Why do we give out red eggs on Pascha?

Why do we give out red eggs on Pascha?

First of all, the red symbolizes the blood of Christ, which the Lord shed for our salvation. Also, according to tradition, some time after the Resurrection of Christ, Saint Mary Magdalene went to Emperor Tiberius Caesar and courageously announced to him that Christ had risen from the dead and explained how this all took place. After she finished Tiberius noticed a man next to him holding a basket of eggs. Tiberius

then challenged Mary that if what she said was indeed true, then the white eggs in the basket should be turned into red eggs. Suddenly the eggs turned red leaving Caesar perplexed.

Another variation of this story is that Mary, herself, brought a simple white egg to the emperor for his birthday, while everyone else brought more valuable gifts. She then explained about Christ’s Resurrection and the egg turned red. Either way, this is how eggs have come to be associated with Pascha and why we maintain this tradition of dyeing our eggs red. (By extension, this is also how we came to have chocolate eggs for this feast).

XB!

Fr. John