Thursday, April 1, 2010

Green Thursday

Today is Green Thursday (Zelený ctvrtek)...supposedly because of traditional green vestments used by priests on this day throughout the Middle Ages, or because church penitents wore sprigs of green denoting their joy.  On Green Thursday the boys of the village walk through the village shaking rattles (rehtacka ) to ward off Judas.


It is customary to eat spinach on Green Thursday. The church bells sound for the last time, and then they “fly off to Rome” to be silent until White Saturday.  In many places, people believe that when the bells ring for the last time on Green Thursday, they should jingle their money to make sure that it sticks to them. “Judases” are baked – specially shaped ceremonial buns made of leavened dough.









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