EASTER

PASCHAL CANDLES

PASCHAL CANDLES

• The paschal candle represents the figure of Christ.
• It is a large candle, lit throughout the Easter season.
• It is often decorated with wax, transfers and incense pins.

PASCHAL CANDLES MEANINGS

• The cross is always the central symbol, most clearly identifying it as the Paschal candle.The Greek letters alpha and omega signify that God is the beginning and the end. Five grains of incense (most often red) are embedded in the candle (sometimes encased in wax "nails") during the Easter Vigil to represent the five wounds of Jesus: the three nails that pierced his hands and feet, the spear thrust into his side, and the thorns that crowned his head.

THE NEW FIRE OF EASTER

THE NEW FIRE OF EASTER

• Fire can feature prominently during solemn Easter Vigil celebrations held after sunset on Holy Saturday.
• Such a fire might be used to light a Paschal candle or other candles used symbolically before or during mass or other religious celebration.

EASTER GARDEN

EASTER GARDEN

• Some churches have an Easter Garden. A stone is placed across the mouth of a tomb before Easter, then rolled away on Easter morning.

EASTER EGGS

EASTER EGGS

• The first eggs given at Easter were birds eggs. These eggs were painted in bright colours to give them further meaning as a gift.As chocolate became more wide spread in the 20th Century, a chocolate version of the traditional painted egg was developed. The size of the chocolate egg has grown over the years and is now more likely to be the size of an ostrich egg rather than a small bird's egg.