On Thursday, we had our egg dying session. Lots of dye, paints, eggs, newspaper, and mess.
On Thursday evening - Maundy Thursday - we always have a 'passover' meal to commemorate the Last Supper and the advent of the Easter weekend. I serve a meal that is similar to what they would have had for a Passover meal in Jesus's time. I make up little 'seder' plates for each person, with a piece of lamb, a piece of unleavened bread, haroset, horseradish (for the bitter herbs), and parsley. We talk about what the Passover is, and what it symbolizes. When Moses was trying to lead the Israelites out of Egypt, God said he would send a destroying angel to kill the first born son of any house that did not have the blood of a sacrificial lamb upon the door. So the Passover celebrates that the destroying angel 'passed over' the homes of the families that had the blood of the lamb upon their doors. It also celebrates the exodus of the Israelites out of Egypt, and how God made the Israelites His people.
The foods on the seder plate all represent something from the Passover. The lamb represents the sacrificial lamb, and the blood which saved the Israelites from the destroying angel. The haroset represents the mortar that was used by the Jews to build the Egyptian pyramids when they were slaves. The bitter herbs represent the bitterness of their slavery. Unleavened bread represents the haste with which they left Egypt when Pharaoh gave his permission for them to leave. And parsley represents spring and the new life that it brings.
We also talk about the Christian symbolism of Passover: Jesus is the sacrificial lamb, and it is His blood saves us from the destroying angel of our souls. Egypt represents the slavery of sin, so the haroset and bitter herbs could represent the bitterness of a sinful life. The unleavened bread represents the haste with which we should abandon sin, and parsley represents our new life in Christ.
We always have another family over for Passover meal. This year it was the awesome Sommers family, and we had a great time.
Sadly, Good Friday is not a holiday in America, so it makes it a bit harder to observe properly, since Tim and Abigail were away with work and school. So, we started out by making hot cross buns:
And then going on to a very well organized Easter egg hunt with some friends:
We came home and had a little devotional where we ate hot cross buns and talked about the events of Good Friday. Then it was off shopping for Easter outfits for Easter Sunday.
On Saturday we had an Easter brunch with all the family, where we had our traditional Good Friday menu: smoked salmon, omelettes made with manchego cheese and topped with hollandaise sauce (didn't get to the sauce this year), fruit salad and hot cross buns.
On Saturday, the kids got to work and finished our Easter craft. They did Golgotha, the Garden Tomb, the Garden of Gethsemane, and the Via Dolorosa. I was really proud of them:
On Saturday night we had our beloved friends over, the Kilmers, for a 'Jerusalem' supper. We had a dinner with middle-eastern foods to remind us of Jesus's time and place. Brandi made a fab salad of dates, almonds and spinach, and a butternut squash dip. I made a lamb and saffron stew and some tilapia fillets. We had unleavened bread and cheeses as well.
During dinner we did a little activity called 'Easter story in eggs'. We had 12 plastic eggs, each with a scripture and a little item that in some way represented the Easter story.
For dessert, I made an Italian Easter cake, called a Colomba di Pasqua. It is supposed to be in the shape of a dove, but I didn't have the right pan, so I just used a round cake tin. It's a yeast cake - a very interesting recipe. It was so much fun to try it out:
Then it was time for the big day! I lost count of how many times I had to clean up the kitchen this week, and I was rather sleep deprived. But we had a lovely Easter Sunday devotional where we read and discussed the account of the resurrection as a family. The kids then got their baskets and Easter clothes (I have lots of girls):
One highlight of the week for me, I have to say, was making Greek Easter bread for Easter Sunday brunch. I have only done this once before, and that was about 12 years ago. So it felt like something of an experiment to try it again after so long. I was SO PLEASED with the results!
After brunch, it was off to church. I was a bit nervous because we were having an Easter Cantata, and I was in charge of the whole thing! I wrote the script, assigned the speaking parts, chose the music, and, as the choir director, I was in charge of making sure the choir practiced the music as well. We had been working really hard, but I wasn't sure how everything was going to come together. But everything worked perfectly. I had lots of compliments, and some commented that it was quite a spiritual experience for them. I felt so relieved and so happy.
And just when we thought we were done ... nope! For Easter Sunday dinner we had two families come to visit us - the Leatherens from England, and the Kennedy's from Arizona. Lisa Letheren and Gemma Kennedy both knew the Bleakleys in Tunbridge Wells, so it was great to see them, catch up, and swap Tunbridge Wells stories.
Anyway, I served dinner to 20 people. Menu included roast lamb, mint jelly, baked potatoes, asparagus, and for dessert a strawberry rhubarb saffron trifle - what I always serve at Easter.
And that is the end of our amazing Holy Week. Off to bed!
Love your blog, Holly. I want to spend every Easter with you! Next year I'll have to talk Dad into doing our Easter program a week early!
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