Buona Pasqua

Easter, is a holiday that my nieces (and most children in America) have come to know and love for the Peeps, chocolate bunnies, and Peter Cottontail. Reader beware: some of the following content may have to do with religion. Behind all of the “superficial” aspects of the holiday (who doesn’t love digging to the bottom of their Easter basket looking for more jelly beans?), Easter is actually a Christian holiday.

Traditionally, it is a day that Christians celebrate Jesus’ resurrection from the dead because He died to give them new life. Easter is a “Holy Day” so Christians attend church or mass to give thanks. This is after a period of 40 days, otherwise known as Lent, where most Christians/Catholics abstain from something as it is their belief that Jesus died and rose to save them from sin and give them eternal life in heaven. Catholics also abstain from eating meat on Fridays during the Lenten season as an additional sacrifice. Which in comparison to their belief of Jesus carrying a cross up a hill (being tortured along the way), being hung to it with nails, and being ridiculed (crown of thorns) up until He finally dies hanging up there half-naked isn’t such a hard thing to do.

What does this have to do with being Italian? My answer for you is everything. Italy and Italians are usually members of the Roman Catholic Church. This is just from my personal experience and knowledge; however; if you wanted to know how many Italians in the U.S. and Italy that are Catholic I would look at official Census or statistical data (mine might not be so up to date). The Pope and the Vatican haven’t really moved from Italy since the Church was founded, so that may also play a big part in its influence. Easter or Pasqua in Italy is traditionally the next major holiday after Christmas. If you wanted to look at it as comparable to an American holiday, even though Americans celebrate Easter, you could say it’s similar to Thanksgiving because the believing Italians feast and give thanks for what Jesus did for them.

Without explaining the whole Easter, Roman Catholic tradition, it is a big deal. Even Easter Monday, or Pasquetta, is celebrated in Italy where people take picnics to just enjoy the Spring weather and continue to give thanks. This is something, obviously, not observed in the States while parochial schools do get the day off. “Little Easter” as it’s called, may also reflect the relaxed, European, lifestyle that Italy has going hand in hand with their afternoon naps.

All of this bias is coming to you from a self professed, Roman Catholic, Italian. Despite my being a lazy Catholic (I blame college), Easter is still just as important to me and I’d hate to see the real meaning getting lost in translation. I’d like to think that even people who don’t follow Catholicism or who aren’t Christian can appreciate the way people like me commemorate points of our religious “history”.  Maybe it can be seen as the same as Muslim prayer being allowed in public schools or even just people from other nations recognizing what the significance of the American flag is and Independence Day. That being said, commercialism of holidays and holy days should probably be taken with a grain of salt as well. It’s all in good fun and like good nutrition we should probably find a healthy balance so that our teeth and traditions don’t rot.

Grazie,

Nancy