Wishes for a wonderful Passover and Easter Holiday

On behalf of our entire staff we want to wish each of you a wonderful holiday – whether you are celebrating the Festival of Passover or the culmination of the Lenten season with the celebration of Good Friday and Easter - we wish you and your families a safe, happy and blessed holiday…

Passover will begin tonight at Sunset, Friday, April 6th and continue for 8 days until next Friday at sunset, April 13th. The eight-day festival of Passover is celebrated in the early spring, of the Hebrew month of Nissan, to commemorate the emancipation of the Israelites from slavery in ancient Egypt.

Easter… For Christians throughout the world, the Easter Holiday is a culmination of the 40 day Lenten period which begins on Ash Wednesday and ends on Easter Sunday.. Today, April 6th, Friday before Easter, is the commemoration of the Crucifixion of Our Lord, and Easter Sunday celebrates the Lords resurrection. This year Lent Began on Wednesday February 22nd and Holy week will culminate this last week of Lent on Sunday April 8th with the celebration of Easter.

In the Greek Orthodox Church, Easter will be celebrated next Sunday, April 15th

Have a wonderful Easter holiday

Just a quick note to wish you and your families a blessed and enjoyable Easter holiday.. Cherie Houston

Thought you might enjoy a little trivia about Easter, which as we know is considered the holiest of days for all Christians, commemorating the Resurrection of Jesus after his Crucifixion. Like the origin of this celebration, the precise date of Easter Sunday too has been a matter of contention. However, there is a general acceptance of the proposition offered by 8th-century English scholar St. Bede, according to which, Easter owes its origin to the old Teutonic mythology

Just like Passover which is dependent on the phases of the moon and has different dates each year, Easter is also a movable feast and doesn’t fall on a fixed date in the Gregorian or Julian calendars but Easter always falls between March 22 and April 25. This year “2011” Christians around the world will celebrate Easter today, on Sunday, April 24^th..

Here are some interesting Easter trivia facts you may not have known:

• Easter is known by different names across the world. Some of them are: English - Easter, French - Paques, Spanish - Pascua, Italian - Pasqua, Albanian - Pashke, German - Ostern, Greek - Pascha, Norway - Paaske, Holland - Pasen and Swedish - Pask
• The name Easter owes its origin from Eastre, the Anglo-Saxon goddess who symbolizes hare and egg.
• Apart from English and German, the name of 'Easter' has been derived from Pesach, the Hebrew name of Passover festival
• According to the Guinness Book of World Records, the largest Easter egg made till date, was just over 25-ft high and was made of chocolate and marshmallow. Weighing at 8,968 lbs., the egg was supported by an internal steel frame
• The Easter Lilly symbolizes the resurrection of Jesus because the shell represents the tomb of Jesus and the flower that blooms represents life after death.
• The maiden chocolate eggs recipes were made in Europe in the nineteenth century.
• Vegreville, Canada is the site of the largest Easter egg in the world.
• Pysanka is a specific term used for the practice of Easter egg painting.
• Most children (74%) eat the ears of their chocolate bunny first. 13% eat the feet first, and 10% eat the tails first.
• In 1878 U.S. President Rutherford B. Hayes and his wife Lucy officially opened the White House grounds to the children of the area for egg rolling on Easter Monday. The event has been held on the South Lawn ever since, except during World War I and World War II.
• The initial baskets of Easter were given the appearance of bird's nests.
• By tradition, it was obligatory (or at least lucky) for churchgoers to wear some bright new piece of clothing - at least an Easter bonnet, if not a complete new outfit
• From the very early times, egg has been considered to be the most important symbol of rebirth
• Hot cross buns, made by European monks, are counted amongst the earliest Easter treats. They were given to the poor people, during the month of Lent.
• Red jellybeans qualify as the most favorite food stuff for kids on Easter

BEST WISHES FOR A WONDERFUL HOLIDAY

~ by Charles M. Crowe

Easter is the demonstration of God that life is essentially spiritual and timeless.

We wish you & your family a wonderful Easter & Passover Holiday!

LEARNED FROM THE EASTER BUNNY...
All I need to know I learned from the Easter Bunny
Don't put all your eggs in one basket
Walk softly and carry a big carrot
Everyone needs a friend who is all ears.
There's no such thing as too much candy.
All work and no play can make you a basket case.
A cute little tail attracts a lot of attention.
Everyone is entitled to a bad hare day.
Let happy thoughts multiply like rabbits.
Some body parts should be floppy.
Keep your paws off other people's jelly beans.
Good things come in small sugar-coated packages.
The grass is always greener in someone else's basket.
An Easter bonnet can tame even the wildest hare.
To show your true colors you have to come out of your shell!

~ Author Unknown