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February 05, 2012
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Easter History
Easter is celebrated on the First Sunday after the first full moon on or after the Vernal Equinox.
Easter, the most important festival of the Christian church, celebrates the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. Three days following His crucifixion and death on the cross on Good Friday, Jesus’ followers went to His tomb and found it empty. Believing that His body had been stolen, they were overcome with grief. An angel appeared to console them and told them that He had risen.
Eastern is a movable feast and does not fall on the same day each year. In 325 A.D. the Church Council of Nicaea decided that Easter would be celebrated on the first Sunday after the first full moon on or after the Vernal Equinox.
The Easter holiday falls at the same time of year as the pagan festival celebrating the return of spring and honoring the Anglo-Saxon goddess Eastre. In order to win converts to Christianity, it was common practice in the early Church to alter pagan festivals and turn them into Christian holy days. The Christian holiday was eventually called Easter. Many of the traditions, such as the rabbit and the eggs of the pagan festivals, remain a part of the Easter celebration. Other traditions come from the relationship of Easter to the Jewish festival of Passover. The word Paschal (pertaining to Easter) comes from the Hebrew name for the Passover.
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