Easter for Lutherans

The Easter celebration is the highest point of the Christian church calendar Believers celebrate the Resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ, who died from a painful execution, but found eternal life For Lutherans, preparation for the culmination of the holiday lasts throughout Holy Week Believers prepare for Sunday services and a festive feast, remembering every day the events described in the Gospels After a quiet and strict Good Friday, a busy Saturday came, during which Easter cakes, puddings and shaped cookies were baked, and eggs were painted On Saturday, high bonfires are lit in front of churches; in some villages, the custom of burning an effigy of Judas, the apostle who became a traitor to Jesus Christ, has long been preserved Closer to midnight, parishioners flock to the churches, and the festive service begins The service begins in a dark church, where a lit candle is brought in, decorated with the initial and last letters of the Greek alphabet Christ himself called himself Alpha and Omega, claiming that he is the beginning and end of all things After the end of the service, parishioners do not seek to retire to their homes; in many countries there is a custom to greet the sunrise The coming of Easter means the eternal victory of good over evil, which even the Sun rejoices at Many claim to have witnessed a cheerful sun dance Also on Easter Sunday morning, Lutherans customarily give each other small symbolic gifts First of all, these are eggs, painted and decorated in a wide variety of ways Children are presented with sweets in the form of various animals The most popular are cookies or chocolate treats in the shape of chickens and rabbits According to legend, the sweets were originally baked in the shape of a lamb in memory of Jesus’ sacrifice, but the lambs’ ears invariably stretched out in the oven and looked more like a hare’s This is how the rabbit became a symbol of Easter among Lutherans On Sunday afternoon, Lutheran Christians considered it obligatory to visit the graves of their relatives, and on Monday they went to visit relatives, friends and relatives After the feast, as usual, games were played with Easter eggs They placed an egg on a mound and sat around it The one in whose direction the egg rolled was considered lucky, and the one who collected the largest number of them became the winner of the game