Why eggs are painted for Easter: the history of tradition. Why are eggs painted at Easter?

Hello, friends. Holiday coming soon Happy Easter, and what would a holiday be without colorful Easter eggs? Every child knows what's on holiday Christ's Resurrection Be sure to bake Easter cakes and paint eggs. How many of you know why eggs are painted for Easter? They are an important detail for a Christian holiday.

Ancient legends - painted eggs for easter

There is a biblical legend that tells where the tradition of painting eggs red came from. It is known from reliable sources that when the miraculous resurrection of Jesus took place, Saint Mary Magdalene decided to go to the Roman emperor with the good news. Then everyone who comes to Tiberius is obliged to bring gifts. They brought all the most valuable things. Mary had nothing but faith in the Lord. She decided to present the emperor with a simple chicken egg. With the words: “Christ is Risen,” she extended her hands to him with a gift.

Tiberius did not believe the woman and replied that a dead person cannot come to life, just as no gift can turn from white to red. But imagine his surprise when he saw how it turned red before his eyes.

This legend marked the beginning of the Orthodox tradition of painting Easter eggs in red as a sign of true faith. Painted eggs are a symbol of the miraculous Resurrection of Christ, the purification of the soul and the beginning of a new life. Those who were sanctified were credited with miraculous properties to protect against disease. They were crumbled onto the graves of the dead, commemorating them. There is another legend that is more commonplace.

During Lent, Orthodox believers did not eat eggs, and chickens did not stop laying eggs. They were boiled to preserve them. The eggshells were colored so as not to be confused with fresh ones. Giving Easter eggs, a method of worship for Christians. If the divine Resurrection of Jesus had not happened, then, according to the teachings of the Apostle Paul, the new faith would have been meaningless. Christ rose as the only one born on earth, showing the people Divine power. Church scripture testifies to this.

Easter egg symbolism

Magical properties were attributed to the egg even before the era of Christianity. When excavating ancient burials, real eggs are found, made from all kinds of materials. It is a symbol of purity, the birth of new life.

The appearance of the Christian symbol came to us from the thousand-year-old customs of the religion of peoples around the world. In Orthodoxy it receives a new semantic meaning. First of all, it becomes a sign of the appearance of Christ in bodily form. A symbol of the great joy of believers. According to Russian legends, during the Resurrection of Christ, the stones on Calvary turned into red eggs.

The first mention of colored eggs for Easter is in writing on parchment dating back to the 10th century. They are kept in the libraries of the Monastery of St. Anastasia. It is located in Greece near Thessaloniki. The manuscript contains a sacred charter, at the end of which it says: “After Easter service read the prayer for the blessing of eggs and cheese. Afterwards, distribute the consecrated eggs to the brethren with the words Christ is Risen!” The abbot could punish a monk who refused to eat a red egg on a holiday. Evidence says that the history of the Easter egg dates back to the time of Mary Magdalene. The dyeing ritual has been going on for more than 2000 years.

Celebration in Rus'

In Rus' they began to celebrate Easter in the 10th century. The holiday is celebrated on the first Sunday after spring equinox and the March full moon.

The festivities were accompanied by various pagan rituals, but were considered sanctified by God's grace. They baked Easter cakes and cooked homemade cheese, painted eggs red. Blessed eggs were placed in a barrel of grain and stored until sowing. It was believed that the harvest would be large. Celebrations in Rus' were massive. People rejoiced at everything, life, the coming of spring and warmth. Easter is celebrated in early spring When nature wakes up, the grass turns green. They begin to prepare for the most important Orthodox holiday in advance.

In almost all regions of Russia, Easter is considered the most important Orthodox holiday. On the night of Holy Saturday a great service is held. People rush to the temple from all over the surrounding area. On this night, all churches are crowded with believers. At the end of the service, the priest blesses the food brought for breaking the fast in the morning, and he himself receives one egg from the parishioners.

In tsarist times, in the capital of our homeland, festive services were held in the Assumption Cathedral. The king was sure to be there. He added greatness to what was happening. Lieutenant colonels standing at the doors made sure that beggars did not enter the cathedral. After the prayers, the king venerated the holy images that the clergy presented to him. He gave everyone colorful eggs, real and wooden, decorated with bright patterns.

In the morning, after the prayer service, the king went to Cathedral of the Archangel, bow to the ashes of your parents. He listened to a prayer service in the palace church and gave Easter eggs to everyone. Later he went out to the cathedral and paid attention to everyone who came up.

