Celebrating Easter in Romania Essay

Candles have been used as a source of light before electricity was discovered, and the light bulb invented. They are normally used in religious ceremonies.  Scented candles are normally used in aromatherapy. Most birthday celebrations will not be complete without blowing the candles on a birthday cake. They are most useful as a light source during power failures that occur at night, although today, battery powered torches/lanterns are a preferred alternative.

Such as, the Holiday of “Easter” the painting of the eggs and the finding of the eggs, relates to Jesus Christ’s resurrection from death. After reading Paganism, I learned that “Easter” is a holiday not only celebrates the resurrection of Jesus, but a holiday of the Spring Equinox. Easter is a goddess known for fertility. In German she is called Ostara and in Anglo-Saxons she is known as Eostre. It’s celebrated the balance of light and darkness and the arrival of spring a renewal of the life force. In which, would explain why the Holy Roman Church would choose that date for Christ’s resurrection, so the people could not practice their religion. However, it didn’t stop the people because it’s we still practice paganism tradition that’s taken place today.

During the time I observed Mass there was a dominate race in attendance—mostly Caucasian (around 200) with several Hispanics (around 50) and very few African Americans (only three); however, there was not a dominate sex or age of the attendees. There seemed to be an equal amount of males and females, and a vast degree of age—newborns to very elderly among the participants. The clothing of the participants was very formal and respectful. Most women either wore long dresses or skirt with leggings or tights underneath, some women wore pants; however, there was only a few women in pants; all women wore shirts that did not show very much (if any) cleavage—some women (around ten) wore black, white, gray, or brown veils over their heads—at first I believed that the veils were a sign that the women wearing them were preparing to become nuns; however, several small children were wearing the veils over their heads, and according to Lauren, the veils are symbolic—they show respect to the Saints and God by allowing women to observe submissiveness and obedience. There seems to be no correlation between the veils color and a symbolic meaning behind the veil color. Men wore suits or khakis and a button up shirt. Women and men were all aware that they were in a church and must be modest—not shorts or t-shirts or cocktail dresses were seen of the participants—if someone was to show up to Mass in this attire it would be deemed inappropriate. Even the priest and altar servers and choir member

The Masquerade balls from the 15th to 18th Centuries were affairs in which nobility would wear masks, sometimes making it all a grand game to see if they could identify one another. Moreover, it is interesting to note that with the Dionysius cult and Greek bacchanalia, regulated, strict behaviours did not apply. Commoner and nobles alike participated in revelry as they do today. After the 18th century, Masquerade Balls fell out of favour until the 1990’s when they reappeared on the social scene to include more informal affairs. Office parties, theme nights at clubs, with fund raising becoming reasons for putting on historical clothes, or a modern outfit with a mask that was as elaborate as the wearer wished to be, and enjoy the evening out regardless of race and social status.

On Christmas Eve my parents and I go to church to attend the Candle Light Vigil. At the end of the service a flame is passed around till everyone’s candle is lit and we all sing “Silent Night”. It is a beautiful sight to see the warm glow from the candle light on peoples’ faces, while singing such a compelling and peaceful song. I love attending this service every year, for me it is a great reminder of the true meaning

Weekend “Mass” in the Catholic denomination is a form of church service where churchgoers gather to worship God for at least an hour. A shorter vision of Catholic “Mass” is practiced on the weekday and the longer version is practiced on the weekend. This religious meeting is referred to as sacramental worship where people truly believe they have established a connection with God. Personally, I am not familiar with Catholic worship as I grew up a Seven Day Adventist until I eventually moved away from the church. However, my mother’s acquaintance invited our family to “Mass” on the Easter weekend at a Parish near our house. We accepted the invitation and attended the evening Mass at 7:30 p.m. on Sunday. This report expounds on the different elements related to Catholic “Mass” such as the setting, size of congregation, type of service offered, social aspects, and likely psychological processes involved in the experience. Also, the psychological effects of the songs, scripture readings, sermon style, and the building itself will be examined in detail. My

The reality of full churches and choir stalls, lively Sunday schools, and overflowing basements is dead in today's Church. The unexpected has happened. Christ's followers, gripped by fear, are now scattered, or remain silent. Parishes, at worst, carry on blindly, or at best, look for comfortable compromises and expediency. They ignore cultural diversity in general. The rhetoric of denial continues to pour out of parish bulletins, newsletters, and diocesan and national journals. It is status quo.

The word ‘Easter’ comes from two old pagan spring festivals. The old European pagan festival of ‘Ostara’ that celebrated new life and Arabian Sun festival of ‘Ishtar’. The early Christians took over the festivals turned the pagan festivals of new life to mean the new life of Jesus was born. Easter is celebrated around the same time of year that he was killed. This is because Jesus died at the same time of the Jewish Passover festival. The Passover festival dates from about 4,000 years ago when Jewish people remember that God saved them from slavery in Egypt. Jesus was a Jew and so celebrated the Passover. Passover takes place in the first month of the Jewish New Year (14-15 of the month of Nisan). The Jewish calendar follows the cycle of the

Burning incents and candles is often practiced, but alternative measures such as flowers and electric candles can be implemented.

In medieval times, candles were one of the few sources of light. They were very helpful and useful everyday or during travel or voyages. Although candles have evolved, up to being used only as decoration, they started by our ancestors.

Paul Bogard gives a lot of detail, he argues that we as humans need to preserve natural darkness. Paul gives many examples as to how people all over the world are messing up by using light. "Today, though, when we feel the closeness of nightfall, we reach quickly for a light switch" this shows an example as to how quickly we react to the nightfall.

We live in a world of darkness, unilluminated by sun or star, and the darkness becomes a vast screen upon which we project our fears, an infinite canvas where we construct disasterpieces of our possible failures. Against the darkness there is only one defense, and so we light great pyres, monuments of fire and light, and we huddle there, together, in the ring of light that keeps out whatever it is we put in the darkness.

These white, sticky eggs are deposited by the female into the dark areas of tiny crevices which are hidden.

As the day of the ball finally arrived, all of the thousand guests were beyond excited, but a little anxious. The ballroom, where the masquerade was being held, was lit bay one thousand candles, embodying the one thousand guest. Decorated tables were covered with exotic food and drink. The walls were draped in black and red silk curtains that moved with eerie sighs as the doors to the ballroom swung open and the many guests entered.

     Christianity and Judaism are the few examples of religions that are originated from Western Traditions. These religions take different approaches to representational art and iconography which is found in their religious festivals. The Christian celebration of Easter and the Jewish Passover differentiate in their approaches to these icons in the history, the celebration and the symbols used during the commemoration of these holidays.