The Easter egg is venerable indeed. While the gaily
colored cardboard ones and rich chocolate ones that we enjoy
are quite recent in origin, the real egg, decorated with
colors or gilt, has been acknowledged as a symbol of
continuing life and resurrection since pre-Christian spring
celebrations. Given as gifts by the ancient Greeks, Persians,
and Chinese at their spring festivals, the egg also appears
in pagan mythology, where we read of the Sun-Bird being
hatched from the World Egg. in some pagan customs, the Heaven
and Earth were thought to have been formed from two halves of
an egg. As the egg was an obvious symbol to early Christians
of Jesus' Resurrection, it was felt to be a most appropriate
and holy part of the Eastertide celebration. Even as early as
the Middle Ages, eggs were colored to be given as gifts at
Easter; Edward I's accounts for 1290 include the expense of
purchasing hundreds of eggs to be distributed to his
household. in the 17th century, pope Paul V blessed the
humble egg in a prayer to be used in England, Scotland, and
Ireland: "Bless, O Lord, we beseech Thee, this Thy
creature of eggs, that it may become a wholesome sustenance
to Thy faithful servants, eating in thankfulness to Thee, on
account of the Resurrection of Our Lord." Forbidden
during the solemn fast of Lent, eggs were reintroduced on
Easter Sunday, both as part of the feasting and as gifts for
family, friends, and servants.
