Grace In Action Issue Extras

April 2006: Easter Traditions from Grace In Action readers

When our children were small, we had a tradition of making masterpiece Easter eggs. We would spend literally hours trying to outshine one another’s eggs. And the very best would be preserved in egg crates for future admiration. The inside of a hard-boiled egg eventually desiccates to a small solid ball. I still have four dozen eggs dating back many years. Once in awhile, one cracks, and if it’s one of the newer ones, you do not want to be in the area. -- Bob and Vikki Manduca, Fanwood, N.J.

I grew up in the 1950s in the very Catholic and very Italian neighborhood of Astoria (Queens), N.Y. During Holy Week, my mother, Theresa Kay, and grandmother, Jennie Bonica, would make an Italian Easter bread called columba. First, they would make and roll the dough. Next, they would stuff it with ricotta and mozzarella cheeses, pepperoni, sausage and hard-boiled eggs. This was similar to a calzone. Before baking they would brush the top of the dough with beaten raw eggs. While the bread was baking, they would make small crosses out of the palm they had received on Palm Sunday.

After the bread cooled, they would put the crosses on top, and we’d all enjoy the fruits of their labor. They are gone now, and in keeping with their tradition, my daughters and I make and enjoy this Easter bread. --Margie Faulds, Colorado Springs, Colo.

During the 1940s, my mother had no sewing machine or patters. She made her own patterns and sewed by hand dresses of organza and dotted Swiss for my two sisters and me, and we ended up with the loveliest dresses of all. To this day, I honor her memory by purchasing a small item that’s new to wear at Easter. -- Mary L. Wood, Dallas, Ore.

Millions of people decorate their houses and property with various forms of decorations for the birth of Jesus. Two years ago we started placing a cut out of Joseph and Mary in the yard with a light behind the cutout so that the images reflect on the side of the house. We decided this year to do the same with three crosses reflecting on the house for Holy Week and Easter. Who knows? Maybe it will catch on and make a Christian statement to the world. -- Bob Dalton, Parker, Colo.