S4C - DUDLEY

EASTER

For many of us, Easter signifies the end of gloomy and cold winter months and the beginning of much warmer weather.

Lamb is considered to be the traditional meat for Easter due to its religious connections. Many different religions throughout the ages have ritually sacrificed lambs in honour of their respective gods.

Additionally, some religions prohibit the consumption of pork, which naturally saw the lamb emerge as the obvious choice of meat for religious feasts.

Although lamb is closely associated with the Easter Sunday meal its significance dates back earlier still to the first Passover (Paschal) observed by the Jewish faith. This occurred in Ancient Egypt when Jewish households sacrificed a lamb and marked their doorposts with the blood to indicate their faithfulness. The angel of death then passed over any house with the blood markings, but took the lives of the first-born sons of the other households. The Jews would then roast the lamb and eat it with unleavened bread and bitter herbs.

Jesus Christ is referred to by Christians as the Lamb of God, whilst the Jewish recognise him as the Paschal (meaning sacrificial) Lamb. When many Hebrews began to convert to Christianity they merged many of their own traditions with their new faith. Therefore the lamb sacrificed at the Jewish Passover became symbolic of Christs death on the cross.

Lamb is said to be the meat served to Christ at the Last Supper and, since the 9th century, roasted lamb has been the main feature of the Popes Easter dinner.

It is also appropriate that lamb is served at Easter due to the association with birth and new life, which is signified by springtime hence the term, spring lamb. This was first recognised during the 4th Century when Christianity began celebrating Christs resurrection thereby setting the tone for how Easter is observed in contemporary times.

The lamb is considered to be the absolute symbol of innocence in Christian mythology and, as such, it was believed that the appearance of a lamb was the only thing that the Devil could not assume.

It is alleged that good fortune will come your way if you happen to see a lamb in a field on Easter Day, which is borne from the belief held by early Middle Eastern shepherds that lambs symbolised hope for the future.