TARJETAS DE SEMANA SANTA - EASTER

SEMANA SANTA

La Semana Santa es la conmemoración anual cristiana de la Pasión, Muerte y Resurrección de Jesús de Nazaret. Por ello, es un período de intensa actividad litúrgica dentro de las diversas confesiones cristianas. Da comienzo el Domingo de Ramos y finaliza elDomingo de Resurrección,¹ aunque su celebración suele iniciarse en varios lugares el viernes anterior (Viernes de Dolores) y se considera parte de la misma el Domingo de Resurrección. La fecha de la celebración es variable (entre marzo y abril según el año) ya que depende del calendario lunar. La Semana Santa va precedida por la Cuaresma, que finaliza en la Semana de Pasión donde se celebra la eucaristía en el Jueves Santo, se conmemora la Crucifixión de Jesús el Viernes Santo y la Resurrección en la Vigilia Pascual durante la noche del Sábado Santo al Domingo de Resurrección. Durante la Semana Santa tienen lugar numerosas muestras de religiosidad popular a lo largo de todo el mundo, destacando las procesiones y las representaciones de la Pasión.

EASTER POSTCARD

Easter postcards are a form of postcard that people send to each other at Easter. They have now mostly changed to e-cards rather than postcards, however their purpose remains the same.

HISTORY 

The tradition of sending Easter postcards to relatives and friends developed during the end of the 19th century. During the year 1898, there were only a few cards sent although the number of cards sent since then have increased worldwide.

In the beginning monochrome as well as colored cards were printed. Most of the time, the center of the cards contained an oversizedegg. During the first years during which Easter postcards were sent, the front side was empty. This was the space for senders to write their greetings because post offices would only allow the address and the stamp on the back side. Because of that, the artistically precious illustrations were deformed. In 1905, post offices in Austria and Germany separated the back side of the cards into two halves. The right half served as before (for the address and the stamp) and the other half was the new space for the message. In 1906 this was officially allowed by the world-post-congress in Rome.

Circa 1910, the cards were mainly monochrome pictures which were sometimes colored with children in the context with lambs, poultry, and eggs. Young girls were a symbol for luck and hope. The Easter bunny which was a personified symbol of fruitfulness, was often portrayed with eggs. German publishers were leading in the production of Easter postcards before the First World War.

During the time of the First World War, children were replaced with soldiers and a military appearance of the Easter bunny was common. After the First World War, photos no longer served as the foundation for Easter postcards instead they featured drawn colorful Easter motives; a very popular motive was Jesus in the open countryside surrounded by sheep. Cards with flowers were also common. During times of prosperity during 1898 and 1918, the cards were often created using chromolithography. Many very impressive cards still exist with silver, gold and relief-stamping.

The number of Easter postcards declined through the Second World War. Since then, the number of cards sent has declined; especially during the past decade because of the competition with telephony and e-mail.

EASTER

Easter, also called Resurrection Day, is a holiday. Among Christians, it is a celebration of Jesus Christ returning from the dead. Christians believe that it is the holiest day in the year. Some people who are not Christians celebrate it as the beginning of Spring.

Easter is not held on the same date every year. This is called a moveable feast. Currently all Christian churches agree on how the date is calculated. Easter is celebrated on the first Sunday, following the first full moon, after the Spring Equinox. This means it is celebrated in March or April. It can occur as early as March 22 and as late as April 25. Western churches, like the Roman Catholic Church, use the Gregorian calendar, while Eastern churches, like the Eastern Orthodox Church, use the Julian calendar. Because of this the date of Easter celebrations is different for these two types of churches even though the way they calculate the date is the same. In 2015 Easter was celebrated on April 5 for both the Gregorian calendar and Julian calendar.

The word "Easter" is derived from Eastre, the name of the ancient German Goddess of Spring.^[1] Her festival occurred at the vernal equinox. TheFrench word for Easter, Pâcques, comes from the Greek word for Passover, which is the Jewish holiday celebrated at the same time of the year.