Pagan Easter Eggs?

I was asked by a religious education teacher at my parish to help her find an activity on the net for her class using Resurrection Eggs and because I was an elementary school librarian and missed working with children, I was happy to say yes. I was disturbed however when I read one website from an angry individual that said that Catholics and other Christians who decorate Easter eggs are practicing pagan rituals.

The angry author was saying that because ancient peoples looked at eggs and saw symbolism of life, fertility, rebirth etc. that Christians, Catholic Christians in particular, who also see them as symbols of the Easter mystery are somehow acting pagan. There has been the same argument used for the name of Easter itself, which is an English word for a possible Germanic goddess (Eostre) or for (Eostur) springtime because the Holy season was celebrated in April which was known in Anglo-Saxon counties as easter-monadh and Eastur which as an old Germanic word meaning springtime. Other languages have different words for Easter, Pascha (Latin and Greek), Pasqua (Italian) Pascua (Spanish) and others which derives from the Hebrew word “Pesach” meaning Passover. The Solemnity (celebration) of Easter is rooted in the Old Testament Pesach which was fulfilled at the Crucifixion and gave us the fruits of the Resurrection which are in no way made pagan because of a common name given by an ancient people of the season in which the Holy days where introduced. The writer of the website I referred to, as well as others, want to deny God’s Revelation by their shallow implication that the Catholic faith is not divinely instituted because of certain rites or customs that also occur in certain phenomena in the ancient world.

The absurdity of this way of thinking becomes even more apparent when one reads Holy Scripture and sees the wonderful symbolism that Christ Himself uses to teach the Apostles and others about the Revelation of God. For instance, Jesus says, “I am the Bread of Life” John 3:35 also “unless a grain of wheat falls unto the earth and dies, it remains alone, but if it dies bears much fruit” and again John the Baptist referring to Jesus in Acts said “he will baptize with the Holy Spirit and fire” and later what people saw over the heads of Mary and the Apostles at Pentecost, “what seemed life tongues of fire” and finally in Gospel of John there are several references to water, Jesus turning “water into wine”, the “water of new birth”, “living water”, the “cleansing water of Bethesda”, and “the calming of the water”, all of which echo the teachings of the Old Testament that “with joy you will draw from the wells of salvation”.

Now one may ask, in what way does these biblical references display the absurdity of the thinking that if eggs were once used as symbols by ancient peoples (pagans), that Catholic who also use eggs as symbols to represent the teaching the mysteries of Christ death and Resurrection are practicing pagan rites, all anyone needs to do is to research how ancient peoples (pagans) used bread, fire and water as symbols, and Jesus himself used common themes to teach. Bread to the pagans of ancient times was the symbol of fertility and life. A spike of wheat was associated with the symbolism of resurrection and is seen in reliefs in the Egyptian temple of Isis and is associated with nearly all divinities in ancient cultures. Many cultures thought of bread as a symbol of life. The Chinese use the term “baptism by fire.” There are numerous references to ancient pagan cultures that worshiped fire and referred to an underworld that had fire tormented the wicked dead. The ancient world thought of water as the source of life. Hindus believed that water aided in spiritual purification. Many ancient people used water during rituals. Countless ancient peoples believed in a healing power in water.

Jesus and His Church not only spoke to God’s chosen people, but opened up the promise and Covenant to the gentiles, who were pagans. The Greeks, Romans and the rest of the world was welcomed into God’s love by Christ’s teaching, through His Apostles. Even St. Paul and St. Peter had a debate whether it was necessary for gentiles (pagans) to be circumcised or stop eating certain foods to belong to the faith. The Apostles prayed and thought about what Christ taught and the Holy Spirit revealed to them that allowing those things would not take from His teaching and would not make the faith pagan. The Holy Spirit is still working in the Catholic Church and will until Christ’s return.

It is easy to take small portions of Holy Scripture, writings of early Church Father, or practices out of the full context and slam the Church. Please read Holy Scripture as a whole, see the love the Early Church Fathers (first Christians) had for the Sacraments and rituals of the Church and read about Church practices and rituals and the reason why they are practiced. Read with an open mind and heart and Jesus will speak to you, because they are His words and practices that He handed down to the Apostles.