Before the egg began to tie with Christian Easter, it was a symbol of many holidays in various nations. Ancient people considered him a symbol of the universe and the process of the spring revival of the Earth. With the advent of Christianity, the eggs began to be associated not with the awakening of nature, but the birth of man.
Christians compared this symbol with the cave, in which Christ was risen. Saint Augustine first described the resurrection of Christ from the dead, as the appearance of chicken from the egg. This symbol was adopted in the celebration of Christian Easter. Since then, at the end of Easter liturgy, believers exchange gifts in the form of eggs, and the priest blesses them.
Legend of the appearance of an Easter egg
According to the tradition, the Holy Maria Magdalene (which was an aristocrat, and not the harlot, according to later sources) met in Rome with the emperor after the execution and resurrection of Jesus. During the conversation, she condemned Pilate for sentencing Christ and began a dispute with Caesar about his resurrection.
She took a chicken egg from the table to demonstrate his point of view of the process of raising from the dead Son of God. Caesar was unperturbed and answered that the mortal is able to rise as much as the egg - to become red. The egg instantly reddenished in the hand of a woman! According to the official legend, it is after that, Christians exchange red eggs for Easter.
Other Christian traditions
Vintage Christian legends mixed traditional beliefs and tightly tied eggs with the celebration of the resurrection of Christ. One of the European legends tells how Maria Magdalene came to the tomb to see the body of Jesus. With her, she took a basket with eggs that had to serve her with a meal. When she opened a basket in the tomb, the Whiselie Egg Shell suddenly began to play with all the colors of the rainbow.
Another legend claims that the Most Holy Virgin Mary gave eggs to the soldiers guarding the cross, at which Christ died slowly. She begged servants to complicate and cried. Her tears fell on the treat, painting them with bright colors.
Faberge eggs or what was in the first Easter egg?
The most famous painted Easter eggs were created by the famous Jeweler Peter Carl Faberge. In 1883, the Russian king, Alexander, instructed Faberge to make a special Easter gift for his wife, Empress Mary.
Taking a gift in the palm of his face, Maria Fedorovna unfolded a skillfully performed halves of the gems and saw the hidden golden yolk under them. But it was not yet the main intrigue - the secret was hidden inside the yolk. It was a multicolored chicken with ruby \u200b\u200beyes. But this is not a major surprise. The hinge mechanism in the tail plumage opened access to the miniature imperial crown, decorated with diamonds and a chain with a ruby \u200b\u200bpendant.
This special product Faberge liked the queen so much that the king immediately ordered such gifts to every Easter. In subsequent years, Nicholas II, the son of Alexander, continued the custom. In total, 57 eggs were created, and only the overthrow of the royal system could interrupt this tradition.
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