Easter, 2009

Yesterday was Easter, the celebration by Western Christians of the resurrection of Jesus Christ, 2 days after his crucifixion (Eastern Christian observers will celebrate Easter on April 19th). The religious observation of Easter also shares the day with many traditional secular springtime celebrations, including bonfires, egg hunts, bunnies and gifts of chocolate. As a day for quiet reflection, prayer, charitable acts and festive gatherings, here are some views of Easter across the globe this year. (35 photos total)

Slovenian artist Franc Grom drills a hole in an empty egg shell in Vrhnika, Slovenia on April 9, 2009. Grom drills thousands of holes into egg shells to create unique Easter eggs of fragile beauty. (REUTERS/Srdjan Zivulovic)

Slovenian artist Franc Grom displays his drilled Easter eggs in Vrhnika, Slovenia April 9, 2009. (REUTERS/Srdjan Zivulovic) #

The Scituate Clergy Association organized an Easter service at the lighthouse at sunrise in Scituate, MA on Sunday, April 12, 2009. After the service, the sun shined down above the horizon. (Yoon S. Byun/Globe Staff) #

A man and child receive a hot meal during the annual Good Friday Easter event at the Los Angeles Mission on Good Friday, April 10, 2009 in Los Angeles, California. Nurses and Volunteers provided Easter baskets and toys to homeless children, including some 3,000 hot meals, 2,000 pairs of shoes and podiatric care for the homeless of Central City East in Los Angeles. (David McNew/Getty Images) #

Traditionally hand painted eggs for Easter are displayed for sale during a Palm Sunday fair at the Village Museum in Bucharest, Romania on April 12, 2009. Romania's Orthodox majority celebrates Easter a week after the Catholics. (REUTERS/Bogdan Cristel) #

Men of the German Slav minority Sorbs, dressed in traditional clothes, ride horses during a ceremonial parade near the village of Ralbitz, Germany, northeast of Dresden on April 12, 2009. More than 1,000 riders took part in several parades to preach the resurrection of Jesus Christ on Easter Sunday. (REUTERS/Pawel Kopczynski) #

People stand around an Easter bonfire, an old German ethnic custom, in Elbingerode, Germany, on Saturday, April 11, 2009. (AP Photo/Frank Drechsler) #

Youths stand next to the debris of an Easter bonfire in the northern German village of Worpswede near Bremen on April 12, 2009. (REUTERS/Christian Charisius) #

Randy Fox, left, Pastor of Fellowship Baptist Church in Skid Row baptizes Sammy Butler during Easter Sunday services in the alley of Emmanuel Baptist Rescue Mission as the congregation cheer on Sunday April 12, 2009 in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/The Los Angeles Times, Lawrence K. Ho) #

Children race for eggs during an Easter egg hunt on the grounds of Doris Miller Recreation Center in East Austin, Texas, Saturday, April 11, 2009. (AP Photo/Austin American-Statesman, Larry Kolvoord) #

South Korean Christians pray during an annual Easter Mass in front of the Seoul City Hall, South Korea, Sunday morning, April 12, 2009. About 20,000 Christian devotees wished peace and early reunification of the divided Koreas. (AP Photo/ Lee Jin-man) #

Easter was still observed in earthquake-torn central Italy - members of the fraternal order of St. Maria of Loreto run across the square of Sulmona as they carry the statue of Madonna che Scappa, or The Madonna Who Runs in the Square, during a Easter Sunday ceremony in L'Aquila, Italy on April 12, 2009. (REUTERS/Alessandro Bianchi) #

In L'Aquila, Italy, a woman cuts a chocolate Easter egg during a distribution in a tent city set up for people evacuated from their homes following the April 6 earthquake, on Easter Sunday, April 12, 2009. (VINCENZO PINTO/AFP/Getty Images) #

A dog sits in the place where his owner died in an earthquake in Saint Gregorio village near L'Aquila on easter Sunday, April 12, 2009. (REUTERS/Alessandro Bianchi) #

U.S. army soldiers sing hymns during Easter sunrise service in Camp Liberty, Baghdad, Iraq, Sunday, April 12, 2009. About 100 U.S. troops attended an Easter sunrise service on Sunday at the U.S. military base Camp Liberty just outside the Iraqi capital. (AP Photo/Marko Drobnjakovic) #

Iraqi Christians pray during Easter Mass in a church in Baghdad, Iraq, Sunday, April 12, 2009. Iraq's dwindling Christian community celebrated Easter services Sunday, taking advantage of the improved security in Baghdad and other parts of the country. (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban) #

An employee of the Ehlego Landkost GmbH company checks colored eggs on April 8, 2009 at the company's plant in Neuhausen/Spree, eastern Germany. In the weeks before Easter, almost 120,000 eggs were colored per day at the plant. (MICHAEL URBAN/AFP/Getty Images) #

