Easter, or the Resurrection of Christ, is one of the most celebrated Christian holidays in the world. Every country has its own way of celebrating Easter, through different traditions and customs. Here are the main features of the Easter holiday in Romania so you know what to expect if you’re spending this holiday in our country, says Romania-Insider.com.
In Romania, many Easter traditions have been preserved until now. The celebrations start with the Good Week, which begins with Palm Sunday when Jesus entered Jerusalem and ends with Easter Sunday when Christ resurrected. During this week, final preparations are made for the big celebration. On Good Thursday, also called Holy Thursday, people take food and drink to the church. In the same day, boiled eggs are painted, because they say that if the eggs turn red on Holy Thursday, they will keep without spoiling all year. The prominent color for Easter eggs is red, but other colors like yellow, green or blue are also used.
In Romania, you will also see a special kind of painted eggs, with different geometrical and floral motifs, all with different colors on the same egg. The egg painting ritual has been kept to date but only a few people still master the art of egg painting. The process involves various paints and wax. This type of painted egg would make a great gift to your loved ones who live elsewhere in the world. Most of the colored eggs on Easter can be eaten, as they are boiled. These special eggs, however, are emptied of their content so you will buy only a colored, light shell.
Another tradition related to eggs is that of tapping eggs on Easter day. Children usually have a competition to see whose egg has the thickest crust and can tap and break all the other eggs. This is usually done with normal, colored eggs that can be eaten afterward. The eggs tapping game also involves a saying with religious connotation: the first person says ‘Christ has resurrected’ (in Romanian, ‘Cristos a inviat’), while the second goes “True, he has resurrected” (in Romanian, ‘Adevarat a inviat’).
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