Wednesday, March 23, 2005
Italian Easter Traditions Celebration !! Buona Pasqua for Kids & Adults

The ANNOTICO Reports

Geoffrey Claroni, of the Calandra Italian American Institute gives us an Italian insight into another Holiday. This time it's Easter!!!

Yes, it involves the Italian version of Easter Eggs, Baskets, Bonnets, and Parades, and much more!!

In Italy, Pasqua - Easter - is a very sacred season that is celebrated with many special customs and traditions. Easter Sunday is an important religious holiday and an important family celebration in Italy and America.

Italian customs and traditions add so much to the beautiful celebration of Easter in America for families of Italian heritage and help teach the
younger family members about the value of their Italian heritage.

To help families and teachers create cultural and educational activities for pasqua, there is a helpful compilation of information available free to you on-line.

The webpage includes a brief history and discussion, coloring and activity booklet, craft and activity ideas, storybook link, and a list of resources that include related websites and books. To find out more please visit the website of the John D. Calandra Italian American Institute for the webpage entitled:

"Buona Pasqua! Celebrating Italian Easter Traditions: Fun Activities for the Home or Classroom"

Buona Pasqua!
Celebrating Italian Easter Traditions
Fun Activities for the Home or Classroom
Easter Sunday, the holiest day of the year, is a Christian festival that is celebrated around the world. Easter recalls the story of the resurrection of Jesus. Christians believe Jesus died on the cross on Good Friday and rose from the dead on Easter Sunday bringing salvation to man.
The family celebration of Easter Sunday includes mass with everyone dressed in their best dresses, bonnets, suits and ties, a visit to the cemetery and a traditional day-long banquet.
Lent and the Easter season is preceded by carnevale. This traditional pre-Lenten celebration in Italy, is a time of merry-making, masquerade processions, masked balls, parades, pageants, elegant costumes and opulent masks, singing and dancing, fireworks, and outdoor feasts in the weeks prior to Ash Wednesday and culminating on Marted? Grasso or Shrove Tuesday. (for more information see “Carnevale: The Italian Pre-Lenten Festival” Fun Activities for the Home or Classroom at http://www! .qc.edu/calandra/community )
Ash Wednesday: A day of fasting and abstinence, Ash Wednesday marks the first day of Lent with church services and the distribution of ashes through the distinctive marking in the shape of a cross on the forehead, or sprinkled on the heads of worshippers.
Lent: Lent is a period of forty days marked by prayer, sacrifice, abstinence, fasting, and penance that is symbolic of the ministry of Jesus Christ.
Holy Week Traditions: Commemorating the last week of the life of Jesus Christ.
Palm Sunday commemorates the journey of Jesus to Jerusalem where the people greeted him by waving palm leaves. Worshippers receive palms at Mass and many weave the palms into crosses to wear or to bring to the cemetery. Many families visit the cemetery with these palm crosses or may purchase a fancy decorative palm cross and may also plant spring flowers at the cemetery.
Maundy Thursday commemorates the Last Supper where Jesus transformed his body and blood into the Eucharist. Jesus also cleansed the feet of his disciples, a ceremony that is recreated in many church services. Many people follow a tradition of visiting three churches.
Good Friday is the day on which Jesus was crucified on the cross. Many towns and villages commemorate Good Friday with a procession of the ‘Passion of Christ’ in which people carry crosses or recreate the ‘Stations of the Cross’ or carrying of the cross by Jesus.
Holy Saturday is a day of mourning, prayer and preparation for the resurrection of Christ.
Easter Sunday brings rejoice and salvation with the resurrection of Jesus Christ as Christians celebrate the foundation of their faith. The celebration begins with a glorious Easter Sunday Mass and, for many families, a visit to the cemetery.
