Resurrection Sunday

Annibale Carracci, The Holy Women at the Tomb of Christ, circa 1597-98.

Resurrection Sunday (more popularly known as Easter) is the Christian holiday celebrating the resurrection of Jesus Christ. In the Eastern Orthodox Church the celebration is known as Pascha.

It would be counted as two days after His crucifixion on Good Friday by modern-day counting, but three days by Biblical inclusive date counting whereby parts of days are counted as days ("be raised on the third day"). It has been considered the most important festival of the liturgical year.

Date of Resurrection Sunday

Unlike Christmas, which falls on a specific calendar date (December 25 in the Roman Catholic and Protestant traditions; January 8 in the Orthodox ones), Easter is considered a "moveable feast" in Christian liturgy, as its date depends on astronomical events.

The First Council of Nicaea in 325 AD set only two rules for its calculation: 1) that the date would be independent of the Hebrew calendar used by the Jews and 2) that it be held on a uniform date throughout all Christian churches.

However, the Council did not specify how the date was to be calculated; the computational process (formally called the comptus) took centuries to formally develop:

• Bede the Venerable would, 400 years after Nicaea, set forth the general rule of the comptus for calculating Easter: "The Sunday following the full Moon which falls on or after the equinox will give the lawful Easter."
• Bede's rule would be modified to specifically define two components needed to calculate the date: 1) the term "full moon" would be defined, not as the actual date on which the moon is full, but instead as the 14th day of the lunar month (formally called the "Paschal full moon", taken from Pascha), and 2) the Spring Equinox would be fixed as March 21 (the astronomical March equinox can take place on March 19, 20, or 21).
• The Metonic Cycle, a period of approximately 19 years when the phases of the Moon recur at the same time, would then be used to determine when the Paschal full moon event took place, and from that date the date for Easter would be derived.

However, Eastern Orthodox churches use the Julian calendar to determine the date of the Paschal full moon, while Western churches use the Gregorian calendar. This results (most years) in differing Easter dates for the two Christian branches. Due to the complexity of the calculations, many websites exist which perform the calculation for both Orthodox and Western churches.

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Lent

The Miraculous Draught of Fishes by Konrad Witz.

For the Catholic Church, Resurrection Sunday marks the end of the 46 days of Lent, a period of fasting and penitence in preparation for Resurrection Sunday, which begins on Ash Wednesday and ends on Resurrection Sunday. However, Lent really only comprises 40 days since the 6 Sundays during this period are excluded from the Lenten fast, and are days that are set apart to commemorate Resurrection Sunday and Jesus Christ, who rose from the dead, defeated the grave and guaranteed eternal life to those who believe.

The days before Resurrection Sunday also are special in the Christian tradition: the Sunday before is Palm Sunday, and the last three days before Resurrection Sunday are Holy Thursday, Good Friday and Silent Saturday. These days commemorate Jesus' entry into Jerusalem, the Last Supper and the Crucifixion.

Origin of the name "Easter"

The term "Easter" is likely derived from Eastre or Isthar, who was the pagan goddess of fertility for whom the Festival of Ishtar was celebrated each spring. Others suggest that the word comes from the Anglo-Saxon word for "passover". In biblical times the Jewish Passover, which commemorates the sparing of the Hebrew firstborns, was celebrated at roughly the same time as the vernal equinox or this "Easter" festival. The theory of pagan origin surmises that while the Gospel was being spread to the pagans, the celebration of Eastre and the celebration of the resurrection became combined and the Christians adopted the name that the pagans had used for their festival.

The name "Resurrection Sunday"

This name is used in Mexico: "Domingo de Resurrección," which translates as Resurrection Sunday. In the United States, many Christian churches continue to prefer the word Easter. However, Resurrection Sunday has gained favor in some Protestant churches in recent years, most often as a response to the possibly pagan origins of the name "Easter."

Feast of Mercy

Roman Catholics and some Anglicans celebrate the "Feast of the Divine Mercy" on the first Sunday after Easter. The mercy of Christ to and for us—and our demonstration of that mercy to those within and outside the Body of Christ is the key to the future of the Church, to mission and stewardship, to living our Christian lives together in love and forgiveness, to moving boldly and confidently into the future with courage in the Gospel. Matthew Harrison.

Pentecost

Pentecost is seven weeks after Resurrection Sunday. Those seven weeks are celebrated as the Season of Easter in the Catholic Church.

See also

• Ascension of Christ
• Christianity in Conservapedia
• Jesus Christ
• Holy Week

External links

• Easter Prayers
• Christ’s Resurrection: The Historical Record, by Steve Byas
• A Perpetual Easter/Passover Calculator