It's not a rabbit, or a bunny, but a hare. Even the name Easter isn't Christian... it's allegedly from an old festival of rebirth called Eostre, where the ancient Saxons/Brits celebrated the return of life, spring and all that.

Being a rebirth and fertility festival, a day near the vernal equinox was chosen as best to celebrate the Annunciation - where Mary is told by Gabriel she is to bear the son of God. This day is March 25th, Lady Day and one of the Quarter days when new contracts and rents were agreed. Add 9 months to March 25th and you get December 25th, a nice convenient set of non-Christian festivals already waiting to be converted into Christmas.

In my church, we have a fairly nasty window (circa 1894) in the east wall, that has a five petalled daisy in the top roundel (the rest is clear glass with ultramarine blue border), in pale, insipid Victorian coloured glass. From the inside, this is obscured by a large white canvas screen that's pierced with little triangles to let the light in.

One Easter dawn service, as the vicar related it to me, he looked up at the congregation and all he could see was row upon row of smiling faces. 'Ah', thinks he, 'I've really hit a chord here, how wonderful, my message is reaching people.' At breakfast afterwards, he commented how we'd all looked so engrossed in his sermon.

'Oh no', says his faithful Parish Warden, 'we were watching the screen behind you. As the sun rose, it projected a beautiful coloured flower onto the screen which came to rest just above your head!'


LTS
















Yes, you guessed it, I was that faithful Parish Warden!