Easter Day By:Zaira S. Holmes Middle School 7grade

The first eggs given at Easter were birds eggs. These eggs were painted in bright colours to give them further meaning as a gift. As chocolate became more wide spread in the 20th Century, a chocolate version of the traditional painted egg was developed. The size of the chocolate egg has grown over the years and is now more likely to be the size of an ostrich egg rather than a small birds egg. Many families go away on holiday for the Easter weekend. A traditional and still very popular holidays are taken at holiday camps, providing all around entertainment for holiday makers since the 1940s. The first eggs given at Easter were birds eggs. These eggs were painted in bright colours to give them further meaning as a gift. We still paint bird eggs today but usually only chicken eggs. Pace Eggs are hard boiled eggs with patterned shells, they are traditional in northern parts of England at Easter, with local variants in the name, such as Paste Eggs.

Easter usually comes in the month of April. However, Easter can fall as early as March 22 or as late as April 25.

Many people prepare a festive breakfast, lunch or evening meal on Easter Sunday. Popular treats are:
• Fried, scrambled or boiled eggs.
• Roast lamb.
• Lamb stew.
• Rich loaves of sweet bread decorated with frosting and candy eggs.
• Cookies shaped like chicks, eggs or lambs.
• Butter in the shape of a lamb.
• Cakes baked in the shape of a hare or lamb.
• Various salads.

Many Christians may attend special church services to celebrate Jesus' resurrection on Easter Sunday. Church bells are not rung on the Friday and Saturday before Easter Sunday as a general rule. This is a sign of mourning. However, church bells are rung for a long time and in a celebratory manner curing the church services on Easter Sunday. These are known as the Easter bells. Many people spend Easter Sunday with family members or friends and eat a festive meal. Roast lamb with spring beans or other freshly harvested vegetables or leaves, brightly colored boiled eggs and omelets are popular. Easter eggs made of chocolate or candy are popular gifts and children are told that Easter hares, rabbits or bells bring the gifts. Spring flowers, lambs, birds' eggs and Easter eggs are symbols of Easter Sunday in France. They are symbolic of nature's rebirth or resurrection after the dark and cold winter period. Special biscuits known as Osterlammele are eaten in the Alsace region. They are baked in a clay mould and are in the shape of a lamb sitting on the ground. The Osterlammele were traditionally given to children after the church service on Easter Monday. Bakers now sell them and these are often decorated with ribbons and paper banners.

St. Patrick's Day By: Zaira S. Holmes Middle School 7 grade

Saint Patrick is the patron saint and national apostle of Ireland. St Patrick is credited with bringing Christianity to Ireland. Most of what is known about him comes from his two works; the Confession, a spiritual autobiography, and his Epistle, a denunciation of British mistreatment of Irish Christians. Saint Patrick described himself as a "most humble-minded man, pouring forth a continuous paean of thanks to his Maker for having chosen him as the instrument whereby multitudes who had worshipped idols and unclean things had become the people of God."

Saint Patrick's Day has come to be associated with everything Irish: anything green and gold, shamrocks and luck. Most importantly, to those who celebrate its intended meaning, St. Patrick's Day is a traditional day for spiritual renewal and offering prayers for missionaries worldwide. So, why is it celebrated on March 17Th One theory is that that is the day that St. Patrick died. Since the holiday began in Ireland, it is believed that as the Irish spread out around the world, they took with them their history and celebrations. The biggest observance of all is, of course, in Ireland. With the exception of restaurants and pubs, almost all businesses close on March 17Th. Being a religious holiday as well, many Irish attend mass, where March 17Th is the traditional day for offering prayers for missionaries worldwide before the serious celebrating begins. In American cities with a large Irish population, St. Patrick's Day is a very big deal. Big cities and small towns alike celebrate with parades, "wearing of the green," music and songs, Irish food and drink, and activities for kids such as crafts, coloring and games. Some communities even go so far as to dye rivers or streams green!

Far from being a saint, until he was 16, he considered himself a pagan. At that age, he was sold into slavery by a group of Irish marauders that raided his village. During his captivity he became a Christian and adopted the name Patrick. He escaped from slavery after six years and went to Gaul where he studied in the monastery under St. Germain, bishop of Auxerre for a period of twelve years. During his training he got the notion that his calling was to convert the pagans to Christianity. His wishes were to return to Ireland, to convert the native pagans to Christianity. But his superiors instead appointed St. Palladius. But two years later, Palladius transferred to Scotland. Patrick was then appointed as second bishop to Ireland.Much Irish folklore surrounds St. Patrick's Day. Not much of it is actually substantiated. Some of this lore includes the belief that Patrick raised people from the dead. He also is said to have given a sermon from a hilltop that drove all the snakes from Ireland. Of course, no snakes were ever native to Ireland, and some people think this is a metaphor for the conversion of the pagans. Though originally a Catholic holy day, St. Patrick's Day has evolved into more of a secular holiday.