Holy Easter is celebrated for three days. During the first year, the sovereign traveled through places of detention, said to the convicts, “Christ is risen for you,” gave everyone something to wear and sent food for breaking the fast. And the queen at one time fed all the poor.

Painting methods

Let us return from ancient Moscow celebrations to our time. How is the great holiday going now? While the church choir is singing, parishioners hug each other, kiss each other three times, say: “Christ is Risen,” and answer, “Truly He is Risen.” Dyed eggs are presented in different colors.

They are called krashenki or pysanka. Krashenki - boiled and painted, they are a symbol for today. Easter eggs - painted, not boiled, fertilized - are a thing of the past.

You can paint your testicles big amount options. In villages, the method of cooking in onion skins was more often used. The darker the husk, the richer the color. They usually turned out burgundy. The method is effective and safe.

Special food dyes are now sold, but they get your hands dirty because they don’t stick to the shell. They are used to color boiled eggs.

The custom of exchanging colored eggs dates back to ancient times. From the history of the Easter egg it follows that under Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich, about 37,000 eggs were prepared and distributed for the great holiday. Along with the real ones, there were bone, wooden, glass, and porcelain ones.

There are many superstitions and legends associated with the custom of christening. It was believed that when you pronounce the greeting “Christ is Risen – He is Truly Risen,” you make a wish and it will definitely come true.

Returning home after the all-night vigil, people admire the beauty of the sunrise. It seems to share the universal joy of resurrection. Children sing songs directed to the sun, while older people comb their hair and wish that there are as many grandchildren as there are hairs on their heads. Upon returning from the prayer service, the tables were set different dishes to break the fast. The tables were set very richly, as if for a wedding.

Previously, on Easter we went from house to house with songs praising the Lord, just like at Christmas with carols. They were treated to goodies or given money. It was usually the guys who went.

Easter games

During the holiday there were games with Easter eggs; they were the main entertainment these days. According to the rules of one of them, which still exists today, a person held a painted egg in his hand so that a sharp or blunt edge was visible. The second one hit him with another egg. Whoever's testicle broke lost and gave his to the winner.

In another game, “rolling eggs” is done from the tubercles. According to the rules, you need to roll the egg and hit the others that lie below. If this was successful, the person took it for himself.

Ancient customs have been preserved. Today, on this significant day for all believers, churches are again filled with the prayers of thousands of people. Once destroyed temples are being restored. During Holy Week, families prepare for the holiday, clean the house, paint eggs, and bake fragrant Easter cakes.

It's hard to imagine the main one Christian holiday no colored eggs. Eggs begin to be painted during Holy Week, they are taken to church, they are treated to relatives and friends, and the festive feast begins with them. Year after year we decorate eggs for Easter, often without even thinking about the meaning of this tradition. Meanwhile, a number of questions may arise, for example, why eggs are painted at Easter and why red eggs are still especially distinguished. The tradition of decorating eggs has long history, full of legends, so all these questions cannot be answered unambiguously.

Like many traditions that have survived to this day, according to one version, decorating eggs for Easter goes back to the pre-Christian era. As you know, the date of Easter celebration changes every year and depends on the lunisolar calendar, but each time this holiday falls in the spring. In pre-Christian times, there were many ceremonies and rituals associated with the arrival of spring, and with the spread of Christianity, some of them began to include the Easter holiday. Since the holiday of the Resurrection of Christ, as well as the arrival of spring, symbolizes new life, then, answering the question why eggs are painted at Easter, you should turn to Ancient Egypt and Persia. Even the ancient Egyptians and Persians during their spring holidays painted chicken eggs. Even then, the egg was considered a symbol of fertility and new life; with the advent of Christianity, the egg became not only a symbol of new life, but also of resurrection.

There is another answer to the question why eggs are painted at Easter; it refers us to Ancient Rome. The Romans associated the ritual of coloring eggs with the name of Emperor Marcus Aurelius, more precisely with his birth in 121 AD. On the day of this event, in a chicken coop that belonged to the family of the future emperor, a chicken laid an egg completely covered with bright red dots. This extraordinary event was interpreted as a symbol of a happy omen and a sign of a bright future for the newborn. Since then, in Rome there has been a tradition of giving each other gifts in honor of the holiday. painted eggs. Christians, having adopted the tradition, put a different meaning into it; it is believed that the red color of the egg symbolizes the blood of Christ.

