. Religion
& Spirit
Focus On ... .. Passover
& Easter  | Guide
to the Perplexed
Spain, c. 1300 | Click
on image above
to see larger version. |
This
is the bread of affliction, the poor bread,
which our ancestors ate
in the land of Egypt.
Let all who are hungry come and eat.
Let all
who are in want share the hope
of Passover.
As
we mentioned in this month's look at The
Season, both Passover & Easter are fixed by the date of the
first full moon after the Spring Equinox -- Passover beginning on the
eve of the full moon, and Easter coming on the first Sunday after the
full moon. But there is obviously a much stronger connection
between the two than that. ... The most obvious
connection, of course, is that it was after a celebration of the
Passover that Jesus of Nazareth finds his way to Gethsemane and,
ultimately, into the hands of Pilate, ultimately to be crucified.
For Christians, then, the celebration of Maundy Thursday during Passion
time, which we call The Last Supper, is, in fact, a celebration of the
Passover, with its emphasis upon unleavened bread and wine. And
since it is The Last Supper which serves as the prototype for the
communion of the mass, each such celebration also recalls Christ's Last
Passover. This fact is probably easier to recall in
southern European cultures, where the word for Easter, e.g., Pasqua
in Italian, or Pasque in French, more closely resembles the
Hebrew word for Passover, Pesach. The
remainder of this month's Focus on Passover & Easter, then, presents
a few things: Passover First,
a brief essay on Passover entitled "Next
Year May All Be Free," both for our Jewish readers, and for
those of our Christian readers who may not already be familiar with
this celebration of the deliverance of Israel, or would like to learn
more.  | The
Resurrection, Fra Angelico | Click
above for larger image ... |
Easter
For
Easter, we offer two things ... First, a painting of The
Resurrection, by Fra Angelico. Simply click on the picture at
the right and you will see the larger image. Second,
we also encourage you to visit our Sounds
Around page for "Gregorian
Chant for Passion Week & Easter." . . . . . Beyond
that, we here at DownStreet want to send all of you and yours
our ... Blessings
for Passover & Easter .....
... .....
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