Рассказ / Пасха (на англ.)

I want to tell you about celebration of New Year in our family. We love this holiday. I can say that it’s our favorite holiday, because we always meet together. It’ really amazing!

This New Year was fantastic. We decorated our home and Christmas tree. We bought and cooked a lot of delicious food like salads, meet, cookies. We wished each other a lot of good things. It was really good time for everyone, I think. We got and received presents.

I just want to tell that holiday is really great time for family.

For Christians Easter Sunday is the high point of the year. They celebrate the Resurrection of Jesus Christ.

As in many other European and New World countries, eggs and rabbits (signs of fertility and new life) are traditional symbols of Easter in the British Isles. Chocolate bunnies and Easter eggs, often adorned in colorful foil wrappers, are given to children as presents or are hidden for the Easter morning "egg hunt." 

The tradition of decorating real eggs for Easter dates back to the Middle Ages. In 1290 the English king, Edward I, ordered 450 eggs to be covered in gold leaf to be given as Easter presents. It is thought that the bright hues used to decorate Easter eggs were meant to mirror the colors of the reawakening spring growth.

Another British Easter custom is egg rolling or the egg race, when competitors try to be the first to roll their egg across a course or down a hill… without breaking it!

Aside from eggs, the best-known English Easter food is probably the hot cross bun. Dating back to medieval times, the buns were traditionally eaten on Good Friday, but they are now popular all around the Easter season. These sweet treats, fragrant with fruit and spices, are marked with a cross, either slashed into the dough before baking, or drizzled on in icing afterwards. The history of hot cross buns dates far back to the pre-Christian era. It is thought that they are descendants of the small cakes offered to Eostre, the goddess of spring. They may have been marked with a cross even in ancient times, to represent the four quarters of the moon. In later centuries the church, unable to stamp out ancient pagan traditions, decided instead to "Christianize" the buns by associating the cross with that of Jesus.

Easter Sunday in the British Isles is traditionally marked by church services, often held at dawn so that worshippers can view the sunrise, a symbol of Christ’s resurrection. Afterwards Easter eggs are exchanged and eaten. 

Easter parades were also once an important tradition, during which people would wear their new clothes - the ladies in particular would show off their new "Easter bonnets" - as another sign of spring’s renewal. Later the family would gather for Easter lunch or dinner, which in England traditionally consisted of roast spring lamb with mint sauce, potatoes and green peas. There was time to rest from the celebrations the next day, since Easter Monday is traditionally a holiday in Britain.

In our country Easter is one of the most important holidays of the year and traditions of celebrating Easter in our country are very bright, colorful and cheerful. 

So, in the morning a lot of people go to the nearest churches where the religious service is taken place.  It is so amazing. 

People bring Easter baskets filled with eggs, bread and other food to the Easter service to consecrate them. 

After the service they go home and eat specially prepared food: Easter lamb, Easter eggs, chocolate eggs, Easter bunny, sausage, ham and other tasty things. 

Then parents let their children go for a walk with their friends. As a rule the weather is wonderful, it is sunny and warm. 

Children ride their bikes and skates and have fun. 

In the evening all member of the families go to the cinema and watch an interesting film or just walk in the parks and rest.  

It is a great day.

Easter is the most important holiday of the year. 
Easter egg is called pysanka. Pysanka shells have been found in archaeological sites from more than 3000 years ago, and many of those designs are still being used on pysanka today. 
Preparation for Easter starts seven weeks ahead of time with the advent of Lent. Believers don’t eat meat and animal products. 
Palm Sunday, the week before Easter, is known as Willow Sunday. People bring home willow branches which have been blessed in church. 
The week is dedicated to preparing for Easter. The Thursday before Easter is called Clean Thursday. According to the tradition one should bathe before sunrise on this day. The house must be clean too. 
Good Friday is the day that the women of the family bake “paska”, Easter bread. 
On Saturday children dye Easter eggs to add to the Easter basket which will be blessed in church. It also includes pysanka, salt, paska, sausage and ham. In the evening people go to church for the Easter mass, which lasts all night. 
Easter Sunday is a day of singing songs and eating. Young girls dance and sing about nature and spring. People exchange pysanky. 
Пасха самый важный праздник в году.  
Пасхальное яйцо называется писанка. Скарлупа писанок была найдена в археологических памятниках более чем 3000 лет назад, и многие из тех давних узоров до сих пор используются на писанках.  
Подготовка к Пасхе начинается за семь недель через Великий пост. Верующие не едят мяса и продуктов животного происхождения.  
Вербное воскресенье- за неделю до Пасхи. Люди приносят домой ветви ивы, которые были благословлены в церкви.  
Вся неделя посвящена подготовке к Пасхе. Четверг перед Пасхой называется Чистый четверг. По традиции следует купаться до восхода солнца в этот день. Дом должен быть чистым тоже.  
Страстная пятница является днем, когда женщины пекут "Паску", или Пасхальный кулич.  
В субботу дети красят пасхальные яица и добавляют их в корзину, которая будет освящена в церкви. Она также включает писанки, соль, кулич, колбасу и ветчину. Вечером люди идут в церковь на Пасхальную службу, которая длится всю ночь.  
Пасхальное воскресенье - день песен и еды. Молодые девушки танцуют и поют о природе и весне. Люди обмениваются пасхальными яйцами.

