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Godparents giving Easter pastries to their godchildren. Photo credit: Jon Urutxurtu.

Lent, Holy Week and Easter follow on from Carnival. Lent recalls the forty days of prayer and penitence that Jesus spent in the desert. The forty days from Ash Wednesday – on 22 February this year – until Maundy Thursday are traditionally spent fasting and praying. This period ends with Holy Week, which is from Palm Sunday – on 2 April this year – to Easter Sunday; it is the time spent commemorating the Passion of Jesus Christ and builds up to Easter Sunday that celebrates his Resurrection.

During the Easter Vigil on the night from Easter Saturday into Easter Sunday, the Paschal candle is lit and represents Jesus resurrected, and indicates that Christ has come back from death. Alongside the religious services on following day – Easter Sunday and on 9 April this year –, the custom of godparents giving their godchildren a roll with one or several eggs baked into the bread still survives in some places of Euskal Herria and was very widespread in the past. The roll can be circular or triangular and is known as mokotsa in Amorebieta-Etxano and Gorozika, morrokotea and/or mokotsa in Arratia, olatea in Orozko, pazkopile in Busturia, arrautz-opila in Zerain, kaapaxue in Elosu-Bergara, and aitatxi-opil or amatxi-opil in Baztan…
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