EASTER TRADITIONS
How familiar are you with the traditions of Easter? Test your knowledge and gain a better understanding of the preeminent holiday of the Christian year. Images illustrate the Easter story in chronological order. Correct answers advance, while wrong answers bring the crack of a Roman whip.

All links are yellow to hide the answers.

1. The name 'Easter is derived from:
A. the Hebrew word for resurrection
B. the custom of praying to the 'east'
C. the Latin word for holiday
D. Eostre, the Anglo-Saxon pagan goddess of spring

2. Easter Sunday, in the Western Church, is based on:
A. the first Sunday following the Jewish Passover
B. an arbitrary Roman Catholic date established in AD 695
C. the first Sunday following the first full moon after the vernal (Spring) equinox
D. the 12th Sunday after Christmas

3. Which statement is NOT true about the custom of Easter eggs:
A. eggs symbolized fertility/spring in pagan cultures
B. a totally pagan practice adopted by merchants of the 20th century
C. early Christians viewed the egg as symbolic of the stone rolled away from Christ's tomb
D. eggs were decorated and given as gifts during Lent, when they could not be eaten

4. Which statement is NOT true:
A. the 'Easter Bunny' is based on the rabbit, symbolizing Peter as he ran to the empty tomb
B. the first Christian Easter parade was in Emperor Constantine's 4th century Rome
C. sunrise services follow the tradition of Mary Magdelene's early visit to Christ's tomb
D. pagan Anglo-Saxon cakes baked for the goddess of spring were 'converted' to 'Hot Cross Buns' in the 14th century

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