finished cake is greased with whipped egg whites and sugar, decorated with Easter powder, candied fruit, coconut flakes, and colored sugar figurines.
There is a popular omen that a successfully baked Easter cake brings a good year, and vice versa, cracked and poorly raised - threatens trouble this year.
Painted eggs as a symbol of Easter.
The egg, in principle, is a symbol of fertility and the emergence of new life. But the custom of dyeing eggs appeared, according to the main historical version, even before the advent of Christianity! This is evidenced by the finds, in the form of painted ostrich eggs, by archaeologists on the African continent.
It is considered a true Christian custom to dye eggs exactly in red. This tradition appeared after the crucifixion of Jesus on the cross. And it is connected with the fact that the red color, in this case, symbolizes the blood of Christ shed for all Christians.
In addition, there are several interesting mythological stories about the origin of this custom. So, according to one of them, the very first Easter egg was presented to the emperor of Rome Tiberius by Mary Magdalene, who informed him about the resurrection of Christ. The emperor did not believe her words, and in response said that this is unreal, just like the fact that the egg can turn red. After these words of his, the egg really turned red.
According to another, less fantastic version, the custom of dyeing eggs is associated with Lent, the menu of which does not include eggs. To preserve eggs during this period, Christians boiled them and dyed them with natural dyes so as not to be confused with raw ones. Thus, dyeing eggs could well become a tradition.
Nowadays, there are many options for dyeing eggs. Of the natural dyes, onion peel is widely used, which gives the rich red color most suitable for tradition. For this method, you will need a lot of onion skins, which housewives collect during the entire fast. The husks are boiled over low heat for about 1 hour. The water is well salted. They put eggs in it and boil for 15-10 minutes so that the paint takes on well. The eggs are cooled in cold water and dried. For a beautiful shine, grease with vegetable oil.
In addition to onion husks, other natural ingredients are also used:
for golden color - turmeric;
for pink - beet juice;
for blue - red cabbage;
for green - spinach;
for yellow - birch leaves, etc.
May this bright holiday really bring peace and happiness to your family! Christ is risen!
Following Great Lent, which lasted seven weeks, the break comes. Easter cottage cheese, fluffy cakes and colored eggs are indispensable guests on the Easter table. For believers, this is not just food, but also an important symbol.
Easter
Symbolizes Golgotha - the mountain on which Jesus was crucified. To prepare Easter cottage cheese, you will need a pasochna - a special shape in the form of a pyramid.
Kulich
When Jesus visited his disciples, he shared a meal with them. In memory of this, the apostles left the middle seat at the table unoccupied and put a piece of bread in front of it - a symbol of the fact that the Teacher is always with them. This custom has developed into a tradition to leave butter bread in the church. Kulich is a kind of such bread. It is consecrated in the church and distributed to believers. The top of the cake is supposed to be decorated with a cross, a wreath of thorns or the letters ХВ, sculpted from dough, but never with a crucifix. After all, Easter cake is a symbol of Christ's victory over death.
Eggs
According to one of the versions, eggs painted red are a symbol of drops of blood of the crucified Christ. But there is another legend. According to legend, after the death of Christ, seven Jews gathered for a feast. During the feast, one of them said that Jesus would rise on the third day. The owner of the house replied that he would only believe it if the eggs on the table turned red. At the same moment, the eggshell turned red.
Calendar
The last, most severe week of Great Lent is called Passion, in memory of the sufferings that Jesus endured in the last days of his earthly life.
Let's start from afar. We know that on the Feast of the Transfiguration, earthly fruits are consecrated, first of all - grapes, apples, etc. Why? To make these apples and grapes holier? Of course not. Let's think about it. We bring to God the fruits that the Lord gave us to grow, right? It is a man who plants, but God grows. And we bring these fruits to Him, dedicate them to Him, and then we accept from Him as the joy of the holiday, as a kind of God's blessing for our life's labors.
Kulich is a semblance of a church artos - a large bread with a cross with a crown of thorns (as a sign of Christ's victory over death) or an image of the Resurrection. It is one of the most ancient symbols of the Resurrection of Christ (the apostles at meals left the middle place at the table empty and laid on it the bread intended for Jesus). On the days of the celebration of Easter, the artos is carried with a procession around the church and left on a special table, following the example of the apostles, and on Saturday of the bright week, after the blessing, it is distributed to the faithful.
Kulich is the home equivalent of artos. Yeast is used for its preparation. Kulich replaces unleavened bread from the Old Testament. For this reason, leavened cake is a symbol of the replacement of the Old Testament with the New.
The consecration of Easter cakes is, in a sense, a symbolic ceremony. In general, the transition to another food is consecrated - from fasting to fast food. The missal does not say anything specifically about Easter cakes.
But it seems to me that for a church person, it is somehow very natural - so that my food, especially on Easter day, would become not just my personal affair: here I’m going to eat a sandwich with cheese, finally! - and so that she becomes, something that connects me with what I, as a Christian, consider the most important joy and meaning of my life, and with the life of the whole Church, which eats these very foods on this day, on Easter morning.
