Kathya Anguiano
Editor-In-chief
Easter is a Christian feast and holiday celebrating the resurrection of Jesus Christ on the third day after his crucifixion at Calvary as described in the New Testament. Easter is preceded by Lent, a forty-day period of fasting, prayer, and penance. The last week of Lent is called Holy Week, and it contains the days of the Easter Tridum, including Maundy Thursday, commemorating Maundy and the Last Supper,as well as Good Friday, commemorating the crucifixion and death of Jesus. Easter is followed by a fifty-day period called Eastertide or the Easter Season,ending with Pentecost Sunday.The festival is referred to in English by a variety of different names including Easter Day, Easter Sunday, Resurrection Day and Resurrection Sunday.
Easter is a moveable feast, meaning t is not fixed in relation to the civil calendar.The First Council of Nicaea established the date of Easter as the first Sunday after the full moon following the northern hemisphere’s vernal equinox. The equinox is reckoned to be on 21 March, and the “Full Moon” is not necessarily the astronomically correct date. The date of Easter therefore varies between 22 March and 25 April. Eastern Christianity bases its calculations on the Julian calendar whose 21 March corresponds, during the 21st century, to April 3 in the Gregorian calendar,in which the celebration of Easter therefore varies between April 4 and May 8.
Easter is linked to the Jewish Passover by much of its symbolism, as well as by its position in the calendar. In many languages, the words for “Easter” and “Passover” are etymologically related or homonymous. Easter customs vary across the Christian world, but attending sunrise services, exclaiming the Paschal greeting, clipping the church and decorating Easter eggs, a symbol of the empty tomb, are common motifs. Additional customs include egg hunting, the Easter Bunny, and Easter parades, and are observed by both Christian and non-Christian.
Before His death, Jesus had promised eternal life to those who followed Him. If the story ended at His death,Jesus would have been no more than a religious figure with a finite life span. But the fact that Jesus rose from death demonstrated He has the power over death, and only through Him can people have hope for eternal life. Jesus said, “For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son,that whoever believed in Him shall not perish but have eternal life”(John 3:16).