However, the church does not agree with previous theories. According to the biblical version, the first Easter egg was given by Mary Magdalene to Emperor Tiberius. But why is it customary to paint eggs at Easter? After the resurrection of Jesus Christ, his disciples informed believers about this joyful event, then Mary Magdalene went with this news to the Roman Emperor Tiberius. However, it was not customary to come to the emperor without gifts, and even the poor had to present at least an egg as a gift to Tiberius. Mary Magdalene did the same, but it was not by chance that she chose the egg as a gift; it contains a special meaning. Under dead eggshell there is a life hidden from everyone that will break free along with the hatched chicken. And when Mary told Tiberius that Christ, in a similar way, escaped from the shackles of death and was resurrected, the emperor did not believe it, objecting that this was as impossible as for your white egg to turn red. And at that moment, a miracle happened before everyone’s eyes - the egg in the emperor’s hand turned red, and the amazed Tiberius exclaimed, “Truly he has risen!” Since then, believers on the holiday of the Resurrection of Christ give each other colored eggs with the words “Christ is risen!”, and the one who accepts the gift replies “Truly he is risen!”

These versions do not exhaust the answer to the question of why eggs are painted at Easter. Another legend tells of the Jews who gathered for a meal after the execution of Jesus Christ, they were served fried chicken and boiled eggs. One of them mentioned that Jesus would be resurrected in 3 days, the other laughed, saying that most likely this fried chicken would come to life and the eggs would turn red. And at that very moment, that’s exactly what happened. Since then, eggs have been painted at Easter in memory of this event. There is another legend that says that the Mother of God herself painted eggs in order to use them as toys for the Christ child.

There is a simpler and more logical answer to the question of why eggs are painted at Easter. As you know, during Lent, which ends with the Feast of the Resurrection of Christ, the consumption of any animal products, including chicken eggs, is prohibited. And everything would be much simpler if this could be explained to the chickens, and they would stop laying eggs during Lent. However, chickens are still not aware of all sorts of restrictions and continue to lay eggs even during Lent. In order not to throw away a valuable product, peasants stored eggs for future use and, in order to distinguish early batches from fresher ones, they were colored. And with the onset of Easter, they gave colored eggs to loved ones, took them to church and ate them themselves.

As can be seen from all these legends, which you can believe in or not, the tradition of dyeing eggs began a long time ago. Until now, every year on the eve of the holiday of the Resurrection of Christ, Christians all over the world paint eggs, turning them into real works of art.

Alena Karamzina

When eggs are painted for Easter - on what day to prepare the dyes for festive table? It is difficult to imagine Easter Sunday without this traditional attribute. Let's find out where the tradition of painting eggs came from and when it should be done.

According to legend, the holy myrrh-bearer Mary Magdalene went to Emperor Tiberius to convey the news of the resurrection of Jesus. It was necessary to appear before the emperor with gifts. Maria was a poor woman, so she only brought an egg.

When she told Tiberius that Jesus had risen, the emperor did not believe it. He said that this is impossible, just as it is impossible for an egg shell to turn from white to red. Immediately, before the eyes of the amazed emperor, the shell turned red. “Truly risen!” - Tiberius exclaimed. Now this phrase is a mandatory greeting on Easter Day.

It is also believed that the red color of the egg symbolizes the blood of Jesus, shed for the sins of mankind, and the egg is a symbol of new life, that is, birth or resurrection.

What day should you dye eggs?

It is believed that you can start coloring eggs a week before Easter - from Monday, the first day of the so-called Great Week (Holy Week). But you want the eggs to be fresh, so it’s better to buy them and dye them no earlier than Thursday.

Maundy Thursday It is considered the most successful day for preparing dyes. On this day, according to the Bible, there was the Last Supper - the last meal of Jesus with his disciples. On Maundy Thursday it is customary to carry out cleansing rituals: bathing, cleaning the house - in a word, one must properly prepare for the great Easter holiday.

If you didn’t have time to color the eggs on Thursday, you can do it on Holy Saturday. Thursday and Saturday are the most lucky days for coloring Easter eggs.

On what day should you not dye eggs?

It is believed that on the day of Jesus' death, that is, on Friday, one should not do household chores, including painting eggs. However, many priests say that even in Good Friday You can start preparing the paints. When is the best time to do this? - only after 15.00 hours. It was at this time that Jesus was crucified.

