Easter Facts

The first Easter baskets were made to look like bird's nests.
The traditional act of painting eggs is called Pysanka.
The custom of giving eggs at Easter time has been traced back to Egyptians, Persians, Gauls, Greeks and Romans, to whom the egg was a symbol of life.
In medieval times a festival of egg-throwing was held in church, during which the priest would throw a hard-boiled egg to one of the choir boys. It was then tossed from one choir boy to the next and whoever held the egg when the clock struck 12 was the winner and retained the egg.
Easter is now celebrated (in the words of the Book of Common Prayer) on the first Sunday after the full moon which happens on or after March 21, the Spring Equinox.
Easter Bonnets are a throw back to the days when the people denied themselves the pleasure of wearing fine angels for the duration of Lent.
Some Churches still keep up the old tradition of using evergreens - symbolic of eternal life - embroidered in red on white, or woven in straw, but most now prefer displays of flowers in the spring colours of green, yellow and white.
Americans celebrate Easter with a large Easter egg hunt on the White House Lawn.
Every year at Easter Pope John Paul sends his " Urbi et Orbi " to the world.
The date of Passover is variable as it is dependent on the phases of the moon, and thus Easter is also a movable feast.