Bebe Steel and her dog Miss Otis stand in their holiday finery along Fifth Avenue during the annual Easter Parade April 12, 2009 in New York City. The parade is a New York tradition dating back to the mid-1800s when the social elite would parade their new fashions down Fifth Avenue after attending Easter services in one of the Fifth Avenue churches. (Mario Tama/Getty Images) #

Pakistani Christian girls wait to receive communion during the Easter mass at a catholic church in Peshawar, Pakistan on Sunday, April 12, 2009. Pakistani Christians account for about 3.8 million of Pakistan's 140 million people. (AP Photo/Mohammad Sajjad) #

A bucket of water is thrown onto a woman of the Paloc minority, dressed in her traditional clothing, in Holloko, 100 km north-east of Budapest, Hungary, Thursday, April 9, 2009, during a rehearsal performance of a typical Hungarian Easter tradition where men pour water on women. (AP Photo/Bela Szandelszky) #

Albane Sharrard places chocolate rabbits on a tray after removing them from a mold at Jacques Torres Chocolate in New York, U.S., on Tuesday, April 7, 2009. (Daniel Acker/Bloomberg News) #

Catholic pilgrims and clergymen hold candles as they walk in procession around the tomb traditionally believed to be the site of the crucifixion and burial of Jesus Christ, during the Easter mass in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, in Jerusalem's Old City, Sunday, April 12, 2009. (AP Photo/Tara Todras-Whitehill) #

Pope Benedict XVI holds a candle during the Easter vigil mass in St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican, on April 11, 2009. (Alberto Pizzoli/AFP/Getty Images) #

Monmouth County Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Police Chief Victor Amato holds a pet rabbit named Hope Friday, April 10, 2009, in Marlboro, N.J., that had been abandoned in the woods behind the owner's home. The family got the rabbit last Easter. Hope is regaining its health. (AP Photo/Mel Evans) #

Workers pour melted chocolate into a mold for a giant Easter egg at the production line of a chocolate factory in Sao Paulo, Brazil, on April 9, 2009. Of the four 165 kg (364 lb) eggs, that were 1.2m (4 ft) tall, and contain 3,705 small chocolate candies each, two were donated and the other two were sold at 14.743 thousand reais (aproximately $6,700 US). (MAURICIO LIMA/AFP/Getty Images) #

Alexa Heichelheim, 17, is baptized by Pastor Kelley Vaughan during a Seaside Baptist Church Easter Sunrise service on the beach on Sunday April 12, 2009 in Jamaica Beach, Texas. (AP Photo/Houston Chronicle, Mayra Beltran) #

Christian nuns pray during a midnight prayer service at the Our Lady Of Charity Church on April 11, 2009 in the village of Raikia, India. Christians gathered to pray under threat of continued secular violence in the Kandhamal area. Violence by Hindu extremists towards Christian minorities in the state has seen hundreds killed, over a thousand homes and scores of churches destoyed over the last several months. (Daniel Berehulak/Getty Images) #

A child looks around while Chinese Catholics participate in an Easter mass at the Nantang church in Beijing, China, Sunday, April 12, 2009. (AP Photo/Andy Wong) #

People from a choir group sing during a sunrise prayer by Dhaka Pastors Fellowship on Easter Sunday in Dhaka, Bangladesh on April 12, 2009. (REUTERS/Andrew Biraj) #

A polar bear bites a mock Easter Bunny stuffed with food at the Buenos Aires Zoo in Argentina on April 9, 2009. (REUTERS/Enrique Marcarian) #

A crowd gathers on the slope of the Lizard Butte just outside Caldwell, Idaho on Sunday, April 12, 2009. For 72-years crowds have been gathering at this spot on this rocky hillside to celebrate the Easter holiday. (AP Photo/The Idaho Press-Tribune, Charlie Litchfield) #

Bulgarian Catholic women hold candles during the Easter vigil mass in the Cathedral of Saint Michael the Archangel in the town of Rakovski, Bulgaria on April 11, 2009. (DIMITAR DILKOFF/AFP/Getty Images) #

A Christian girl lights a candle as others pray to a shrine of Mother Mary during a midnight prayer service at the Our Lady Of Charity Church on April 11, 2009 in the village of Raikia, India. (Daniel Berehulak/Getty Images) #

Catholic worshippers hold candles during the Easter mass at a church in Xiaohan village of Tianjin municipality, China on April 11, 2009. (REUTERS/Vincent Du) #

Mehmet Cerezcioglu of Scituate, Massachusetts, listens during a sunrise Easter service at the Scituate Lighthouse, organized by the Scituate Clergy Association on April 12, 2009. Cerezcioglu, who is orginally from Turkey, spends half the year in Scituate and the other half in Istanbul. "I'm not a Christian, but I love Jesus, I love Buddha," said Cerezcioglu, and said he woke up this morning on minimal sleep and made his way out to the service. (Yoon S. Byun/Globe Staff) #