Eater, a Christian holiday, celebrates the rebirth of Jesus, the arrival of spring, and the renewal of nature. It falls on the last day of Holy Week, marking Jesus’s resurrection after his crucifixion on Black Friday, roughly 2000 years ago. Festivities start with Lent, a 40-day period of fasting and prayer, known as the Passion of Christ. Holy Week, the final week of Lent, begins with Palm Sunday and culminates in Easter. Also known as the Great Week in ancient Greek and Roman texts, it commemorates God’s great deeds. Each day of Holy Week—Palm Sunday, Holy Monday, Holy Tuesday, Spy Wednesday, Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, Holy Saturday, and Easter Sunday—has its own significance and ways of celebration. Easter is part of the Paschal Triduum, which includes Jesus’s trial, death, and resurrection. While Easter is a major Christian festival today, many traditions associated with Holy Week have pagan or pre-Christian origins.
Why Is Easter Called ‘Easter’?
The term “Easter” is thought to have originated from “Eostre” or “Eostre,” referring to the Anglo-Saxon goddess of fertility and spring, as documented by St. Bede the Venerable, a 6th-century writer in his book Historia Ecclesiastica Gentis Anglorum. Some historians suggest that “Easter” may also derive from the Latin term “in albis,” with “albis” being the plural of “alba,” meaning dawn. In Old High German, a precursor to Modern English, “eostarum” translates to dawn, further connecting Easter to the springtime and dawn. While Easter is celebrated as a Christian holiday, its origins are intertwined with early Christian and pagan customs, particularly honoring the goddess Eostre, as well as the Jewish Passover holiday.
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When Is Easter 2024?
Easter, a Movable Feast, occurs on varying dates yearly, falling between March 22nd and April 25th in the Gregorian calendar followed by Western Christians. Eastern Orthodox Christians, adhering to the Julian calendar, celebrate Orthodox Easter on a Sunday between April 4th and May 8th. Determining Easter’s date involves tracking the Paschal full moon, occurring after the Spring equinox. Some Protestant Christians view Easter as the start of Eastertide, culminating on Pentecost Sunday, the 50th day after Easter. Certain Eastern Orthodox Christian branches observe the Feast of Ascension 40 days after Easter, known as the Pascha or Passover season.
Easter Dates:
| Year | Easter Sunday (Gregorian calendar) | Eastern Orthodox Church (Julian calendar date converted to Gregorian) |
| 2024 | March 31 | May 5 |
| 2025 | April 20 | April 20 |
| 2026 | April 5 | April 12 |
| 2027 | March 28 | May 2 |
Easter Traditions
Easter, a Movable Feast, occurs on varying dates yearly, falling between March 22nd and April 25th in the Gregorian calendar followed by Western Christians. Eastern Orthodox Christians, adhering to the Julian calendar, celebrate Orthodox Easter on a Sunday between April 4th and May 8th. Determining Easter’s date involves tracking the Paschal full moon, occurring after the Spring equinox. Some Protestant Christians view Easter as the start of Eastertide, culminating on Pentecost Sunday, the 50th day after Easter. Certain Eastern Orthodox Christian branches observe the Feast of Ascension 40 days after Easter, known as the Pascha or Passover season.
Religious Tradition of Easter and The Legend
The time afore Easter bears grand import for Western Christian factions, encompassing Protestants and Roman Catholics. This span is dubbed Lent. Lent carries profound spiritual and religious significance. It’s a season of fasting and contrition for the Lord’s sacrifice. It commences on Ash Wednesday and concludes after 40 days, excepting Sundays. To signify mortality and penance, individuals don ashes. Throughout this span, there’s a display of mourning and repentance for transgressions, for Christ bore them to alleviate suffering. Palm Sunday heralds the onset of Holy Week, marking Jesus’s entry into Jerusalem (the principal city of modern-day Israel, sacred to Christians). To herald Jesus’s arrival, roads were bedecked with palm fronds. Easter Vigil, a religious observance, commences on the eve of Holy Saturday to usher in Easter. Eastern Orthodox adherents observe these days distinctively. The Great Lent commences on Clean Monday, 40 days before Easter. The final week, Palm Week, culminates with Lazarus Saturday. Subsequently, Palm Sunday arrives, launching Holy Week, culminating in Easter.
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Passover and Easter
According to the ancient texts, Easter is intertwined with the Jewish festival of Passover, commemorating the exodus of the Israelites from Egypt. These connections are evident in the Last Supper, Jesus’s final meal with his disciples before his arrest and crucifixion. The Last Supper essentially mirrored a Passover banquet. However, the New Testament portrays the Last Supper not as a Passover meal but as a gathering where Jesus shared a meal with his twelve disciples, serving bread and wine. Jesus informed them that one of the two who prepared the meal would betray him. He instructed them to partake of the wine as a symbol of his blood and the matzah or bread as a symbol of his body. The rituals surrounding the Last Supper symbolize Jesus’s sacrifice and his suffering for humanity. This forms the basis of the Holy Communion, a fundamental aspect of Christian religious observances.
Easter Eggs
Across different Christian denominations, there exist many customary practices that have origins in pagan and non-Christian religious observances. Many non-Christian communities celebrate this occasion with traditional customs rather than religious rituals. One such example is the tradition of Easter eggs, including egg decoration and egg rolling.
Easter Bunny
On Easter morning, individuals dressed as the Easter Bunny visit homes to distribute chocolate eggs and candies to children, often carrying Easter baskets filled with these treats. The origins of this tradition are unclear, but it is believed to have been brought to America by German immigrants in the 1700s. In some cultures, rabbits are symbolic of prolific reproduction, and the appearance of baby rabbits is seen as a sign of rejuvenation and birth in spring.
Easter foods are also a significant part of the celebrations. Special dishes like lamb, eggs, ham, spring peas, asparagus, sweet bread, hot cross buns, and carrot cake are commonly enjoyed. The Easter lamb dinner has become a tradition due to its association with the Last Supper. It is believed that lamb, being a sacrificial animal in Jewish traditions, is consumed during Passover. Jesus is often likened to the Lamb, symbolizing his sacrificial nature for his followers.
Modern Easter celebrations involve gathering with friends and family for elaborate meals and outings. People exchange greeting cards, candies, and other gifts to commemorate the occasion.