Food for the religious consciousness is more than just food. It is also a sign of expression of a certain community. In this case, communion with the Church.
It is known that in ancient times people brought prosphora to the church, which they baked themselves, and they were used in divine services to celebrate the Sacrament of the Eucharist. But this is the bread that is used in worship, this is an offering to God. But our life is spent not only in the church, but also at home and at work.
In the church we rejoice and partake of the Heavenly Bread - the Body and Blood of Christ, we receive Christ into our heart and into our body. This joy touches both our souls and our bodies. Therefore, it is quite natural that a festive meal is made on the days of great holidays. And on Easter, we are not interested in the abundance of various delicacies on the table. Whether there are such, whether not - it does not matter. The question is different.
Look, bread is symbolic - this is the product without which a person could not exist: "Give us this day our daily bread ..." In the ancient world, bread was always a symbol of life, nutrition. But we receive bread from God: He grows cereals, and we use them. And the cake is not just bread for our food, but the bread of the joy of the holiday, which we eat at home, during agapa, a festive home meal. We make this bread rich and beautiful, because this is the bread of the greatest holiday. Decorated cakes, sweet cottage cheese Easter, painted eggs - it is clear that all this is sanctified by prayer ...
Kulich has been traditional since ancient times, as are dyed eggs and cottage cheese Easter, which may have a different name in different places. And Easter cake is called differently in some localities. For example, in Ukraine, Easter cake is called Easter, and cottage cheese Easter is called cheese Easter. But the meaning in their use is the same - it is a reflection of our joy.
In the first centuries of Christianity, people celebrated the Liturgy, prayed, received communion, and then agapa began - a supper of love, at which they gathered after the holiday, sat at the table, ate food in joy and joy. Now our festive Easter meals are a continuation of the holiday at the table, at home and in family conditions. So the cake may well be called the bread of joy - the joy brought from God into our earthly life.
Why do we bless Easter meals after all? So that the blessing of God dwells on our food and on us. And above all, we sanctify food, sprinkle it with holy water to sanctify our meal.
The egg is very symbolic because, on the one hand, it contains life that has not yet been revealed. But, on the other hand, the egg and the symbol of the Resurrection are like Christ lying in the tomb, which the tomb cave cannot contain, and He comes out. This meal is blessed with millennial traditions. It is found in all Christian countries, although the forms may differ from country to country.
According to legend, the first Easter egg was presented by the Holy Equal-to-the-Apostles Mary Magdalene to the Roman emperor Tiberius. When Mary came to Tiberius and announced the Resurrection of Christ, the emperor said that it was just as impossible as the fact that the hen's egg would be red, and after these words, the hen's egg that he was holding turned red.
Easter cakes, eggs and Easter are consecrated in temples. It happens that the church is very crowded, there are a lot of people, then the consecration takes place on the street. Tables are set up, a priest passes by, sprinkles the food brought with holy water. But, of course, if there is such an opportunity, it is very good when the consecration of cakes and other things takes place in the temple, and not just people come to the church and consecrate them. Why? Because it is much better if people come not just to sprinkle the testicles, but to God, to the temple, asking for His blessing.
They came, took a candle, entered the temple, lit it. Here is a cake with a candle. It means that? Prayer ascent to God. Here is the Shroud, which stands in the middle of the temple. People prayerfully attach themselves to the image of the dead Christ, Who died for our sins and Who will then Resurrect, whose Resurrection we will celebrate.
After that, they approach the priest, and their offerings and themselves are sprinkled.
What happens: people came to the temple with prayer, venerated the shrine, appeared before the throne of God with those of their gifts that need to be sanctified. People of little church, consecrating their cakes in this way, to some extent join with their hearts to the shrine, because few people will approach the indifferent to the depiction of the deceased Christ. And it is very good if the church has the opportunity to conduct the consecration in this way. In our church, we try to follow this path.
If we want Easter joy to touch children, then children should participate in the preparation of Easter, including the prayer: both in the Easter service and in the festive Easter meal. Therefore, it is very necessary and important and very useful for children.
O. Boris Balashov
Tall fragrant bread with a cross or the image of the Resurrection, yeast cake, in the Orthodox Church is a ritual pastry and symbolizes the rebirth of Jesus. Kulich is traditionally baked for the main religious holiday of all Christians - Easter. Catholics, in addition to Easter cake, serve sand "grandma". Together with colored eggs, Easter cake and cottage cheese are the main dishes of the festive table.
Religious meaning of Easter cake
Artos (Greek Áρτος - leavened bread), a whole prosphora, a large church leavened (yeast) bread with a cross and a crown of thorns, is baked specifically to celebrate the bright Resurrection of Christ, on Easter. According to the Old Testament, the apostles, taking up a meal, left a place in the middle of the table empty for the invisibly present Jesus Christ and laid bread on it.
On the first day of Easter, the artos is carried around the church with a procession of the cross and, following the example of the apostles, is left on a special table, a lectern. This bread is in the temple all week. On Saturday, Holy Week, after the blessing, they distribute it to all believers. This is a symbolic expression of the fact that Christ has become for Christians the real bread of life.