Some Regional Traditions:
Florence: The spectacular enactment of the ‘scoppio del carro’ or ‘explosion of the cart’ occurs where an elaborate cart is led by white oxen to Easter Mass and a dove-shaped rocket on a wire sets off fireworks.
Rome: In Saint Peter’s Basilica, the Pope re-enacts the Last Supper of Jesus Christ on Maundy Thursday.
Rome: The Pope leads a procession to portray the “Passion of Christ” on Good Friday that starts from il colosseo.
Easter Feast: Following the forty days of abstinence during Lent, the Easter feast traditionally features lamb and typically consists of antipasto, minestra di pasqua, agnellino, abbacchio, manicotti, lasagne, pasta, carciofi fritti, carciofi e patate soffritti, verdure, frutte, dolci, vino and much, much more.
Traditional Italian dolci of Easter typically includes pizza rustica, la colomba di pasqua (a dove-shaped sweet bread), pizza ricresciuta, pupa cu l’ova, torta di ricotta, pastiera di grano, taralli, cassatelli, ciciarota, biscotti di pignoli and Easter sweet bread with hard-boiled, pastel colored eggs baked in the center.
A special Italian Easter treat for children is the uovo di pasqua – a large decorative chocolate egg that comes with a gift or surprise inside. They are beautifully wrapped in elaborate, colorful, decorative paper. (Some are extravagant hand-decorated masterpieces featuring flowers made of sugar paste that have been known to surprise the recipient with keys to a Ferrari or an engagement ring.)
Another special Italian treat of Easter is a lamb made out of marzipan, beautifully decorated and completely edible.
Pasquetta: Easter Monday is traditionally celebrated with family picnics in the country.
Crafts and Activity Ideas: Fun activities include craft workshops to decorate Easter eggs, to create Easter bonnets, Easter baskets or ‘Buona Pasqua!’ greeting cards, and can also include an Easter egg hunt or Easter parade, among other things. (see website referenced below)
Coloring and Activity Booklet: To learn some Italian words, phrases and customs associated with the celebration of Italian traditions of Pasqua utilizing a picture dictionary, coloring activities, illustrated story, color-by-number, ‘Buona Pasqua’ greeting cards, and more
click here ?Buona Pasqua!? to download and print. (1.25m pdf)
Traditional Foods and Recipes of Pasqua: Like every other holiday in Italy, there are traditional foods and dolci distinctively associated with Pasqua. The following cookbooks contain some of these recipes as well as recipes of other traditional Italian holiday foods. These cookbooks are also a valuable resource for background information about the origin of the foods and a history of the relevant festa.
Festa: Recipes and Recollections of Italian Holidays by Helen Barolini
Celebrations Italian Style by Mary Ann Esposito
Celebrating Italy by Carol Field
Some of the Italian customs and traditions of Easter are outlined here and much more information is available in the sources listed below:
Websites:
http://italian.about.com/library/weekly/
aa031401a.htm
Buona Pasqua! Easter in Italy (Traditional Ceremonies)
http://italian.about.com/library/weekly/
aa031401b.htm
Buona Pasqua! Easter in Italy (Italian Easter Recipes and Vocabulary)
http://familycrafts.about.com/library/weekly
/aa030199.htm
Easter Treats (Craft Ideas)
http://ciaoitalia.com/recipe6apr2000.html
La Colomba di Pasqua: A Story of the Easter Dove
Booklet
Italian Easter Holiday Customs and Traditions by the Garibaldi-Meucci Museum, Order Sons of Italy in America - www.GaribaldiMeucciMuseum.org (718) 442-1608

To visit the site go to -
http://www.qc.edu/calandra/community (if this hyperlink does not connect you directly - then go to the internet and type in this address) - scroll down - double click on "Buona Pasqua ! Celebrating Italian Easter Traditions - Fun Activities for the Home or Classroom."

Buona Pasqua !

Geoffrey Claroni, Esq.
Assistant Director for Community Programs
Calandra Italian American Institute
25 West 43rd Street, Suite 1700
New York, NY 10036

E-mail address: gclaroni@forbin.qc.edu

Fax: (212) 642-2030