The eggs for Easter can be painted on any day preceding the feast of the return to life of Jesus Christ. The Church didn’t set a certain day for this, metropolitan archpriest Zosima Toia, who heads the Metropolitan Department of Censure and PR, has told IPN.
Some of the women pain the eggs the day they cook Easter bread, usually on Holy Thursday. Others prefer to do this on Saturday. The Church does not ban painting eggs even on Holy Friday, when Jesus Christ was crucified.
The people chose the paint color they want. Red remains the traditional color. It symbolizes Jesus Christ’s blood. But the Easter eggs can be of different colors and even have several colors on one egg.
Those who do not want to buy paint, use natural products. Sugar beet or apple skin is used to obtain red color, walnut leaves – green, blackberries or red cabbage leaves – blue. Onion skin paints the eggs yellow, wine or grape juice – mauve, red onion skin – pink, carrots – orange, while cafe – brown.
The knocking of eggs against each other means the sacrifice of primordial divinity. The elder person knocks the head of the egg against the head of the egg kept in the hand by a younger person, saying: “Christ is risen”, and the answer is: “He is risen indeed”.
