Easter: Difference between revisions

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== Date of Easter ==
== Date of Easter ==
The [[Date of Jesus' Death|year in which Jesus died]] is uncertain.
The [[Date of Jesus' Death|year in which Jesus died]] is uncertain.

Revision as of 01:21, 30 April 2012

Date of Easter

The year in which Jesus died is uncertain.

All accounts agree that it was at or near the time of Passover.

There is no universal date for the celebration of Easter among all Christians.

"The canonical rule is that Easter day is the first Sunday after the 14th day of the lunar month (the nominal full moon) that falls on or after 21 March (nominally the day of the vernal equinox). For determining the feast, Christian churches settled on a method to define a reckoned "ecclesiastical" full moon, rather than observations of the true Moon. Eastern Orthodox Christians calculate the fixed date of 21 March according to the Julian Calendar rather than the modern Gregorian Calendar, and use an ecclesiastical full moon that occurs four to five days later than the western ecclesiastical full moon."[1]

  • The earliest possible date for Easter is March 22.
  • The latest possible date for Easter is April 25.

Easter Season

  • From Easter to Pentecost: a week of weeks (7 x 7 = 49, plus 1 = 50)
Sun Easter Sunday
1
Mercy Sunday
8
3rd Sunday
15
Good Shepherd Sunday
22
5th Sunday
29
6th Sunday
36
7th Sunday
43
Pentecost
50
Mon 2 9 16 23 30 37 44
Tue 3 10 17 24 31 38 45
Wed 4 11 18 25 32 39 46
Thu 5 12 19 26 33 Ascension 47
Fri 6 13 20 27 34 41 48
Sat 7 14 21 28 35 42 49

A Season of Mercy

The Second Sunday of Easter has been named "Divine Mercy Sunday." In the light of this feast, we can see that God's action in raising Jesus from the dead is an act of mercy for the whole world.

A Season of Mystagogia

Mystagogia means "instruction in the mysteries of the faith." After Baptism, the new Christians are schooled in the creed of the Church.

Good Shepherd Sunday

The fourth Sunday of Easter is "Good Shepherd Sunday," when John 10 is used for the gospel.

It is a traditional day to pray for vocations.

The Gospel of the Holy Spirit

The Acts of the Apostles is read sequentially on the weekdays of the Easter Season--cover to cover. Peter Kreeft calls Acts "the gospel of the Holy Spirit."