Historical Facts
Easter is a time of springtime festivals. In
Christian countries Easter is celebrated as the
religious holiday commemorating the resurrection
of Jesus Christ, the son of God. But the
celebrations of Easter have many customs and
legends that are pagan in origin and have nothing
to do with Christianity.
Scholars, accepting the derivation proposed by the
8th-century English scholar St. Bede, believe the
name Easter is thought to come from the
Scandinavian "Ostra" and the Teutonic "Ostern"
or "Eastre," both Goddesses of mythology
signifying spring and fertility whose festival
was celebrated on the day of the vernal equinox.
Traditions associated with the festival survive in
the Easter rabbit, a symbol of fertility, and in
colored easter eggs, originally painted with
bright colors to represent the sunlight of spring,
and used in Easter-egg rolling contests or given
as gifts.
The Christian celebration of Easter embodies a
number of converging traditions with emphasis on
the relation of Easter to the Jewish festival of
Passover, or Pesach, from which is derived Pasch,
another name used by Europeans for Easter.
Passover is an important feast in the Jewish
calendar which is celebrated for 8 days and
commemorates the flight and freedom of the
Israelites from slavery in Egypt.
The early Christians, many of whom were of Jewish
origin, were brought up in the Hebrew tradition
and regarded Easter as a new feature of the
Passover festival, a commemoration of the advent
of the Messiah as foretold by the prophets. (For
more information please visit our Passover
celebration - Passover on the Net).
Easter is observed by the churches of the West on
the first Sunday following the full moon that
occurs on or following the spring equinox (March
2I). So Easter became a "movable" feast which can
occur as early as March 22 or as late as April 25.
Christian churches in the East which were closer to
the birthplace of the new religion and in which old
traditions were strong, observe Easter according to
the date of the Passover festival.
Easter is at the end of the Lenten season, which
covers a forty-six-day period that begins on Ash
Wednesday and ends with Easter. The Lenten season
itself comprises forty days, as the six Sundays in
Lent are not actually a part of Lent. Sundays are
considered a commemoration of Easter Sunday and
have always been excluded from the Lenten fast.
The Lenten season is a period of penitence in
preparation for the highest festival of the church
year, Easter Holy Week, the last week of Lent,
begins its with the observance of Palm Sunday.
Palm Sunday takes its name from Jesus' triumphal
entry into Jerusalem where the crowds laid palms
at his feet. Holy Thursday commemorates the Last
Supper, which was held the evening before the
Crucifixion.
Friday in Holy Week is the anniversary of the
Crufixion, the day that Christ was crucified and
died on the cross
Holy week and the Lenten season end with Easter
Sunday, the day of resurrection of Jesus Christ.
