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TWENTY SEVEN YEARS AGO

Our first hostess,
Marie Corbishley,
lit the candles to begin the celebration
in the old Parish Centre

PASSOVER SUPPER

With the cost (still at £5 a head) and donations the Passover Supper has raised £125 this year, 2008, to be added to the money for Kalomo.
With grateful thanks to contributors and helpers who made this once again a great success
The story of the Passover Supper remains unchanged but with new photos added this year, 2008

Jesus shared the Passover with his disciples just before he was arrested, tried and condemned to death on the cross.
Our meal follows the order of events and rituals of the Jewish feast and embodies links to our Christian beliefs and the celebration
which we call the Eucharist (Thanksgiving) - the One sacrifice which replaces all those of the old covenant.


Place Settings

with salted water, bitter herbs, unleavened bread and haroseth
The starter
includes the egg - a sign of new life 		large matzos for sharing 2006
Matzos - unleavened bread
"Matzah is the bread of affliction which the Israelites took with them out of Egypt. They baked unleavened cakes of the dough as it had no time to rise."
Haroseth-a sweet mix of fruit, nuts and spices
"reminds us of the mortar used by the Israelites when as slaves they made buildings for the Egyptians. The pleasant taste of the haroseth is a symbol of God's kindness which made slavery easier to bear."
Maror - bitter herbs
"..because the Egyptians enslaved the Israelites. It is written, 'With hard labour at mortar and brick and in all sorts of work in the field, with all the tasks ruthlessly imposed on them.' "
Today as well, where slavery remains, we taste its bitterness.
Around the tables are also bowls of salt water into which the bitter herbs are dipped.
The salt water recalls the hardness of Pharaoh's heart and the tears shed by the Israelites when enslaved in Egypt.
new photos from Passover 2008
preparing the egg starter
Preparing the tables - 2008
above - the egg is served as a starter, with salad
right - -wine (with non-alcoholic alternatives)
baskets with unleavened bread
bowls of bitter herbs (watercress here) and salt water
bowls of haroseth
candles, especially the traditional 7-branched 'menorah'

laying the tables

tables ready for the supper
Christians re-enact the gathering in the Upper Room when Jesus celebrated Passover with his apostles for the last time

gathering....

 

Blessed are you,
O Lord our God,
King of the Universe,
who has kept us alive,
sustained us and brought us
to this season.
May these lights inspire us
to use our powers
to heal and not to harm,
to help and not to hinder,
and in everything
to serve you,
O God of freedom.

 lighting the candles
The hostess reads the prayer by the light of the candles

The hostess
lights the candles
in the darkened room

 

and reads a prayer

It is a reminder of
the light of God
which led his people
out of slavery
to the Promised Land

.

For us they recall Christ,

the light of the world.

The theme of Passover is the redemption from bondage in Egypt by the sacrifice of a lamb. Pasch or Easter Eggs : It was the practice from Roman times to begin the meal with an egg, the symbol of new life and new growth and of hope. A whole egg is placed in front of the leader and our meal begins with a salad starter with half a hardboiled egg, a lamb dinner and a (non-traditional) fruit salad.
See 'paceeggs'

The various parts of the Jewish meal are preserved in the Mass:
Kiddush - the blessing of the feast
Yahatz - the bond formed by sharing
Haggadah - the deliverance from bondage
Hallel - the prayer of
thanksgiving
the cup of wine:

A place is set for Elijah for "an ancient custom reminds us that Elijah the prophet will return to earth before the end of days and hope is kept alive that he will join a group celebrating Passover."Elijah's table
The Cup of Elijah		 Four ceremonial cups of wine are drunk during the meal - thanking God for his creation of the world and his re-creation of our world each spring, for his first covenant with his people, for his present goodness to us and his promise for the future.

The Cup of Sanctification
The Cup of Redemption
The Cup of Blessing
"I have earnestly desired to eat this passover with you before I suffer,
for I tell you, I shall never eat it again
until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God."
St Luke places this act after the washing of the feet of the disciples and the meal itself and after Judas had left the gathering. This bears out the tradition that it took place at the fourth cup of wine, the cup of Elijah
The wine from Elijah's cup is shared out among all those present. "From beyond, Elijah's spirit enters these walls and tastes with us the wine of endless promise." After the wine was drunk he said,
"Take this and divide it among yourselves for I tell you that from now on I shall not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes."   ( from Matthew 26 & Luke 22)		 And he took bread, and when he had given thanks he broke it and gave it to them, saying,
"This is my body."

And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, saying:
"Drink of it all, of you; for this is my blood of the covenant,
which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.

"Among people everywhere sharing of bread forms a bond of fellowship." The Israelites had to leave Egypt in a hurry so they had no time to make bread with yeast which would have taken time to rise.
The unleavened bread reminds us of the speed with which they had to respond to God's call.

Passover 08
"For us, as St Paul says,
the bread which we break is a means of sharing in the body of Christ.
Because there is one loaf and we all receive a share of that one loaf,
although we are many,
we become one body."

Photos below here are carried over from
the Silver Jubilee, 2006
guests 2006
As Christians we have entered a new covenant, giving added significance to this ceremony which we continue in every Eucharist.
2006 - Celebrating 25 years of Bible Study and our parish Passover meal

Many thanks to all the people who shared in the preparation of the meal, especially those who were unable to be present,
to Sandra (2008) for the flowers, and to all those who helped to clear the tables, wash up and tidy up afterwards.

£125 has been donated to Kalomo, Zambia in 2008

Pace eggs
Eggs were not eaten during Lent, but hardboiled or preserved as Easter food. From this developed the idea of 'Easter eggs', known in the north of England as originally 'Pasch eggs'. These are usually decorated. Hard boil with onion for a dark yellow, cochineal for red, spinach for green, coffee grounds for dark brown - and then make patterns by scratching away the colour. Another method used is to wrap them tightly with small leaves in scraps of cloth with non-fast colours, and hardboil. They can also be painted. Large crowds still gather to roll their eggs in Avenham Park in Preston on the morning of Easter Monday.

The 'Easter Bunny' is an American import, perhaps having developed from a German 'Easter hare' whose pellets have an egg-shape, and has no relevance to the Feast of Easter.

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