Tradition,pasion,a way of life

Easter painted eggs

Iisus  Hristos rastignit pe cruce

The origin of painted eggs

There are a few legends that try to explain the origin of painted eggs (as sintethisied by Leonida Bodnarescu).

1. There once lived 7 sisters. Six of them got married, but the seventh didn’t and began to make eyes at her sisters’ husbands. The six women got angry and gathered stones in order to throw them upon their light-minded sister and kill her. But when they wanted to put their hands on the stones they saw that they had turned on into beautifully coloured eggs. Those women liked them so much that they didn’t want to throw them any more, and so their sister survived. It seems that this took place on an Easter Sunday, and in the memory of this event people paint eggs on Easter.

2. When Jesus Christ was alive he was hit by his people with stones that turned on into red eggs.

3. While Jesus Christ had been judged in front of Pillat, good hearted people gave red eggs to the children and asked them to give them, on their turn, to their parents so that they become more kind and thus to save Jesus. In the memory of this fact people paint eggs.

4. On Easter red eggs are being done for the remembrance of the innocent blood of Christ, spilled for our sins (the sins of humanity).

5. The first red eggs have been made by Mary Magdalena to bring joy to her sisters and relatives. She gave an egg to each of them saying “Christ has resurrected”. All of them answered: “Truly, he has resurrected”. This is a custom kept even nowadays.

6. After the Resurrection of Christ a miracle had happened. The apostles announced everywhere in Jerusalem that the Saviour of the world has raised from the dead. A woman that sold eggs on the street wouldn’t believe this and said: “As true is the fact that the eggs I sell are red, the same is the story about the resurrection of Christ”. He hadn’t finished yet her saying when suddenly all the eggs from her basket became as red as blood and from that moment she believed in the Resurrection. To remember this red eggs are made on Easter.

When Simon went to cultivate his field, he took one bread and a few eggs. On his way he encountered the Saviour, took the cross from His shoulders and carried it up to his field. There he gave the cross back to Jesus and started working his field. Because he was tired and hungry he opened his bag. To his amazement he saw that the ordinary bread had turned into (Easter) pound cake and instead of white eggs there were beautiful red eggs. Simon told this miracle to his women and made them understand that it was a sign from heaven and urged them to make such sweet cake and red eggs for the resurrection of Christ.