Easter

Every year, Easter falls on the first Sunday after the first full moon of spring.

Easter marks one of the most celebrated festivals in modern Christian churches. St.Bede, an English historian of the eighteenth century, believes Easter owes its origin to Teutonic mythology. The name Easter derives from the word Eostre, which is the name of an ancient Greek goddess who represented spring. Eostre returned to Earth after the winter and brought along with her Spring, or so it was believed, and ancient Greeks had pagan festivals to welcome her.

Festivals coincided with the vernal Equinox on March 21st of every year. Greeks believed Eostre needed to be pleased to ensure that spring would come about. The festivals were made up of large feasts that celebrated everything that defines spring, from the warm sunshine to chirping birds.

The Christian church eventually changed the Pagan festival to a celebration of the resurrection of Jesus. Per the Church Council of Nicaea, the date was changed and the festival was to be held on the very first Sunday following the full moon on or after the vernal equinox. Today, Easter is celebrated on different dates every year and it can occur as early as March 22nd or as late as April 25th.

There are some people that believe Easter is related to the Hebrew celebration of Passover. Passover is celebrated in order to mark the freedom of the Israelis from bondage and slavery. It was during Passover that Christ was crucified. The resurrection occurred three days later on what is now known as Easter Sunday. Early Christians, a good amount of whom were raised as Jews, considered the resurrection and Easter as a new part of pascha, and the early celebration of Passover came to be celebrated as Good Friday and Easter.

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