Knights of Columbus,  St Isaac Jogues

Newsletter Editor’s Message

This year, Easter falls in the month of April.  So, what’s the Catholic position on colored eggs and Easter Egg Hunts that captures our attention at Easter time?  Let’s find out…

The Catholic Encyclopedia explains the following:

Because the use of eggs was [once] forbidden during Lent, they were brought to the table on Easter Day, colored red to symbolize the Easter joy. This custom is found not only in the Latin but also in the Oriental Churches. The symbolic meaning of a new creation of mankind by Jesus risen from the dead was probably an invention of later times. 

The custom may have its origin in paganism, for a great many pagan customs, celebrating the return of spring, gravitated to Easter. The egg is the emblem of the germinating life of early spring. Easter eggs, the children are told, come from Rome with the bells which on Thursday go to Rome and return Saturday morning. 

The sponsors in some countries give Easter eggs to their god-children. Colored eggs are used by children at Easter in a sort of game which consists in testing the strength of the shells (Kraus, Real-Encyklopadie, s.v. Ei). Both colored and uncolored eggs are used in some parts of the United States for this game, known as “egg-picking”. Another practice is the “egg-rolling” by children on Easter Monday on the lawn of the White House in Washington.

And, what about the Easter bunny?  The claim that the Easter bunny is a secular distraction is probably the most frustrating of all the charges leveled at him. This claim often goes hand in hand with the idea that the Easter bunny is a moneymaking gimmick. In other words, corporations have successfully secularized Easter to sell you more chocolate bunnies, reducing Jesus to an afterthought.