Easter (Greek: Πάσχα) is the most important annual religious feast in the Christian liturgical year.[1] According to Christian scripture, Jesus was resurrected from the dead three days[2] after his crucifixion. Christians celebrate this resurrection on Easter Day or Easter Sunday[3] (also Resurrection Day or Resurrection Sunday), two days after Good Friday and three days after Maundy Thursday. The chronology of his death and resurrection is variously interpreted to be between A.D. 26 and 36. Easter also refers to the season of the church year called Eastertide or the Easter Season. Traditionally the Easter Season lasted for the forty days from Easter Day until Ascension Day but now officially lasts for the fifty days until Pentecost. The first week of the Easter Season is known as Easter Week or the Octave of Easter. Easter also marks the end of Lent, a season of fasting, prayer, and penance.
Easter is a moveable feast, meaning it is not fixed in relation to the civil calendar. Easter falls at some point between late March and late April each year (early April to early May in Eastern Christianity), following the cycle of the Moon. After several centuries of disagreement, all churches accepted the computation of the Alexandrian Church (now the Coptic Church) that Easter is the first Sunday after the Paschal Full Moon, which is the first moon whose 14th day (the ecclesiastic "full moon") is on or after March 21 (the ecclesiastic "vernal equinox").
Easter is linked to the Jewish Passover not only for much of its symbolism but also for its position in the calendar.
Cultural elements, such as the Easter Bunny and Easter egg hunts, have become part of the holiday's modern celebrations, and those aspects are often celebrated by many Christians and non-Christians alike. There are also some Christian denominations who do not celebrate Easter.

Yes, it’s here again: This year April 1 – April Fool’s Day – falls on a Tuesday. So check out our jokes and pranks below so you and your coworkers or friends can have a laugh. Don’t worry if they seem stupid – they’re supposed to be!
1. Record the sound of squealing brakes. We recommend recording a soft click that only you will notice several seconds before the main sound begins. This will help you organize the prank more convincingly. While driving your friends somewhere, secretly switch on the tape. After you hear the click, glance in the rearview mirror and shout, "Is he blind!?" A big shock is guaranteed!

2.) This prank is a favorite and you run the risk of being discovered. Pick a random (or specific telephone number) with a group of friends and take turns calling the number and asking for, say, Andrei Ivanov. Of course, every time the reply will be, "There is and never was any Andrei Ivanov here!" With each call, the person will just get angrier. Then get a friend to call and say, "Hi, my name is Andrei Ivanov. Has anybody called for me here?"

3. Here’s another common telephone prank – and admittedly a bit stupid. Call the Durov Animal Theater and ask, "Hi, do you need a talking horse?" Without waiting for a reply, continue with, "Please, please, don’t hang up! It’s really hard to dial with a hoof."

4. On the way back from a party, while going down a busy street in a group, start up an argument about who’s the most sober. Whoever says he is must be told he has to prove it by contorting himself into some complex gymnastic pose. Then, loudly announce that he is drunk as a skunk, and explain to the bewildered victim of the prank that a sober person would never behave like that on a busy street.

April Fool's Day or All Fool's Day occurs annually on April 1. The day is generally observed by playing a practical joke on a "victim" who soon becomes known as an April Fool. This custom is thought to have started in France during the 16th century but the British are credited with bringing it to the United States.
The commonly accepted origin of April Fool's Day involves changes in the calendar. At one time, the New Year celebration began on March 25 and ended on April 1. However, in 1582, King Charles IX adopted the Gregorian calendar and accepted the beginning of the new year as January 1. Those who refused to acknowledge the new date or simply forgot received foolish gifts and invitations to nonexistent parties. The butt of such a prank was known as a "poisson d'avril" or "April fish."

Saint Patrick's Day, colloquially St. Paddy's Day or simply Paddy's Day, is an annual feast day which celebrates Saint Patrick (circa AD 385–461), one of the patron saints of Ireland, and is generally celebrated on March 17.
The day is the national holiday of Ireland: it is a bank holiday in Northern Ireland and a public holiday in the Republic of Ireland. It is also a public holiday in Montserrat. In Canada, Great Britain, Australia, the United States, and New Zealand, it is widely celebrated but is not an official holiday.

St. Patrick's Day
Leprechauns peeking around a willow tree,

Pussy willows waking longing to be free.

Colleens and shamrocks and castles old and gray,

Put them all together to make St. Patrick's Day.

Lent, in Christian tradition, is the period of the liturgical year leading up to Easter. Conventionally it is described as being forty days long, though different denominations calculate the forty days differently.

In many denominations it is observed as a period of fasting and prayer, and this practice was virtually universal in Christendom until the Protestant Reformation.

The forty days represent the time that, according to the Bible, Jesus spent in the desert before the beginning of his public ministry, where he endured emptattion by Satan.

The traditional purpose of Lent is the preparation of the believer — through prayer, penitenc almsgiving and self-denial — for the annual commemoration during Holy Week of the Death and Resurrection of Jesus, which recalls the events linked to the Passion of Christ and culminates in Easter, the celebration of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Первые цветы - хрупкие и нежные, растущие из-под холодного, колкого снега... Не зима, не весна - начало марта.
Женщина - нежная и хрупкая, но такая же сильная, как цветок в своем стремлении к солнцу... Не зима, не весна - начало МИРА!
Поздравляю с праздником 8 Марта все женское население мира!!!
Дорогие женщины, не забывайте о том, что вы женщины!
Позволяйте себе хотя бы иногда быть слабыми!

Maslenitsa.

Maslenitsa week began as a pagan ritual and has since been absorbed into the Eastern Orthodox religion. As it stands, Maslenitsa serves many purposes. Maslenitsa signals the exit of winter and heralds the coming of spring. As a part of pre-Lenten celebrations, it is also a pre-emptive strike to the upcoming fast. Because meat and dairy would traditionally be forbidden, Maslenitsa is the time for feasting (especially on pancakes). The name of the festival has its roots in the Russian word for butter, “maslo.”

The Maslenitsa Pancake Blini are Russian pancakes, and they are essential to the celebration of Maslenitsa. Said to symbolize the sun—being warm, round, and golden—they are an appropriate warning to the lingering cold weather. Blini are given to friends and family all through the week and are topped with caviar, mushrooms, jam, sour cream, and of course, lots of butter.

Fist Fighting Group fist fights are undertaken during the week of Maslenitsa. This may sound strange to Westerners, but it"s all a part of the interesting absurdity of Maslenitsa. Fist fighting commemorates Russian military history, when soldiers supposedly fought each other in hand-to-hand combat, but this fist fighting is just in good fun!

In the past, bears and their tamers would perform at Maslenitsa, and both would be served large quantities of vodka. This ended in a wrestling match between tamer and bear, with the bear often gaining the upper hand.

Bonfires and Maslenitsa Personified Bonfires will be lit and a straw personification of Maslenitsa may be burned during the festivities in order to say farewell to winter. Sometimes a woman from the community will be chosen to dress as Maslenitsa. Tradition says that this woman should be cheerfully thrown in a snowbank in order to complete the welcome of spring.

Other Traditions Troika rides, sledding, theater, puppets, singing, and fireworks are all a part of the Maslenitsa celebrations. There is usually a "storming" of a snow fort. That these traditions are still alive today is a testament to Russians" long memory and preservation of their heritage.

All in all, Maslenitsa is a good excuse to go out and have a good time, eat until you burst, and do something you wouldn"t do any other time of the year.