Ladies Watch Out! It's Easter Monday!

Source: investujeme.sk

Have you ever heard of the crazy traditions of Easter which include guys pouring water over young women? 

I have never heard of these traditions until I was talking to a few of the local ladies in Slovakia. In Slovakia, they celebrate Easter for five days, from Thursday to Monday.

Prior to Easter they have 40 days of fasting that ends on Big Friday or Good Friday. During these days Slovaks avoid eating meat. The most important days of Easter are Big Friday and Easter Sunday.

Green Thursday. Roman Catholics attend an evening mass to recall the Last Supper of Jesus and how he washed the feet of his apostles.  

Big Friday. A national holiday, the Friday before Easter, known in the United States as Good Friday.

The day commemorates the crucifixion of Jesus whose life and ministry is the foundation of Christianity. It's a day of mourning. In Prešov, we attended the Way of the Cross.

An emotional re-enactment when Jesus was sentenced and brought to Calvary. Retelling biblical references of the mocking, crucifixion, and laying the body in the tomb. Thousands attended this live event.

Holy Saturday. Slovaks everywhere will bring wicker food baskets loaded with ethic holiday food to church for a traditional blessing. The neatly arranged contents will be butter, round loaf of sweetened yeast bread, horseradish, hard-boiled colored eggs, sausage, ham, smoked bacon, salt, and cheese.

Some will include a bottle of wine or candy. A candle is placed in the basket so it can be lit during the blessing. The basket is topped with a white embroidered cloth which represents the burial shroud of Jesus and covers the basket.

Easter Sunday. Easter begins at the cross. The day to celebrate the miracle resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. The joyous news that He has risen. 

In Luke 24:5-6: "Why seek ye the living among the dead? He is not here, but is risen." 

Church bells ring long and loud calling Christians to morning Easter mass. Families looking their Sunday best attend mass together. After the traditional Easter dinner family meets other family members and young adults go to parties or discos to celebrate the end of the forty-day fast.

Easter Monday. The young men come to single ladies houses and whip them and pour water over them. This may seem cruel, but the young females are honored to have guys visit them. This treatment is always held on Easter Monday and is guaranteed to bring health and beauty for a whole year to young women. The men come in traditional clothes carrying braided willow whips tied with colorful ribbons (korbáče). 

The girls are brought out of the house spanked and doused with cold water. Okay, perhaps some girls will disagree with me, but this tradition of switching and watering is all in good sport. 

(Source: imgur.com)