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Easter is a favourite and respected holiday all over the world
Ukrainians living abroad live according to the calendar of the countries where they find themselves. Accordingly, the main Easter celebrations in Poland, the USA, the Czech Republic, Germany and other countries will fall on a different date than they would have at home.
OBOZREVATEL tells you when these countries celebrate the Resurrection of Christ. And what traditions are associated with the great religious holiday.
When the world celebrates Easter
Most Christian countries in the world follow the Western rite, that is, they mostly profess Catholicism or various forms of Protestantism. According to their calendar, Easter in 2023 will come on 9 April.
Easter traditions in Poland
Poles celebrate Easter for three days, starting on Saturday and ending on Monday. This is a very religious Catholic country, so the celebration is very reverent. On Saturday, Polish people bless baskets of food. Their set is very similar to the Ukrainian one: Easter cake, cheese, home-made sausage, salt, horseradish, bread, honey, eggs.
On Sunday, everyone tries to get together as a family and have a quick breakfast together - to say goodbye to Lent and to honour the resurrection of Christ. And on the second day of Easter, Poles practice cheerful but somewhat hooligan traditional fun. For example, the Śmigus-Dyngus ritual. Śmigus is beating people with a willow branch blessed on Palm Sunday. This is done not cautiously, but from the heart.
Dyngus is reminiscent of Ukrainian Christmas caroling. Children go from house to house begging for festive treats. If the hosts refuse, they may be doused with water. That is why Easter Monday is also called "wet". Young people also throw water on random passers-by on the street, so you need to be careful on this day.
Easter in the USA
Since America is a multinational country, there are no uniform traditions of celebration in the United States. However, most Americans still try to get together at the festive table. They dress up in formal clothes. And before that, many of them go to a morning church service to bless the Easter meal.
In addition to eggs, the symbols of Easter in the United States are lilies and a rabbit. Pots of lilies are taken to church and decorated at home. And then the hunt for Easter eggs begins. It is believed that a rabbit hides them in the garden along with sweets.
After all the eggs are found, the children organise a race, rolling them down a slope. The winner is the one whose egg goes the furthest. The main race takes place in Washington on Capitol Hill. It is judged personally by the US President.
There are also festive parades in America on Easter. It is customary to wear the most magnificent headdresses.
Easter in the Czech Republic
In addition to the traditional blessing of food and family meals, Czechs have a custom of beating women with special whips woven from willow rods and coloured ribbons on Easter Monday. These whips are called pomlazky, and their touch is supposed to give women youth and the freshness of spring branches. In some regions, this is what children do when they come to visit: they recite special rhymes and beat their hostesses, and in return they receive sweets and painted eggs. In other parts of the Czech Republic, on Tuesday, women "take revenge" on men for touching the pomlazka and pour water on them.
In addition to Easter cake, which is called mazanec in the Czech Republic, people bake lamb pies. This is a special cake in the shape of a sheep. They also make lambs out of chocolate.
Easter in Germany
It is customary for Germans to light a bonfire in the churchyard on Easter night during the festive service. It is from this fire that all those who come to the solemn service light their candles.
In Germany, painted eggs are not only used to decorate the festive table, but are also hung on houses and trees around the neighbourhood. As in the US, the Easter bunny is revered here. Figurines of the animal are sold everywhere. It can be cookies or chocolate or just cute figurines.
But Germans decorate wells in the most magnificent way. Flowers and young greens are added to the eggs. Every year they try to change the decor. And people come to admire how the owners have tried to decorate their wells and express their admiration for them.
There is also a custom in the country to roll a lighted wooden wheel down the hill on Easter Day. It is believed that if it reaches the bottom, the year will be fruitful. This tradition dates back to pre-Christian times, but it fits perfectly into the religious holiday of rebirth.
Previously OBOZREVATEL told when Easter in 2023 is celebrated by Orthodox, Catholics and Jews.
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