Of all Easter symbols, the lamb is probably the most strongly Christian.  Other than the fact that lambs are young animals born in springtime, it has no strong ties to pagan traditions.

The lamb comes from the Jewish Passover, where each family killed a lamb as a sacrifice.  When Christ became the Passover Lamb for everyone, the lamb became a symbol for His sacrifice.

New Clothes at Easter

New clothes have long been associated with the idea of newness and a fresh beginning.  The familiar custom of having new clothes for Easter probably began with early Christians wearing new white robes for baptism during Easter Vigil services.  Later, the custom expanded to everyone wearing new clothes in celebration of his or her new life in Christ.

Sunrise Services

The familiar sunrise service is a relatively new addition to Easter.  A group of young Moravian men in Hernhut, Saxony held the first recorded sunrise service in 1732.  They went to their cemetery called God’s Acre at sunrise to worship in memory of the women who went to the tomb early on the first Easter morning and discovered it empty.  Moravian immigrants brought the custom to America, with the first service in the United States held in 1743.

Easter Lilies

The Easter lily is another new addition to Easter celebrations. Throughout the years, painters and sculptors used the white Madonna lily to symbolize purity and innocence, frequently referring to Mary.  This lily doesn’t force well, so nurseries couldn’t get the flower to bloom in time Easter.

In the 1880s, Mrs. Thomas Sargent brought Bermuda lily bulbs back to Philadelphia. A local nurseryman, William Harris, saw the lilies and introduced them to the trade.  A more practical consideration was that they were easy to force into bloom in time for the Easter season.  From there, they Bermuda lily, now the familiar Easter lily, spread throughout the country.

Excerpted From Holidays & Holy Days, © 2001 by Susan E. Richardson. Published by Regal Books, 1957 Eastman Ave, Ventura, California, 93003. Used by permission. All rights reserved. You can purchase this books at christianbook.com.