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From:
Subject: Esater customs
Date: Wed, 9 Apr 2003 09:25:57 EDT


Giovanni'
I am happy to share our family customs when it comes to Easter. Traditionally
on Palm Sunday, the week before Easter, I take the palm fronds from church
and bring them to local grave sites of my immediate family. We fold the palms
into cross shapes and plant them in front of the tombstones of family
members. This year in addition to my grandparents Giuseppe and Assunta
Bocchino, and my father Salvatore Bocchino, and my step-father James DeLibro,
I have the sad duty to add my wife Susan and my mother Evelyn who both died
within the past year.
I assume the Roman Catholic religious practices of Holy Week are the same in
the USA as in Italy, especially the Triduum (three days) of Holy Thursday,
Good Friday, and Holy Saturday. Holy Thursday service is noted for the
traditional washing of the feet of 12 people of the parish by the pastor in
imitation of the Bible event. In the recent years our church has participated
in a traditional "Passover" meal after church services to recognize the fact
that the Last Supper as we know it was probably a Passover meal. Good Friday
is of course a meatless day of fasting and the only day of the year when
there is no Mass celebrated. Instead there is a "Litugy of the Word" where
the last days of our Lord are recounted from the Bible. A superstition
persists that it is bad luck to sweep the floor (using a broom) on Good
Friday. Good Friday is a recognized holiday in the whole USA. Holy Saturday
is usually spent baking and preparing for Easter Sunday. I believe that we on
this discussion board have commented about traditional "Easter Pies" and what
that means to each of us. In my family, Easter Pie is a heavy one-crust
quiche-like pie filled with eggs, ham, sausage and other meats. There is also
a traditional braided bread with whole eggs imbedded in it. many families use
this day to color hard-boiled Easter Eggs. Our family attends the Easter
Vigil Mass, which in my estimation is the most dramatic liturgy of the year
with the church in darkness gradually lit by candlelight and the silence
broken by a chorus of the "Gloria." On Easter Sunday some familes prepare
roast lamb, others prepare ham, or some other roast meat, and almost all
Italian-American familes make lasagna. Many people hide Easter Eggs (and
sometimes money) around the house or the yard for the children to find. In
our family Easter is a time to gather together and enjoy each other's
company.
-GUY

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