While Christmas is huge holiday for Christians in modern times, for medieval Christians it was Easter that was the biggest celebration.   Not only did it have the greatest religious significance, but after fasting for almost 6 weeks, people looked forward to Easter with great anticipation!

The Season of Lent

Preparations for Easter began 40 days (not including Holy Week) prior to Easter with Ash Wednesday.  On this day, the penitent would make a public statement of their repentance by having the sign of the cross placed on their foreheads with ashes.  This was the beginning of Lent, which in the middle ages and medieval period was a serious time of fasting and repentance.  This generally meant eating only one meal per day (except for the very young, aged, or sick).  Both rich and poor were expected to forego earthly pleasures, such as meat, dairy products, fruit, and eggs.  Therefore eggs were hard boiled during lent to preserve them for Easter – read more on the Easter egg below. 

 Holy Week

The Lenten observances culminated the week before Easter or Holy Week.  During these days special services were held.  In particular on Maundy Thursday the last supper of Jesus was remembered, which was the celebration of the Lord's Supper in churches, also called communion or the Eucharist.  On Good Friday people remembered the death of Jesus on the cross.  Some would participate in the ceremony of 'creeping to the cross' where believers would approach the crucifix in the church on bended knee.

 The Tenebrae (Latin for "darkness") service was held Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and Holy Saturday.  These three days before the feast of the resurrection or Easter were also called the Triduum.  The Tenebrae service was conducted late at night after midnight or early morning, so that is was held in darkness.  The church would be lit by a single candle stand called the 'hearse', which held 15 candles in an inverted 'V' shape.  During the service, verses would be chanted from Psalms, Lamentations, and Jeremiah.  After each section, one candle would be extinguished, until only the single candle on top remained, representing the light of Christ.  This candle would then be placed below the altar, casting the church in total darkness.  Suddenly a loud noise (called the strepitus and generally made by slamming a book closed or against a pew) would shock the parishioners.  This noise represented the earthquake that occurred after Christ's death by crucifixion.  The single candle would be returned, representing the resurrection of Christ, and the congregation would leave in silence.  During the service a typical verse chanted would be the following:

 Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love; according to your great compassion blot out my transgressions.  Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin.  Psalm 51:1-2

 Except that in medieval times, the only scripture used was the Latin Vulgate Bible.  Despite the fact that only priests or the highly educated understood Latin, all scripture was spoken in that language.  So a medieval parishioner would have heard the following:

 miserere mei Deus secundum misericordiam tuam iuxta multitudinem miserationum tuarum dele iniquitates meas multum lava me ab iniquitate mea et a peccato meo munda me   (This is the same verse as above, but they did not have the Bible divided into verses back then, or use capitalization or punctuation with Latin – all part of the fun challenge of studying scripture back then!)

 Understand the Latin text?  Most folks in medieval churches didn't either, which set the stage for the reformation… but that's another post.  To help the common folk understand what was going on, stained glass windows were created which showed the Biblical stories in pictorial form.  Also, passion plays became popular, where members of the laity would act out the story of Jesus' death and resurrection using language and images everyone could understand.  These medieval passion plays are still being performed in Europe. 

 Easter

Easter morning was a special one of celebration in medieval times.  Church services usually began at dawn.  Parishioners would often gather outside the church to watch the sun rise and sing hymns of joy.  Afterwards, they would be led into the church by the priest.  During the Easter service, the resurrection of Christ was celebrated along with the good news that through his sacrifice all sins were forgiven, and to all who believed was given the promise of life after death.

 After almost six weeks of fasting and penitence, Easter day was welcomed with joy.  If a person could afford it, they would wear new clothes.  For some, this may be the only time they received a new garment.  For the wealthy and titled, an Easter Court was often held, which involved an amazing feast including all the items they had been denied during lent. 

 Some medieval Easter customs remain to this day.  The eggs that had been set aside and hard boiled during lent became a treat for Easter, hence the origin of the Easter egg.   Eggs may even have been decorated and hid for children to find.  Eggs were seen as symbols of new life and the resurrection of Jesus from the cross, so they were hidden to represent the apostles going to the tomb and finding the risen Lord.   The custom of dying eggs and having Easter egg hunts remains a favorite tradition in many families to this day!

 Have a blessed Easter!