Dominus Deus Sabaoth. France is primarily a Catholic country. I guess after all the religion wars, Catholicism won out in these parts but I’m too lazy to Google the how or why right now. I was raised Roman Catholic and had to go through the whole sh-bang – CCD classes, first communion, confession and confirmation. After all that, I turned out to be what my grandmother refers to as a ‘Cafeteria Catholic’. I take and accept what I agree with and kind of ignore what I don’t. My grandmother, as you might have guessed, is the opposite of a ‘Cafeteria Catholic’. But I firmly believe everyone has the right to whatever faith feels right to them.
With that said, this week the French are preparing the big Easter celebration. But instead of the ‘Easter Bunny’ hopping down the bunny trail, here the eggs are brought to you by….
Church bells.
When I asked my French students how church bells were responsible for chocolate eggs appearing in your home or back yard they just shrugged. Like the whole sticking each other with fish on April Fool’s Day, I guess the French don’t really put much stalk in the how or why’s behind tradition. They just do it. Which is fine by me! If they wanna stick eachother with paper fish or run around looking for bells flying in the sky, that’s their prerogative.
A Catholic friend of mine explained, however, that from Thursday until Sunday, the church bells don’t ring. That’s Catholic tradition. So what they tell the kids is that on Thursday all the church bells sprout wings and fly away to Rome to see the Pope. On their way back Sunday morning, they drop chocolate Easter eggs into all the back yards, arrive in their towers and sing their hearts out for the Easter celebration.
Now, believing in a rabbit who delivers chocolate eggs makes about as much sense as all of that but I did believe for a long time. (Actually my parents had to tell me the truth about both the Easter Bunny and Santa at an age I’m almost too embarrassed to divulge. We writers just want to believe don’t we? Imagination wins out every time?) So I guess I can’t knock the French’s explanation of things.
I hope you guys all have a great Easter. And look out for egg-projecting bells flying overhead!
*CQG*