It is not at all necessary to paint the eggs red. The main thing is that the colors are bright and festive.

Easter is the most important and anticipated holiday in the Christian world. Even atheists to some extent expect it, because with Easter the real spring begins. For Christians, this holiday reflects the whole essence of faith - Christ was crucified for the sins of people and rose again on the third day. This is Easter - the Resurrection of Christ. For some Orthodox Christians, the tradition of painting eggs for Easter is important, but is it really necessary? Where does this custom even originate?

History of Easter attributes

The holiday of Passover, or Passover, was originally purely Jewish.

When the Lord freed the Jews from Egyptian captivity, He ordered each family to slaughter a lamb and smear its blood on the doorposts and the spirit of death, which the Almighty sent, would pass by this house. The Egyptian families did not do this; in every family the Almighty took the firstborn.

Where does the tradition of painting eggs for Easter come from? To answer this question you should refer to historical sources, because the first mentions of this can be found in manuscripts of the 10th century, stored in the monastery of St. Anastasia in Greece.

The manuscript records the rules of the church of that time regarding the celebration of Easter and indicates a prayer for the blessing of cheese and eggs. It is also written there that the abbot, greeting the brothers, distributed them and said: “Christ is Risen!” In another manuscript from the 13th century it is written that the abbot can punish the monk who does not eat red dye on Easter, since this is a contradiction of the apostolic tradition.

For reference! In Russia, this tradition has been known for a long time. In addition to chicken, there is a whole culture of painting with wooden, tin and bone paints.

Painted eggs

Pagan traditions

Sometimes you can come across the opinion that the tradition of baking Easter cakes has pagan roots and is associated with masculine ancient gods. Orthodox Christians should know that such theories are nothing more than attempts by sectarian groups and pagan organizations to discredit the celebration of Easter and the Christian faith in general, and to give them an ungodly meaning.

Christian traditions

Making Easter cakes and painted eggs is a pious Orthodox tradition. It is not obligatory, but following it brings special triumph to oneself big holiday the entire Christian world.

There are several theories about paints as a symbol of Easter:

1. This is a symbol of the empty tomb: the red paint symbolizes the empty tomb and the risen Christ. The shell in this case is the stone of the tomb, drenched in His blood. Those. the red egg became a symbol of the empty tomb and Christ who died for us.
2. Miracle of God: There is a legend of a miracle that God performed before Emperor Tiberius. According to legend, Mary Magdalene was received by Emperor Tiberius and served him eggs, saying: “Christ is Risen!” The emperor refused to believe it and said: “This is just as impossible as the fact that a white shell can turn scarlet!” and at the same moment the white shell miraculously became scarlet.
3. When Christianity began to spread in Rus', and throughout Europe, the pagans extremely stubbornly clung to their pagan traditions and theologians of that time decided not to take away the traditions from them, but to modernize their meaning and replace it with a Christian one. Thus, the Easter holiday came to the pagans, and the Church Fathers allowed them to bring dyes to the churches.

Attention! It should be remembered that no tradition will help a person save his soul, but only Christ, who became the lamb who shed blood for us all. You can cook dyes and make Easter cakes, but you should not forget that, first of all, you should prepare your heart for Easter.

As for the tradition of baking Easter cakes, it finds its roots in the liturgical rite. On ceremonial service in honor of the Holy Resurrection of Christ, a special bread is consecrated - artos - which stands in the temple throughout Bright Week, it is worn during religious processions. At the end of the week, this bread is divided into parts and distributed to parishioners, who keep and eat it all year, until next Easter, as a shrine.

Since the family in Orthodoxy is considered a small Church, a tradition has arisen of making your own family Easter bread. Everyone's favorite Easter cakes became them. Of course, homemade baked goods are not such a sacred thing as artos, but they have undoubtedly become an integral attribute of Easter celebrations.

As we see, Easter cakes owe their origin not to pagan cults, but to the peculiarities of the Easter service.

Curd pasochka, which is prepared from homemade fatty cottage cheese and eggs, also has a symbolic meaning. It is made in a special cone shape and symbolizes the Holy Sepulcher, in which He remained until His Resurrection. On the sides of the curd pasochka the letters ХВ are squeezed out, meaning the Easter greeting “Christ is Risen!”, as well as a cross, spears, and sometimes flowers, which characterize the suffering of Christ and His subsequent resurrection.

About Easter cuisine:

Easter cake

Why prepare Easter eggs today?

