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Celebrating Easter Around the World!

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Celebrating Easter Around the World!

Wow - Easter is nearly upon us again so why not find out how Easter is celebrated all over the world.

 

In Britain, a lot of Churches hold special Good Friday services. Congregations are sometimes led to the church by a person carrying a large wooden cross in respects to that Jesus died on a cross on Good Friday.

Many people go to Church on Palm Sunday to celebrate Easter, and often receive a small cross made of palm leaves which have been blessed.

A famous British Easter tradition is the giving out of 'Maundy Money' by the Queen on Maundy Thursday, by giving little purses of money to a few chosen men and women. Past tradition included reigning monarchs washing the feet of the poor to remember that Jesus washed his disciples feet before the Last Supper.

Decorating Easter Eggs is a common tradition in Britain. Henry VIII was the first person in Britain to receive an official Easter Egg from the Pope!

In York, traditional Passion Plays are still performed for the public in the Old English language as they were first performed during medieval times.

Britain also likes to indulge in many unusual sports. From pancake races and barrel kicking matches, to egg-rolling competitions!

 

In France, Church Bells do not ring on Good Friday or Easter Saturday.

Boxwood branches are sometimes used instead of palm leaves and put over doors in houses to bring good luck to the people in the house.

A few Easter games are played in France including Easter egg hunts. Another game is where children each take a raw egg and roll them down a hill (simulating the stone rolling from Jesus' tomb), the child whose egg travels the farthest without breaking is the winner.

 

In Germany, the Priest sometimes rides to the Palm Sunday service on a Donkey!

In the weeks before Easter, Germany gets ready for a new season by displaying spring flowers on traditional "Easter trees.

The custom of boiling and painting eggs began in Germany; the bright colors represent sunlight and growth, the symbols of new life.

On Easter Saturday evening, Easter bonfires will be lit in the north of Germany, chasing away the dark spirits of winter and welcoming the warm spring season.

Easter is treated as a very important celebration in Spain, with the whole of Holy Week often being a holiday.

On Ash Wednesday, as a way of saying sorry to God, people have a cross made of ash put on their foreheads.

On Maundy Thursday, there is a special 'Dance of Death' performed by men dressed as skeletons in Verges, Gerona.

Ash Wednesday and Good Friday are days of fasting for some, and most people go to mass in the morning on Palm Sunday, .

Many towns and cities in Spain celebrate Easter with processions using highly decorated floats through the streets at night.

In southern Spain, the processions are often accompanied by drums being beaten by the local boys. The most famous and biggest processions are held in Seville.

 

On Easter Day in Italy, the Pope conducts a very large Mass Service in St Peter's Square in the Vatican City.

The service is broadcast all over the world and is seen as a place of Pilgrimage to Catholics.

Olive Branches are often used instead of Palm leaves in the Palm Sunday services and celebrations, .

In Venice, there is a big Mardi Gras festival at the start of Lent.

On Good Friday, more than 2,000 friars dressed in ancient costumes walk through the streets of Enna, in Sicily.

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