| |
| | CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA: Easter |
 | | Bede (De temporum ratione, I, v), relates to Estre, a Teutonic goddess of the rising light of day and spring, which deity, however, is otherwise unknown, even in the Edda (Simrock, Mythol., 362); Anglo-Saxon, eâster, eâstron; Old High German, ôstra, ôstrara, ôstrarûn; German, Ostern. |
 | | Leo I (Sermo xlvii in Exodum) calls it the greatest feast (festum festorum), and says that Christmas is celebrated only in preparation for Easter. |
 | | The ball may represent the sun, which is believed to take three leaps in rising on Easter morning. |
| www.newadvent.org /cathen/05224d.htm (3990 words) |
|