When bringing dyes to churches for Easter, Christians should understand that this is only folk tradition, which is completely optional. The sin is to eat boiled egg with multi-colored shells, no, but you shouldn’t pay more attention to the colored shells than to Christ.

It is possible for a person to be saved only through the Blood of Jesus Christ, but not through food.

Painting eggs, baking Easter cakes - all this folk customs and a person who wants to celebrate Easter is completely under no obligation to do so. But this is not a sin.

The main thing for this holiday is to cleanse your heart and accept Christ as the Savior of the soul, accepting His death. We must believe with all our hearts that Christ died for every person and rose again on the third day. It is His Blood that washes us from sins and makes it possible to have a personal relationship with the Lord.

Why is red important?

The color red has always been a symbol of kings, power and blood. Jesus Christ is our King, He has all authority on earth and His blood was shed for us. Thus, the colors of red symbolize His blood, His royal power and authority over all the earth.

Many traditions and legends telling about dyed eggs indicate that their color was scarlet, which is why it dominates Easter eggs.

Watch a video about colored eggs

Long before the advent of Christianity, ancient peoples considered the egg to be the prototype of the Universe - the world was born from it, surrounding a person. The attitude towards the egg as a symbol of birth was reflected in the beliefs and customs of the Egyptians, Persians, Greeks, and Romans. And the Christian custom of giving each other Easter eggs is rooted in ancient times. Even during pagan times, this item had a huge symbolic meaning, he was associated with life itself. An ancient Latin proverb says, “Every living thing [comes] from an egg.”

In ancient Jerusalem, the egg was a symbol of the rebirth of nature on the holiday of the spring equinox. And this philosophical image passed into the Christian tradition, in which the Easter egg symbolizes new life, its rebirth.

According to legend, the first Easter egg Mary Magdalene presented it to the Roman Emperor Tiberius. This happened shortly after the ascension of Jesus Christ. Mary Magdalene went to receive the emperor. In those days, it was customary to bring gifts to the emperor when he came to see him. The wealthy brought jewelry, and the poor brought what they could. Therefore, Mary Magdalene, who had nothing but faith in Jesus, handed the Emperor Tiberius egg with an exclamation:
"Christ is risen!" The emperor, doubting what was said, noted that no one can rise from the dead and this is as difficult to believe as the fact that a white egg can turn red. Before Tiberius had time to finish these words, the egg began to change color from white to bright red.
For those who had faith in Christ, eggs painted red symbolized the blood shed by Christ and His death. Under the red shell of the egg is white protein which serves as a symbol of the Resurrection and life of Christ

In Orthodox practice, Easter eggs are not only painted, but also intricately painted. Such eggs with the lines of their patterns are reminiscent of the scourging of Christ. Therefore, it is necessary to paint and decorate eggs on a special day during Holy Week (week) - on Maundy Thursday or Good Friday

Fun and games with Easter eggs

For centuries, the favorite Easter game in Rus' was "egg rolling" This game was arranged like this: they installed a wooden or cardboard “skating rink” and cleared a flat area around it, on which they laid out colored eggs, toys, and simple souvenirs. The playing children approached the “skating rink” in turn and each rolled their own egg. The prize was the object that the egg touched.

The children loved and "clink glasses" eggs with each other, hitting the opponent's egg with the blunt or sharp end of a colored hard-boiled egg. The winner was the one whose egg did not break.

Why does the Easter Bunny deliver colored eggs at Easter?

There is a legend about this
While the ark was plowing through the boundless waters that created the Great Flood, its bottom hit the top of a mountain, and a hole appeared in the vessel. And the ark would have gone into the deep waters if not for the hare, who covered the hole with his short tail. It is in memory of the brave coward that legends were born. Children who are waiting for the Easter Bunny or the Easter Bunny are sure that it is he who is cooking in pots with firefly pollen in a magical clearing in the forests of the German lands. magic herbs, which is used to hand-paint each Easter egg. In ancient times, this animal was considered one of the symbols of fertility and prosperity among the Germanic peoples. Gradually, the hare, as one of the emblems of Easter, appeared in England.

Interestingly, the custom of giving each other Easter eggs exists in both Catholic and Orthodox countries. For example, in Italy and Germany it is customary to bring it in a basket chocolate eggs, wrapped in multi-colored foil. Moreover, the German and Italian Easter basket, as a rule, also contains a chocolate bunny.