Easter Sunday 2018: When and What is It?
While Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of the Lenten Season, Easter Sunday is the culmination of the observance of the holy Christian period.
With Ash Wednesday finally happening last February 14, many Christians, especially Catholics, are already observing the Lenten Season, otherwise known as Lent Season or simply Lent. For the faithfuls, it is the moment of reflection and penance as they honor the sacrifices and death of Jesus Christ. However, when the holy season ends, Christians will be celebrating Easter Sunday, the most important date in Christian calendar.
Easter Sunday is also referred to as Resurrection Sunday as it celebrates the resurrection of Jesus Christ after his crucifixion and death on Good Friday. This important Christian holiday is based on the first Sunday following the first full moon after the northern spring equinox. This is because, according to the Bible, Jesus died on the day of the Passover, a Jewish religious event. As the celebration of the Passover typically begins on the first full moon of the northern spring equinox, Easter Sunday is also celebrated around the same time. This also explains why other important dates of the Lenten Season, including Ash Wednesday, Palm Sunday, Maundy Thursday, and Good Friday also change every year.
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While Easter Sunday is a Christian holiday, some things associated with it actually have pagan origins. It is believed that very early Christian converts had to celebrate important Christian dates, including Resurrection, back then by assimilating them with pagan traditions so that they would not be persecuted as they spread the word of God. As the Resurrection of Christ coincided with the pagan festival of Eastre, the goddess of offspring and springtime of the ancient Saxons, it was sensible to alter the festival and make it Christian until the spelling of the celebration was eventually changed into its modern form.
As the pagan goddess Eastre was worshipped by the Anglo-Saxons through her earthly symbol, the rabbit, and exchanging of eggs in springtime was already a tradition way before Easter became a Christian tradition, the Easter Bunny and Easter eggs became two of the most popular symbols for this important Christian holiday, which falls on April 1 this year.
