Not so long ago, Easter Sunday would find many — if not most — American families breaking out their best clothes and perhaps posing for a picture before heading off to church.

Sure, there were colored eggs to find, overstuffed baskets to unwrap and chocolate bunnies to bite into. But it was fairly uniform throughout the society for families to keep the emphasis on renewing the hope we have in Christ, thanks to his world-changing resurrection from the dead.

Today, it seems, the goodies have ascended in lots of homes while the Resurrection has receded.

It doesn't have to be so. And, for not a few Catholic families, the times have never been better for holding fast to certain family traditions — the ones that remind young and old that Easter is the most glorious holy day on the Christian calendar.

In Boise, Idaho, for Erik and Deborah Oaas and their son and daughter, attending the Easter Triduum at Sacred Heart Church has become “the heart of our Easter … particularly the Easter Vigil,” says Deborah. She explains that early excuses, like, “It's Saturday night and we'd rather be with our friends,” turned to the joy of the Easter Vigil as the children became older.

In Seattle's suburbs, Mark and Janet Shea and their four sons, age 7 to 16, have peers of the two older teens join them for the Easter Vigil at Sacred Heart Parish. The boys' friends want to know what goes on at Mass since suddenly it's “exotic and cool” to be Catholic in the highly secular Seattle area, says Mark. “At least the last couple of years we've taken a gaggle of their friends,” he explains. “Many had not been to church, let alone to the most solemn Mass on the Church calendar. And anytime I can expose people to the Eucharist is good. If there's any tradition I'd like to continue, it's this one.”

What about new Easter outfits? “We try to look more respectable than usual and dress nice for Easter,” Mark says. “Peter, 7, loves to put on his clip-on tie and look snazzy.” And the Sheas say the Chaplet of Divine Mercy over Easter Week. “It's easy to follow and it moves quickly,” notes Mark, “which is helpful for kids who happen to have a short attention span.”

In Clearwater, Fla., James and Janetze Hart and their children, Mary, 14, Max, 11, and Angela, 9, attend the outdoor daybreak Mass their parish of Espiritu Santo begins before dawn. As the Harts do every Sunday, they'll sing together in the family choir. James recalls the sight of the sun rising over the water last year, right at the moment of consecration.

Later, the Hart children will enjoy the “flour finger-footprints,” left by a “bunny,” leading to a basket — a fun tradition even though everyone knows who made them, says Janetze.

“You don't have to go the traditional secular route of Peter Cottontail,” James notes. “We put things in plastic eggs like stickers and puzzle books with a religious theme. The ‘Easter bunny’ brings things to our house, but the main things are Christ-centered.”

“It's evident when you look in the basket,” Janetze explains, “that the Easter bunny is Catholic.”

The best part of Easter for the Hart children? All chime in at once: “Jesus rising from the dead!”

In Dunedin, Fla., Timothy and Linda Smith's children — Eric, 23, Rebecca, 21, Nick, 16, Samantha, 14, and Robert, 13 — are sending letters to loved ones and even distant acquaintances serving in Operation Iraqi Freedom. They're also praying daily for the troops and all affected by the war.

Traditionally, on Holy Saturday night the Smiths make Scripture cookies together. “With each ingredient,” explains Linda, “you read a Scripture and explain to the children the symbolism and how it relates to the Passion and Easter story.” Although the ingredients purposely aren't that appetizing alone, together they make a sweet cookie baked overnight for Easter morning when “they look like a tomb, but an empty tomb split open” with a sweet message. “The kids thought it was the coolest thing ever,” Linda says.

The family carries on another significant Easter tradition as parishioners of Our Lady of Lourdes Church. Linda is active with the Christian Mothers, who have their kids make cards and bring donations such as coloring books and stuffed animals to fill an Easter basket for the children in local abuse shelters.

At St. Paul Cathedral in Worcester, Mass., Mark and Grace Cheffers and their 10 children, age 17 to 22 months, celebrate the entire Triduum. Grace finds the traditional visit to seven churches after Holy Thursday Mass “a powerful way to begin” the Easter observances, especially with the older children in tow. She sees the prayer tour as a response to Jesus' request to watch and pray with him from after the Last Supper to his arrest in the Garden of Gethsemane. “It's those hours he was in his agony when we try to accompany him,” she says.

Husband Mark takes off from work on Good Friday to worship with the family. “That sends a big message to the children,” says Grace. The family walks the parish's outdoor Stations of the Cross, traveling a three-church route. “It's very good to combine some things with the community,” she says, pointing out that, for balance, parents also need quiet times for prayer and meditation.

It's important to live quietly with a different tone in the house and not start the Easter Sunday celebration prematurely, adds Grace. “We think what it must have been like for our Blessed Mother and the apostles waiting on that Saturday. We accompany her.”

After Easter Mass, the Cheffers family shares in a big Easter basket. Everybody gets a special treat — a chocolate cross. “We don't say the ‘Easter bunny,'” Grace says. “The children know Dad got the basket and hides the eggs. And we always spend Easter Sunday after Mass with the family.”

Over in Athens, Ohio, David and Sherry Curp have started a new family tradition. Three-year-old Miriam started it when she drew an “Alleluja picture” on Fat Tuesday. The family ceremoniously rolled it up, put it on the family altar and explained that “Alleluja” is on vacation for Lent. On Easter morning they'll unroll the picture and sing “Alleluja” again.

It's a song children of all ages, together with the whole family, will sing Easter Sunday upon hearing the three sweetest words ever spoken: “He is risen!”

Joseph Pronechen writes from Trumbull, Connecticut.

What's a Bunny Got to Do With It?

Where did colored eggs, rabbits and other popular Easter traditions come from? According to The Easter Book by Francis X. Weiser, many started in pre-Christian nature and fertility rites.

Coloring eggs, or staining them in vegetable dyes, traces to many countries and started as a symbol of new life. Christians see the symbol as a rebirth of man in Christ's resurrection. Some places use only crimson as a reminder of Jesus' blood shed for us. New plants and flowers were given special powers. Christians from early times connected the lily with Jesus and Mary. Its purity, brilliant blossoms and fragrance symbolized the life of the Risen Lord.

Because newly baptized on Easter wore white garments, other Christians started wearing new Easter clothes to symbolize the new life in Jesus all believers got from his resurrection. The custom took off in medieval times.

The secular Easter parade evolved from Europeans who took an Easter walk, or procession, through the town and country after Mass in their new clothes behind a crucifix or Easter candle. All along the way, they would pray and sing Easter hymns. The Easter bunny was born in pre-Christian fertility lore, another tie to new life in the spring. But the Church never linked the Easter bunny or rabbit to any spiritual meaning. The first mention of the rabbit laying Easter eggs and hiding them for the kids seems to have originated in Germany. By the 17th century, a German book had already called it an old fable.

— Joseph Pronechen