Felices Pascuas

Mixing traditions have become part of our lives in our global world, especially when you are living in a foreign country or trying to teach your children about other cultures. As a Hispanic mom, living in the USA, I wanted my daughters to share the traditions I grew with but also learn and embrace the traditions of their country. Learning the meaning and history of why we do things, have helped me in the process of teaching them about differences and similarities in cultures and be able to mix traditions without changing the real meaning of them.

Easter time is not an exception. As Hispanics, we typically grow up practicing the Roman Catholic faith we inherited from the Spaniards. Holy Week is one of the top Hispanic celebrations engraved in our traditions. It is the yearly commemoration in the Christian calendar of the passion, death and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth. Our Easter traditions are mostly religion related. Pretty much throughout Latin America, no stores or businesses are open at least from Jueves Santo or Holy Thursday on. Schools close the entire week, and for many, Semana Santa is a mixture of relaxation and religious celebration.

As we welcome spring in the USA, we start seeing the presence of the Eastern bunny. Kids are all excited about Brightly decorated eggs, Easter egg rolling and Easter egg hunts. In Hispanic countries, we normally do not have any tradition with eggs on Easter week. Now that one of my daughters is three and she is extremely excited about egg hunts and egg decoration, I wondered the real meaning of this tradition so we can embrade it with the same passion we embrace ours.

I was actually surprised about what I learned. The tradition of painting hard-boiled eggs during springtime pre-dates Christianity. In many cultures around the world, the egg is a symbol of new life, fertility and rebirth. For Christians, the Easter egg is symbolic of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Painting Easter eggs is an especially beloved tradition in the Orthodox and Eastern Catholic churches where the eggs are dyed red to represent the blood of Jesus Christ that was shed on the cross. Easter eggs are blessed by the priest at the end of the Paschal vigil and distributed to the congregants. The hard shell of the egg represents the sealed Tomb of Christ, and cracking the shell represents Jesus’ resurrection from the dead. An egg hunt involves hiding eggs outside for children to run around and find on Easter morning. Eggs are rolled as a symbolic re-enactment of the rolling away of the stone from Christ’s tomb.

It is curious how sometimes we see cultural traditions as totally different one from another until we get curious and learn about them. I love going egg-hunting with my daughter and I love watching her face when finding little surprises inside the eggs, but I am also happy to be able to teach her that besides of having fun there is a whole story-history behind it.

Happy Easter – Felices Pascuas.

P.S. There is a TraditionalHhispanic song call “Los Pollitos”, just perfect for this time of the year. Download its lyrics together with our Easter Chick here.