Еaster - funny holiday, which is set in the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. On Easter, people handed out to children or adults colorful eggs, but people do not just hand out eggs! Children or adults to announce the news to people and getting more precise Flowers Thank You - colorful eggs and candy, or beautiful drawings and various other. always celebrate Easter on Sunday on the floor in.
Пасха - весёлый праздник, который установлен в честь Воскресения Иисуса Христа. На пасхе, люди раздают детям или взрослым разноцветные яйца, но люди не просто так раздают яйца! Дети или взрослые объявляют людям новость и получают благадарность точнее - разноцветные яйца и красивые рисунки или конфеты и разное другое. Пасху всегда отмечают в Воскресенье от слово Воскрес! 

Aster is the most important holiday of the year. Easter egg is called pysanka. Pysanka shells have been found in archaeological sites from more than 3000 years ago, and many of those designs are still being used on pysanka today. Preparation for Easter starts seven weeks ahead of time with the advent of Lent. Believers don’t eat meat and animal products. Palm Sunday, the week before Easter, is known  as Willow Sunday. People bring home willow branches which have been blessed in church. The week is dedicated to preparing for Easter. The Thursday before Easter is called Clean Thursday. According to the tradition one should bathe before sunrise on this day. The house must be clean too. Good Friday is the day that the women of the family bake “paska”,  Easter bread. On Saturday children dye Easter eggs to add to the Easter basket which will be blessed in church. It also includes pysanka, salt, paska, sausage and ham. In the evening people go to church for the Easter mass, which lasts all night. Easter Sunday is a day of singing songs and eating. Young girls dance and sing about nature and spring. People exchange pysanky.

Пасху отмечают в воскресение — последний день Страстной седмицы. Традиционно верующие отправляются в ночь с субботы на воскресение в церковь, чтобы отстоять Пасхальную службу и освятить куличи и яйца. Кроме традиционных куличей и крашанок, святить можно также воду, соль, фрукты. Считается, что освященная еда приносит здоровье. Кроме того, принято также оставлять в церкви часть принесенных продуктов, чтобы каждый нуждающийся в этот день смог разделить радость праздника.
Easter is celebrated on Sunday, the last day of Holy Week. Traditionally, believers go on a night from Saturday to Sunday in church to defend the Easter service and consecrate Easter cakes and eggs. In addition to traditional Easter cakes and crimson, you can also water, salt, fruit. It is believed that consecrated food brings health. In addition, it is also customary to leave part of the products brought to the church so that everyone who needs it can share the joy of the holiday.

Пасха - самый главный православный праздник Украины. Это праздник Воскресения – Пасхи украинской. Это празднование весь смысл Православия-сам Бог стал человеком, умер за людей, воскрес из мертвых, избавив тем самым людей от власти греха и смерти.
Празднику Пасхи предшествует Великий пост, в память земной жизни Спасителя. По традиции, в ночь на Пасху спать не хочется вообще. Вечером люди идут в Церковь для служения вечерни, принося в широком ассортименте продовольственной корзины – Пасха, крашеные яйца, мясные и кулинарные изделия. В полночь в православных храмах Пасхальная служба начинается. После торжественной службы священник благословляет пищу. Православные христиане приветствуют друг друга словами "Христос воскресе!" и отправили домой, чтобы "разговеться" - съесть Пасхальные блюда. Easter - the most important Orthodox holiday of Ukraine. This is the feast of the Resurrection – Easter Ukrainian. It’s a celebration the whole point of Orthodoxy, God himself became man, died for the people, risen from the dead, thereby freeing people from the power of sin and death.
Easter is preceded by lent, in memory of Christ’s earthly life. According to tradition, on the night of the Passover do not want to sleep at all. In the evening people go to Church for Vespers service, bringing in a wide range of food baskets – Easter, dyed eggs, meat and culinary products. At midnight in the Orthodox churches the Easter service begins. After the solemn service the priest blesses the food. Orthodox Christians greet each other with "Christ is risen!" and sent home to "break the fast" - to eat Easter food.

Easter in Finland in 2012 April 8. Easter in Russia on April 15th. In the temples of Finland held an Easter service. All stores in Finland and shopping centers are closed on April 8. Religion in Finland. Until 1889 Finnish citizens, as Christians, have the right to belong to Lutheranism and Orthodoxy. According to the law in 1889, along with the above denominations, the Finns were allowed to practice and Protestantism. In 1923, the law has allowed to establish other religious communities. Now in addition to the Finnish Lutheran and Orthodox religious communities have such as Pentecostalism, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Baptists, Methodists and Adventists. All these religions are Christianity.
In Finland, Lutherans confess almost 80% of citizens. Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland is funded by the state and, as a consequence of a state. The second state religion in Finland is Orthodoxy and also funded by the state. The rest of the community build on self-financing.
Three temples in Savonlinna. On the way to the Finnish town of Savonlinna, our tour bus makes a stop in the village Kerimäki most unique temple in Europe. What is interesting temple described in the article, please go to the following link: church in Kerimäki. Boreas tour guides are worried about the lack of tour time, as in the one-day tours is not possible to present in detail three temples Savonlinna.

Before cakes baked two or three, or even once a year, on most major holidays, connected with the change of seasons: either in the New year, or in early spring (the beginning of the agricultural year)or in autumn, on the occasion of the harvest (the end of the agricultural year). This was due not only to the relatively high cost of Easter cakes, to prepare which requires a lot of food security products, but also by the complexity and duration of the manufacturing process[2].
According to Slavic folk traditions, Easter cakes acted as a ritual bread that was baked usually before the sowing of sour fermented dough. This bread was sacrificed earth elements or ancestors, to gain their support, and to ensure the fertility of the earth and abundant harvest.
Over time, the Christian and pagan traditions are inextricably intertwined in the national consciousness. And if its value was mainly Christian, at the household level, the peasants continued its active use in producing and protective rituals[1].