Kulich is a home analogue of artos. Easter cakes are baked on Maundy Thursday during Holy Week and consecrated in the church. Yeast is used to make cakes; this dough replaces the Old Testament unleavened bread. Thus, the Easter cake is also a symbol of the transition from the Old Testament to the New.
In the Old Testament, the lamb (lamb) slaughtered for the feast was called the Passover, a type of the coming sacrifice of Christ, the lamb of God. It was Jesus Christ who was assigned the role of the founder of the New Testament Christian family, since by his sacrifice he saved the human race from suffering and misfortune, sin, damnation and hell. Having risen from the dead, Christ "trampled death on death" and appeared in a new quality of his flesh.
In the Old Testament there was no concept of Easter cake, the Passover lamb was eaten with unleavened cakes (unleavened bread), with bitter herbs. The Easter cake is of pagan origin. Tall bread with eggs is a symbol of the pagan fertility god Phallus, the masculine principle. The religious meaning of the cake is that, eating it, Christians, descendants of pagan obscurantism, celebrating Easter, came to the light of the Resurrection.
Secrets and signs of making cakes
Yeast dough for cakes is prepared on Maundy Thursday before Easter. There are a lot of cooking recipes. The main ingredients of the dough are flour, eggs, yeast, milk, sugar and butter. The rest of the spices and seasonings are added to taste.
Before you start cooking Easter cakes, you need to pray, cleanse your soul, thoughts and hands, and wash the kitchen. This is one of the main secrets of successful baking. Nothing should get in the way of cooking. Quarrels and showdowns in the family can negate all efforts.
The prepared dough should stand well, come up several times. Since the cakes are cooked rich and rich, the dough does not rise as quickly as in a regular yeast cake.
Easter cakes are baked in special forms that fill only one third. In the oven, the dough rises again and takes up the entire mold. In a large form, the cake is baked at a temperature of 180 degrees for an hour. You can check the readiness of the cake for the first time no earlier than thirty minutes later, otherwise the dough will fall off and the baking will turn out to be unsuccessful. The cooking time depends on the capabilities of the oven, the density of the kneading, the quality of the dough, its quantity and size of the shape.
Ready-made cakes are pulled out on a wet towel. If before the dough was placed in the mold, grease it liberally with oil, the finished cakes easily "jump out" after cooling down.
The tops of cold cakes are greased with a thick protein glaze and decorated with Easter sprinkles, pieces of chocolate, marmalade, nuts, coconut, cocoa powder or ground cinnamon.
Many folk signs are associated with the baking of Easter cakes. If the cake is a success, tasty and baked, the whole year will be successful. If the cake did not fit or cracked, expect trouble in the family. Birds flew to the window on Easter Sunday - the whole year will be rich and joyful, these birds certainly need to be fed with Easter cake.
Ready-made cakes are consecrated in the church, and Sunday morning is greeted with prayer and a piece of cake. In order for the children not to get sick, you need to feed them with cakes consecrated in the church in the morning, only then you can give festive food. Easter cakes are eaten throughout the Easter week, brought to guests, given as a gift to relatives and friends in honor of the Easter holiday, taken to orphanages and hospitals.
May each baked cake carry a piece of great Love to our neighbor, may this tasting bread give us hope for eternal life. Christ is risen!
Zhanna Pyatirikova
Traditional Easter cakes with glaze and dyes are borrowed from the primitive depraved culture of the ancient Tengrians. The attributes of pagan Easter, so familiar to us, are in fact visual symbols of the cult of fertility.
In the Bible, the Passover rite was spelled out to the smallest detail. In the Old Testament, a lamb was baked at Easter, symbolizing the coming Messiah, who was to redeem mankind. During Easter, there was no fermentation in the house for seven days.
Bible-believing Christians take part in New Testament Passover. During the Last Supper, Jesus Christ with his disciples celebrated the Easter of the New Testament, which consisted of the ritual of washing feet and accepting the symbols of the sinless flesh and blood of the Lord - unleavened bread and non-alcoholic wine.
A cake with glaze cannot be a symbol of the flesh of Jesus Christ, because it is not insipid. The dyes are not mentioned at all in the Holy Scriptures. All stories about the Virgin Mary and Caesar are fables. The pagans have a legend that an egg fell into the Euphrates River and the goddess Astarte hatched from it.
Astarte is mentioned in the Bible in a negative way - this fictional pagan goddess was worshiped, baked pies with her image and committed fornication in brothels dedicated to her. How to connect the worship of Astarte with the worship of Christ? This is practically impossible.
There is an important point that Christians need to pay attention to these days. If you are offered to try the pagan symbols of the male penis with testicles, arguing that they are consecrated in the temple, then eating them, knowing that these are idol sacrifices that have nothing to do with Christianity, will be sinful.
The Apostle Paul said in this regard: “But if someone says to you: this is something sacrificed to idols, then do not eat for the sake of the one who announced it to you, and for the sake of your conscience” (1 Cor. 10:28). He advises Christians to protect themselves from defilement by those sacrificed to idols, which is actually the Easter cake and dyes.
