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Easter
Table of Contents
Easter

 * Introduction & Top Questions
   
 * 
   The date of Easter and its controversies
   
 * 
   Liturgical observances
   
 * 
   Easter customs
   

Fast Facts
 * Easter summary
 * Top Questions
    * What is Easter?
    * Why is Easter celebrated?
    * When is Easter?
    * Why is Easter called Easter?

 * Facts & Related Content

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Home Philosophy & Religion Religious Beliefs


EASTER

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Alternate titles: Pascha
Written by
Hans J. Hillerbrand
Professor Emeritus of History and Religion, Duke University, Durham, North
Carolina. Author of The Division of Christendom: Christianity in the Sixteenth
Century and Men and Ideas in the Sixteenth...

Hans J. Hillerbrand
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Top Questions
WHAT IS EASTER?

Easter is one of the principal holidays, or feasts, of Christianity. It marks
the Resurrection of Jesus three days after his death by crucifixion. For many
Christian churches, Easter is the joyful end to the Lenten season of fasting and
penitence. The earliest recorded observance of Easter comes from the 2nd
century, though it is likely that even the earliest Christians commemorated the
Resurrection, which is an integral tenet of the faith.

WHY IS EASTER CELEBRATED?

Easter is celebrated by Christians as a joyous holiday because it represents the
fulfillment of the prophecies of the Old Testament and the revelation of God’s
salvific plan for all of humankind. In commemorating the Resurrection of Jesus,
Easter also celebrates the defeat of death and the hope of salvation. Christian
tradition holds that the sins of humanity were paid for by the death of Jesus
and that his Resurrection represents the anticipation believers can have in
their own resurrection.

WHEN IS EASTER?

In 325 the Council of Nicaea decreed that Easter should be observed on the first
Sunday following the first full moon after the spring equinox (March 21).
Easter, therefore, can fall on any Sunday between March 22 and April 25. Eastern
Orthodox churches use a slightly different calculation based on
the Julian calendar. As a result, the Orthodox Easter celebration usually occurs
later than that of Roman Catholics and Protestants.

WHY IS EASTER CALLED EASTER?

The English word Easter, which parallels the German word Ostern, is of uncertain
origin. It likely derives from the Christian designation of Easter week as in
albis, a Latin phrase that was understood as the plural of alba (“dawn”) and
became eostarum in Old High German. The Latin and Greek Pascha (“Passover”)
provides the root for Pâques, the French word for Easter.

Summary


READ A BRIEF SUMMARY OF THIS TOPIC





Easter, Latin Pascha, Greek Pascha, principal festival of the Christian church,
which celebrates the Resurrection of Jesus Christ on the third day after his
Crucifixion. The earliest recorded observance of an Easter celebration comes
from the 2nd century, though the commemoration of Jesus’ Resurrection probably
occurred earlier.

The English word Easter, which parallels the German word Ostern, is of uncertain
origin. One view, expounded by the Venerable Bede in the 8th century, was that
it derived from Eostre, or Eostrae, the Anglo-Saxon goddess of spring and
fertility. This view presumes—as does the view associating the origin of
Christmas on December 25 with pagan celebrations of the winter solstice—that
Christians appropriated pagan names and holidays for their highest festivals.
Given the determination with which Christians combated all forms of paganism
(the belief in multiple deities), this appears a rather dubious presumption.
There is now widespread consensus that the word derives from the Christian
designation of Easter week as in albis, a Latin phrase that was understood as
the plural of alba (“dawn”) and became eostarum in Old High German, the
precursor of the modern German and English term. The Latin and Greek Pascha
(“Passover”) provides the root for Pâques, the French word for Easter.




THE DATE OF EASTER AND ITS CONTROVERSIES

Fixing the date on which the Resurrection of Jesus was to be observed and
celebrated triggered a major controversy in early Christianity in which an
Eastern and a Western position can be distinguished. The dispute, known as the
Paschal controversies, was not definitively resolved until the 8th century. In
Asia Minor, Christians observed the day of the Crucifixion on the same day that
Jews celebrated the Passover offering—that is, on the 14th day of the first full
moon of spring, 14 Nisan (see Jewish calendar). The Resurrection, then, was
observed two days later, on 16 Nisan, regardless of the day of the week. In the
West the Resurrection of Jesus was celebrated on the first day of the week,
Sunday, when Jesus had risen from the dead. Consequently, Easter was always
celebrated on the first Sunday after the 14th day of the month of Nisan.
Increasingly, the churches opted for the Sunday celebration, and the
Quartodecimans (“14th day” proponents) remained a minority. The Council of
Nicaea in 325 decreed that Easter should be observed on the first Sunday
following the first full moon after the spring equinox (March 21). Easter,
therefore, can fall on any Sunday between March 22 and April 25.

Eastern Orthodox churches use a slightly different calculation based on the
Julian rather than the Gregorian calendar (which is 13 days ahead of the
former), with the result that the Orthodox Easter celebration usually occurs
later than that celebrated by Protestants and Roman Catholics. Moreover, the
Orthodox tradition prohibits Easter from being celebrated before or at the same
time as Passover.




In the 20th century several attempts were made to arrive at a fixed date for
Easter, with the Sunday following the second Saturday in April specifically
proposed. While this proposal and others had many supporters, none came to
fruition. Renewed interest in a fixed date arose in the early 21st century,
resulting from discussions involving the leaders of Eastern Orthodox, Syriac
Orthodox, Coptic, Anglican, and Roman Catholic churches, but formal agreement on
such a date remained elusive.




