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Portuguese
Easter Traditions
By
Cynthia Potopsingh
Easter
is celebrated by Christians all over the world.
Each country has its own way of celebrating this
special time in the church. The preparation starts
from Ash Wednesday to Palm Sunday leading into Holy
Week and Easter Sunday.
In
the Portuguese tradition, Holy Week is a week of
preparation and prayer. On Holy Thursday, the priest
washes the feet of twelve men and gives each man
bread, a lemon and money. The significance of these
gifts are not quite clear, but this tradition is
still carried on today. On Good Friday, there is
a procession with a coffin in which lies a statue
of Christ. This procession proceeds along the streets
near the church. Afterwards the coffin is placed
inside the church until Holy Saturday.
On
Holy Saturday, the priest visits the homes of parishioners
who are sick and confined to their homes to hear
their confessions, and on Easter Sunday, he returns
to give them Holy Communion.
After
Mass on Easter Sunday, the whole family gathers
together for lunch of small pheasants with new potatoes,
and in keeping with the egg as a universal Easter
symbol, sweet bread with an egg in the centre is
served as part of the meal.
