2. ORIGIN AND MEANING OF EASTER
After 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.
3. ORIGIN AND MEANING OF EASTER -
continuation
On Holy Friday, in many villages and small towns
(Braga), people take part in a procession and go to the
mess in the evening.
4. 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. The priest visit at home
5.
6. 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.
7. ORIGIN AND MEANING OF EASTER -
continuation
All streets are beautifully decorated with
flowers on the floor and the richer people
put at the windows rich embroidery
coverlets.
In the city In the village
8. ORIGIN AND MEANING OF EASTER -
continuation
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.)
9. 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
10. Gastronomy
.
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).
Folar
13. EASTER SYMBOLS
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)