LITURGICAL OBSERVANCES

Learn how Christians observe Easter celebration
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In the Christian calendar, Easter follows Lent, the period of 40 days (not
counting Sundays) before Easter, which traditionally is observed by acts of
penance and fasting. Easter is immediately preceded by Holy Week, which includes
Maundy Thursday, the commemoration of Jesus’ Last Supper with his disciples;
Good Friday, the day of his Crucifixion; and Holy Saturday, the transition
between Crucifixion and Resurrection. Liturgically, Easter comes after the Great
Vigil, which was originally observed sometime between sunset on Easter Saturday
and sunrise on Easter Sunday. Later it would be celebrated in Western churches
on Saturday evening, then on Saturday afternoon, and finally on Sunday morning.
In 1955 the Roman Catholic Church set the time for the vigil at 10 pm, which
allowed for the Easter mass to be celebrated after midnight. In the Orthodox
traditions the vigil continues to be an important liturgical event, while in
Protestant churches it is little known.

By the 4th century the Easter vigil was well established in various liturgical
expressions. It was characterized by a spirit of joyful anticipation of the
Resurrection and—because of the belief that Jesus’ Second Coming would occur on
Easter—the return of Jesus. In the Roman Catholic tradition the vigil has four
parts: the celebration of lights focused on the Paschal candle; the service of
lessons called the prophecies; the administration of the sacraments of baptism
and confirmation to adult converts; and the Easter mass. The use of the Paschal
candle, to denote the appearance of light out of darkness through the
Resurrection, was first recorded in the year 384; by the 10th century it had
gained general usage. The prominence of baptism at Easter goes back to early
Christianity, probably the 4th century, when baptism was administered only once
a year, at Easter. In the Roman Catholic service the priest blesses the water to
be used in the forthcoming year for baptism, with the faithful taking some of
that water with them to receive protection from vicissitudes. Lutheran and
Anglican churches use variations of this vigil service.

All Christian traditions have their own special liturgical emphases for Easter.
The Easter sunrise service, for example, is a distinctive Protestant observance
in North America. The practice may derive from the Gospel narrative of Jesus’
Resurrection, which states that Mary Magdalene went to the tomb “while it was
still dark” (John 20:1) or as dawn was breaking (Matthew 28:1 and Luke 24:1). It
is a service of jubilation that takes place as the sun rises to dispel the
darkness.


EASTER CUSTOMS

Easter, like Christmas, has accumulated a great many traditions, some of which
have little to do with the Christian celebration of the Resurrection but derive
from folk customs. The custom of the Easter lamb appropriates both the
appellation used for Jesus in Scripture (“behold the lamb of God which takes
away the sins of the world,” John 1:29) and the lamb’s role as a sacrificial
animal in ancient Israel. In antiquity Christians placed lamb meat under the
altar, had it blessed, and then ate it on Easter. Since the 12th century the
Lenten fast has ended on Easter with meals including eggs, ham, cheeses, bread,
and sweets that have been blessed for the occasion.


Easter egg

The use of painted and decorated Easter eggs was first recorded in the 13th
century. The church prohibited the eating of eggs during Holy Week, but chickens
continued to lay eggs during that week, and the notion of specially identifying
those as “Holy Week” eggs brought about their decoration. The egg itself became
a symbol of the Resurrection. Just as Jesus rose from the tomb, the egg
symbolizes new life emerging from the eggshell. In the Orthodox tradition eggs
are painted red to symbolize the blood Jesus shed on the cross.


White House

Easter egg hunts are popular among children in the United States. First lady
Lucy Hayes, the wife of Pres. Rutherford B. Hayes, is often credited with
sponsoring the first annual Easter egg roll (an event where children and their
parents were invited to roll their eggs on the Monday following Easter) on the
White House lawn, in 1878. That year the event was moved to the White House from
the grounds of the U.S. Capitol Building, where large numbers of children had
gathered beginning in the early 1870s to roll their eggs and play on Easter
Monday. Members of Congress were dismayed by the large crowds on Capitol Hill
and feared that the foot traffic was damaging the grounds. By 1876 Congress and
Pres. Ulysses S. Grant passed a law that forbade the practice of egg rolling on
Capitol Hill. Some historical records note that the Hayes first opened the White
House lawn to egg rolling festivities the following year, in 1877, after a young
boy asked President Hayes directly for permission to use the space.

Observe the preparation of chocolate Easter bunnies
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The custom of associating a rabbit or bunny with Easter arose in Protestant
areas in Europe in the 17th century but did not become common until the 19th
century. The Easter rabbit is said to lay the eggs as well as decorate and hide
them. In the United States the Easter rabbit also leaves children baskets with
toys and candies on Easter morning. In a way, this was a manifestation of the
Protestant rejection of Catholic Easter customs. In some European countries,
however, other animals—in Switzerland the cuckoo, in Westphalia the fox—brought
the Easter eggs.

Hans J. Hillerbrand


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External Websites
 * World History Encyclopedia - Easter

Britannica Websites
Articles from Britannica Encyclopedias for elementary and high school students.
 * Easter - Children's Encyclopedia (Ages 8-11)
 * Easter - Student Encyclopedia (Ages 11 and up)



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