When is Easter Celebrated?
Easter Festival 2022 Date
Sunday, 17 April, 2022
Easter Festival memorializes Jesus Christ’s rebirth from the dead and marks worldwide. Easter celebration starts with Lent and ends with Holy Week, which includes Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and Easter Sunday at last.
The Easter date finalizes on the March equinox’s ecclesiastical approximation. Therefore, if the full moon is on Sunday, Easter is postponed by one week, which decreases the chance of it happening on the same day as the Jewish Passover.
What is Easter Festival?
On the 3rd day after Jesus Christ’s crucifixion, Easter marks Jesus Christ’s resurrection from the tomb. Easter is the fulfilling prophecy of the Messiah who, on the third day, would be punished, die for our sins, and rise. Remembering Jesus Christ’s resurrection is a way of renewing everyday faith that we have victory over sin.
Easter follows a timeframe of fasting called Lent, in which time for repentance and remembrance is set aside by several churches. Lent starts on Ash Wednesday and ends on Good Friday, the day of the crucifixion of Jesus. Pope Gregory 1 defined the 40-day cycle using the 40-day pattern of Israel, Moses, Elijah and the time of Jesus in the wilderness.
The Holy Week or “Passion Week” leads up to Easter. This week includes Palm Sunday (the day Jesus entered Jerusalem and was celebrated), Maundy Thursday (the “Last Supper” where Jesus met his disciples to observe Passover), and Good Friday (when Jesus got crucified on the cross).
Why is Easter Celebrated?
There are two famous legends behind the celebration of Easter are given below:-
First Legend behind Easter
Jesus was imprisoned by the Roman authorities according to the New Testament, nearly because he claimed to be the “Son of God.” The explanation was questioned by historians, arguing that the Romans may have considered him a threat to the empire.
Pontius Pilate, the Roman prefect of the province of Judea from 26 to 36 A.D., sentenced him to death. The death of Jesus by crucifixion, accompanied by the Good Friday Christian holiday (the Friday before Easter), and the subsequent resurrection three days later, is said to show by the gospels’ writers that he was God’s living son.
The four New Testament gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John) in various ways state that those who have faith in the death and resurrection of Jesus get “the gift of everlasting life.” It means that he would welcome people of faith into the Kingdom of Heaven upon their earthly death.
Second Legend behind Easter
Notably, as mentioned in the Old Testament, Easter is also associated with Passover’s Jewish holiday and the expulsion of Jews from Egypt. The Last meal, which happened the night before the arrest of Jesus and his sufferings after his arrest, clearly indicates these relations.
The Last Supper was a Passover dinner in essence. The New Testament, however, defines it as being given new meaning by Jesus. He described the matzah (or bread) he shared as his “body” with his 12 apostles and the glass of wine they drank as his “blood.”
These practices would come to symbolize the sacrifice he was about to render in death and were the basis for the Christian tradition of Holy Communion, which remains a central part of Christian worship services.
How is Easter Celebrated?
With special worship, songs, candlelight, flowers and the ringing of church bells, many Christians worldwide celebrate Easter. It also has a commercial aspect, in addition to Easter’s religious significance.
People in the UK send each other Easter Eggs, and Easter Bunnies with chocolate, with Easter egg hunts, occurring all over the country in back gardens.
In some pagan rituals that pre-date Christianity, eggs represented fertility and birth. In a nod to Easter’s religious meaning, i.e., Jesus’ resurrection or re-birth, egg decorating may have been part of the Easter celebration.
On Easter Day, churches get loaded with flowers. These reflect a new life. In celebration, priests wear their most refined, brightest robes. If a church has a Good Friday model of a tomb in it, it will be empty with a stone rolled away, as it was on the first day of Easter.
Food is a significant part of the UK’s Easter festivities with family and friends getting together for Easter Lunch. Roast lamb is the most conventional recipe, frequently accompanied by a Simmel cake and plenty of chocolate eggs. Spring flowers like daffodils, white lilies and tulips will fill the tables, and yellow and gold also feature heavily in the decorations.
What is Easter Bunny?
On Easter Sunday morning, a character known as the Easter Bunny brings sweets and chocolate eggs to children in some households. In an Easter basket, these candies also arrive.
The Easter Bunny custom’s very roots are unclear, although some scholars claim that it arrived in the 1700s in America with German immigrants. Rabbits get regarded as enthusiastic procreators in many cultures, so the advent of baby bunnies connects to birth and rebirth in springtime meadows.
