I'm curious.

What does Easter mean to you all? Is it simply two bank holidays - an extra long weekend, or will you attend the Easter ceremonies? Or is there something else?

I like to think of Easter as being the real new year - the one we might be more enthusiastic about because the sun is shining, the hyacinths are blooming, daffodils are brazen and en masse the lambs are doing the hundred yard dash (with an occasional Paddy Kavanagh skip!) along the hedge. It's impossible not to be rejuvenated and reinvigorated in those circumstances.

Spiritually Easter is about a second chance at life, an opportunity to get into heaven even though we might not really deserve it - if that's what you believe. Easter as the New Year just makes that a bit more concrete in the sense that it brings the opportunity for a personal resurrection if you want.

So what's it all about for the rest of you?

I go to the ceremonies, I'll be logging off soon to attend the service today up in the local church.

I think it's quite a nice thing, it's a great chance to re-affirm your faith with the regular Masses and services.

This year it's a bit weird, what with St. Patrick's Day on at the same time and Easter being so early.

The eggs are nice too, but I've lost my grá for them a bit this year.

Easter 2009 will be much better.

I used to attend the Easter Saturday night service at the local monastery. They lit candles from a bonfire and everything was done by candle light with freaky gregorian chanting. It was a blast. I took along a Protestant friend one year but it was strictly for the ambience and trippy ceol.

Not being a believer, not even back then, I did enjoy it but it once went on for 2 1/4 hours which as one dub put it to me "was wreckin mae buzz".

Its a long weekend for me now but I try to attend one Easter Commemeration each year.

The Good Friday service with the Abbot was nearly always 3 hours long and yes I was forced to attend when young. I remember having to wear a red woolly tanktop with tie and its itch was driving me demented and I was all to ready to scream "Father, into your hands I commend my spirit" when we reached the responsorial psalm which had 23 verses.

I rememder having to shout "yahweh" or "Emmanuel" or something as we took an active part in what was essentially a passion play with God thru in.

Was just given free Marks and Spencers hot cross buns by Christian Rock playing evangelists in a shoppng mall. This has got to be a good religion, particularly as not too sniffy to give out excellent product made by a Jewish firm.

cactus flower wrote:

Was just given free Marks and Spencers hot cross buns by Christian Rock playing evangelists in a shoppng mall. This has got to be a good religion, particularly as not too sniffy to give out excellent product made by a Jewish firm.

I'd hardly call M&S a Jewish firm, it is a plc loike.

Something must change in us spiritually or biologically at this time of year - everything else is changing, growing and what have you. Funnily enough I feel it's more of a holy time than Christmas .. but I don't go to Mass unless listening to it on the radio counts.

bye

Just a few days off work.

Auditor #9 wrote:

Something must change in us spiritually or biologically at this time of year - everything else is changing, growing and what have you. Funnily enough I feel it's more of a holy time than Christmas .. but I don't go to Mass unless listening to it on the radio counts.

bye

It should feel more holy than Christmas. As important as the incarnation of Our Lord is, the whole point of the Messiah's existence is to die for all our sins. The fulfillment of Scripture by Our Lord as recounted by the Easter Festival is the quintessence of what Christianity is about.

Seeing as I was working today and will be again on Monday - its just another weekend

As an Atheist the whole gig just goes over my head.

But Christians should make more of an effort - after all it is the main Christian festival and the central point of Christianity that JC died for your sins and was resurrected and all that jazz -

Christmas is just an afterthought - just to bring them boozy nothern pagans into the fold by sticking a christian excuse for a celebration on top of the old pagan festivals.Co-incidentally Easter is the far bigger festival around the med than christmas tho for how much longer seeing as Christmas is now sponsored by Coca Cola and mastercard.

Am not religious but Easter was always more theatrical than Christmas (apologies, don't mean to offend anyone.) and enjoyed it. Keep meaning to go back some year to one of the services but haven't managed it yet. So Easter means catching up on sleep and doing stuff round the house or in the garden/ allotment. Hasn't worked this year cos of the awful weather. NEVER want Easter this early again.

I was looking for the words and tune of Easter Snow, and found this instead - not relevant, but much more beautiful.


Who is that outside with anger in his voice beating my closed door?

I am Éamann of the Hill, soakend through and wet

From constant walking of mountains and glens

My love, fond and true, what else could I do

but shield you from wind and from weather?

When the shot falls like hail, they us both shall assail

and mayhap we will die together.

***

Through frost and through snow, tired and hunted

I go in fear both of friend and of neighbour;

My horses run wild, my acres untilled

and all of lost to my labour.

What grieves me far more than the loss of my store

is there is no one would shield me from danger

so my fate it must be to bid farewell to thee

and languish amid strangers

***

My darling, my beloved

we will go off together for a while

to forests of fragrant fruit trees

and the blackbird in his nest

the deer and the buck calling

sweet little birds singing on branches

And the little cuckoo on top of the green yew tree

Forever, forever, death will not come near us

in the middle of our fragrant forest.

That is nice, cf. There are shades of Wuthering Heights about it...

Kate P wrote:

That is nice, cf. There are shades of Wuthering Heights about it...

It was written about a guy called Ned Flynn, who had a serious run in with a tax collector.