Celebrate the Easter tradition associating Hot Cross Buns with Good Friday.

1. Youth Ministry
Illustrations -
The History of
Hot Cross Buns
and Good Friday
Celebrate the Easter
tradition associating Hot
Cross Buns with Good
Friday.
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2. Hot Cross Buns were
traditionally served during the
Lenten Season, especially on
Good Friday. Their origins,
however, like the Easter
holiday, are a mix of pagan
and Christian traditions.
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3. Pagan Origins
The Saxons worshipped Eostre,
from which we get our word
“Easter” as the goddess of
dawn and spring. At the arrival
of spring they celebrated a
month-long festival in
celebration of the transition
from Winter to Spring. During
this festival the Saxons made
buns to offer the goddess. They
marked the buns with a simple
cross, to represent the four
phases of the moon.
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4. Christian Reinterpretation
When the Christians gained a firm
foothold in Britain, their leaders
banned the pagan Easter rites. But
they soon discovered it was more
effective to give them Christian
symbolism rather than outright
eliminate them. In 782 AD, They
found a way to reinterpret some of
the Pagan Easter rites into the
Christian ones held at this same
time of year. The meaning of the
cross on the buns was reinterpreted
to signify the Cross upon which
Christ was crucified.
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5. The Christian Easter Tradition
Some historians date the origin of
“Hot Cross Buns” as an Easter
Tradition back to the 12th century.
In 1361, an Anglican monk named
Father Thomas Rocliffe, was
recorded to have made small spiced
cakes stamped with the sign of the
cross, to be distributed to the poor
visiting the monastery at St. Albans
on Good Friday, known at that time
as the “Day of the Cross.”. According
to the scholar Harrowven, the idea
proved so popular that he made the
buns every year, carefully keeping
his bun recipe secret.
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6. Traditional hot cross buns contain
flour, milk, sugar, butter, eggs,
currants and spices such as
cinnamon and nutmeg. The cross on
the top may be cut into the bun or
made out of pastry strips. In
America, the cross is often fashioned
out of icing. According to tradition,
“Hot Cross Buns” were the only food
allowed to be eaten by the faithful
on Good Friday. They were made
from dough that had been kneaded
for consecrated bread used at Mass
or Holy Communion, and thus
represented Christ’s body
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7. Children’s Sermon
Serve Hot Cross Buns to your
Children and youth. While it is
important to be aware of the pagan
origins, for most people today, the
pagan origins have been lost and
most people now associate “Hot
Cross Buns” with Good Friday and
Easter. Keep your focus on the
Christian Tradition: they were
originally made by monks from
Dough that had been consecrated
for Mass to represent Christ’s body.
The cross represented the “day of
the cross” which was the way they
referred to Good Friday at the time.
It represented the day that Christ
died on the cross for our sins.
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8. Easter Collection
Games and Activities in celebration of
Easter.
Get more than 80 creative ideas for planning
a Youth Easter celebration or Easter Party.
You can immediately download my best
Easter Icebreakers, games, illustrations,
Easter activity ideas AND MUCH MORE in a
useful ebook!
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=> Tell me more about the Easter Collection
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