What do you think of when you think of Easter? Rabbits, egg hunts, family reunions? Whether you’re similar to Shree Kheni(12) who enjoys the “family aspect as everyone comes together and celebrates” or Brittany Hutchinson(12) who’s mainly in it for the “all the edible Easter grass,” nobody ever questions how all these Easter holiday shenanigans came to be.

Most people are aware of the story of Easter that the Christian faith revolves around at this time of the year where Jesus died for the sins of his followers and rose from the dead after three days. This week ends the period of time on the liturgical calendar known as Lent. Yet, how does this have anything to do with eggs that we so greatly look forward to on this Easter Sunday. Well, according to the Huffington Post, the egg symbolizes Jesus Christ’s resurrection from his death on the cross. The tradition of painting the eggs is adopted from the Orthodox and Eastern Catholic churches where the red dye represented the “blood of Jesus Christ that was shed on the cross.” The egg’s shell itself stood for the sealed tomb of Jesus, only cracking for Jesus’ resurrection. Their eggs were blessed by the priest at the Easter mass and passed out to the members of the congregation. Though typically meat is the food that is avoided during the lenten season, Christians historically abstained from eating eggs as their first time eating them after such a long time was Easter Sunday.

From these age-old traditions in the Christian religion, the mainstream American culture adopted egg-involved activities such as the beloved egg hunts and egg dying. So, this Sunday as you search high and low for your multicolored, candy-filled Easter eggs, remember the strong symbolism these eggs hold. Happy Easter Mustangs!