EASTER - Resurrection

He is Risen! He is Risen Indeed! The Lord's resurrection - is the most mysterious event in mankind - this was and will forever ...

 

   "The angel said to the women, 'Do not be afraid; for I know that you are looking for Jesus who has been crucified. He is not here, for He has risen, just as He said. Come, see the place where He was lying. Go quickly and tell His disciples that He has risen from the dead.'" - Matthew 28:5-7

Easter celebration is a special time - it is spring in nature, is a new resurrection in the hearts of people, it is walking a new path, which leads to faith in the Lord ... And He Risen ...

Easter - is the central feast in the Christian liturgical year... According to the Canonical gospels, Jesus rose from the dead on the third day after his crucifixion. His resurrection is celebrated on Easter Day or Easter Sunday (also Resurrection Day or Resurrection Sunday)...

In Western Christianity, Easter marks the end of Lent, a period of fasting and penitence in preparation for Easter, which begins on Ash Wednesday and lasts forty days (not counting Sundays)... The week before Easter, known as Holy Week, is very special in the Christian tradition. The Sunday before Easter is Palm Sunday and the last three days before Easter are Maundy Thursday or Holy Thursday, Good Friday and Holy Saturday (sometimes referred to as Silent Saturday).... Eastertide, or Paschaltide, the season of Easter, begins on Easter Sunday and lasts until the day of Pentecost, seven weeks later...

The Easter festival is kept in many different ways among Western Christians. The traditional, liturgical observation of Easter, as practised among Roman Catholics and some Lutherans and Anglicans begins on the night of Holy Saturday with the Easter Vigil. This, the most important liturgy of the year, begins in total darkness with the blessing of the Easter fire, the lighting of the large Paschal candle (symbolic of the Risen Christ) and the chanting of the Exultet or Easter Proclamation attributed to Saint Ambrose of Milan. After this service of light, a number of readings from the Old Testament are read; these tell the stories of creation, the sacrifice of Isaac, the crossing of the Red Sea, and the foretold coming of the Messiah....

In some countries where Christianity is a state religion, or where the country has large Christian population, Easter is a public holiday. Some European and other countries in the world have also Easter Monday as a public holiday...

The New Testament teaches that the resurrection of Jesus, which Easter celebrates, is a foundation of the Christian faith... The resurrection established Jesus as the powerful Son of God and is cited as proof that God will judge the world in righteousness... God has given Christians "a new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead"... Christians, through faith in the working of God are spiritually resurrected with Jesus so that they may walk in a new way of life...

Easter customs vary across the Christian world, but decorating Easter eggs is a common motif. In the Western world, customs such as egg hunting and the Easter Bunny extend from the domain of church, and often have a secular character...

As with other Christian festivals, the celebration of Easter extends beyond the church. Since its origins, it has been a time of celebration and feasting and many Traditional Easter games and customs developed, such as egg rolling, egg tapping, Pace egging and egg decorating. Today Easter is commercially important, seeing wide sales of greeting cards and confectionery such as chocolate Easter eggs, marshmallow bunnies, Peeps, and jelly beans. Even many non-Christians celebrate these aspects of the holiday while eschewing the religious aspects.

  

Easter eggs are special eggs that are often given to celebrate Easter or springtime.

The oldest tradition is to use dyed or painted chicken eggs, but a modern custom is to substitute chocolate eggs, or plastic eggs filled with confectionery such as jelly beans. These eggs can be hidden for children to find on Easter morning, who may be told they were left by the Easter Bunny. They also may be put in a basket filled with real or artificial straw to resemble a bird's nest...

While the origin of Easter eggs can be explained in the symbolic terms described above, a sacred tradition among followers of Eastern Christianity says that Mary Magdalene was bringing cooked eggs to share with the other women at the tomb of Jesus, and the eggs in her basket miraculously turned brilliant red when she saw the risen Christ.The egg represents the boulder of the tomb of Jesus...

Quote: Thomas Arnold on the Resurrection  - "Thousands and ten thousands of persons have gone through it piece by piece, as carefully as ever judge summed up on a most important cause: I have myself done it many times over, not to persuade others, but to satisfy myself. I have been used for many years to study the history of other times, and to examine and weigh the evidence of those who have written about them; and I know of no one fact in the history of mankind, which is proved by better and fuller evidence of every sort to the understanding of a fair inquirer, than the great sign which God has given us, that Christ died and rose again from the dead.... “

Dr Thomas Arnold  “I know of no one fact”

  http://historicalapologetics.org/i-know-of-no-one-fact/

Dr Thomas Arnold (13 June 1795 – 12 June 1842) was a British educator and historian. Arnold was an early supporter of the Broad Church Anglican movement. He was headmaster of Rugby School from 1828 to 1841, where he introduced a number of reforms.   

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Arnold

 

           VELYKOS   -   PRISIKĖLIMAS

Viešpats prisikėlė ... Viešpaties prisikėlimas yra pats paslaptingiausias įvykis žmonijai – taip buvo ir  taip bus per amžius ...

"O angelas tarė moterims: 'Nebijokite! Aš žinau, kad ieškote Jėzaus, kuris buvo nukryžiuotas... Jo čia nėra! Jis prisikėlė, kaip buvo sakęs. Įeikite, apžiūrėkite vietą, kur Viešpats gulėjo...Ir skubiai duokite žinią Jo mokiniams: 'Jis prisikėlė iš numirusių ir eina pirma jūsų į Galilėją; tenai Jį pamatysite'. Štai aš jums tai paskelbiau'.." Mato 28,5-7, Biblija

 

Savaitė prieš Velykas yra Didžioji savaitė, - tai yra labai ypatinga krikščioniškoje tradicijoje. Sekmadienis prieš Velykas yra Verbų sekmadienis ...Velykų šventimas yra ypatingas laikotarpis – tai yra pavasaris gamtoje, tai naujas prisikėlimas žmonių širdyse, tai ėjimas nauju keliu, kuriuo veda tikėjimas Viešpačiu ... O JIS PRISIKĖLĖ ...

Kai kuriose šalyse, kur Krikščionybė yra valstybinė religija, ar kur šalis turi daug krikščioniškų gyventojų, Velykos yra išeiginė diena. Kai kurios Europos ir kitos šalys pasaulyje turi taip pat Velykas pirmadienį,  kaip išeiginę dieną...