Easter

{{Short description|Commemoration of the resurrection of Jesus Christ}} {{pp-semi-indef}} {{pp-move}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2023}} {{About|the Christian and cultural festival}} {{Infobox holiday | holiday_name = Easter | image = Chora Anastasis2.jpg | caption = Having destroyed the gates of Hell, Jesus Christ is depicted flanked by saints, raising Adam and Eve from their graves and trampling death. Fresco of the resurrection at The Chora ({{circa|1315}}) | observedby = {{ubl | Christians | Alawites<ref>{{cite book |author=Abdel Bari Atwan |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wgTjBwAAQBAJ&pg=PT58 |title=Islamic State: The Digital Caliphate |publisher=University of California |year=2015 |isbn=978-0-520-28928-4 |location=Oakland, California, USA |page=58 |quote=The Alawites celebrate the Christian festivals of Christmas, Easter, and Epiphany and believe in reincarnation (though not for women).}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Myhill |first=Prof John |date=2011-05-04 |title=The Alawites and Israel |url=https://besacenter.org/the-alawites-and-israel/ |access-date=2025-02-11 |website=Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies |language=en-US}}</ref> }} | date = Variable, determined by the Computus | date{{LASTYEAR}} = {{ubl

| {{Calendar date |holiday=Easter |format=infobox |year={{LASTYEAR}}}} (Western) | {{Calendar date |holiday=Easter (Eastern) |format=infobox |year={{LASTYEAR}}}} (Eastern) }} | date{{CURRENTYEAR}} = {{ubl | {{Calendar date |holiday=Easter |format=infobox |year={{CURRENTYEAR}} |cite=y}} (Western) | {{Calendar date |holiday=Easter (Eastern) |format=infobox |year={{CURRENTYEAR}} |cite=y}} (Eastern) }} | date{{NEXTYEAR}} = {{ubl | {{Calendar date |holiday=Easter |format=infobox |year={{NEXTYEAR}}}} (Western) | {{Calendar date |holiday=Easter (Eastern) |format=infobox |year={{NEXTYEAR}}}} (Eastern) }} | date{{NEXTYEAR|2}} = {{ubl | {{Calendar date |holiday=Easter |format=infobox |year={{NEXTYEAR|2}}}} (Western) | {{Calendar date |holiday=Easter (Eastern) |format=infobox |year={{NEXTYEAR|2}}}} (Eastern) }}

| observances = All-night vigil, sunrise service | celebrations = Church services, festive family meals, Easter egg decoration, and gift-giving | significance = Celebrates the resurrection of Jesus Christ | relatedto = Septuagesima, Sexagesima, Quinquagesima, Shrove Tuesday, Ash Wednesday, Clean Monday, Lent, Great Lent, Friday of Sorrows, Palm Sunday, Holy Week, Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and Holy Saturday which lead up to Easter; and Divine Mercy Sunday, Ascension, Pentecost, Trinity Sunday, Corpus Christi, and Feast of the Sacred Heart, which follow it. | type = Christian | longtype = Christian, cultural }}

'''Easter''',{{efn|Other traditional names for the feast in English are "Easter Day", as in the ''Book of Common Prayer'', and "Easter Sunday", used by James Ussher<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Ussher |first1=James |last2=Elrington |first2=Charles Richard |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=P_82AQAAMAAJ&pg=PA345 |title=The Whole Works of the Most Rev. James Ussher – James Ussher, Charles Richard Elrington – Google Books |access-date=28 March 2023 |archive-date=1 August 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200801065939/https://books.google.com/books?id=P_82AQAAMAAJ&pg=PA345 |url-status=live |date=1631 }}</ref>) and Samuel Pepys<ref>{{Cite book |last=Pepys |first=Samuel |date=1665 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VxA5AQAAMAAJ&pg=PA585 |title=The Diary of Samuel Pepys M.A. F.R.S. |access-date=7 April 2023 |archive-date=9 April 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230409153747/https://books.google.com/books?id=VxA5AQAAMAAJ&pg=PA585 |url-status=live }}</ref>).}} also called '''Pasch''' ({{IPAc-en|p|æ|s|k}}) or '''Pascha'''{{efn|Derived from Latin. {{langx|arc|פַּסְחָא|pasḥā}}; {{langx|grc|πάσχα|páskha}}. In the Eastern Orthodox Church, the Greek word ''Pascha'' is used for the celebration; in English, the analogous word is ''Pasch''.<ref name="Ferguson2009">{{cite book |last=Ferguson |first=Everett |title=Baptism in the Early Church: History, Theology, and Liturgy in the First Five Centuries |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xC9GAdUGX5sC&pg=PA351 |access-date=23 April 2014 |date=2009 |publisher=Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing |isbn=978-0802827487 |page=351 |quote=The practices are usually interpreted in terms of baptism at the pasch (Easter), for which compare Tertullian, but the text does not specify this season, only that it was done on Sunday, and the instructions may apply to whenever the baptism was to be performed. |archive-date=1 August 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200801082126/https://books.google.com/books?id=xC9GAdUGX5sC&pg=PA351 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Etymology">{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/europehistory00norm|url-access=registration|page=[https://archive.org/details/europehistory00norm/page/201 201]|title = Europe: A History|first=Norman |last=Davies|publisher = HarperCollins|quote=In most European languages Easter is called by some variant of the late Latin word ''Pascha'', which in turn derives from the Hebrew ''pesach'', meaning ''passover''. |date=1998 |isbn = 978-0060974688}}</ref>}} or '''Resurrection Sunday''',{{efn|The term "Resurrection Sunday" is used particularly by Christian communities in the Middle East.<ref name="GammanBindon2014">{{cite book |last1=Gamman |first1=Andrew |last2=Bindon |first2=Caroline |title=Stations for Lent and Easter |date=2014 |publisher=Kereru Publishing Limited |isbn=978-0473276812 |page=7 |quote=Easter Day, also known as Resurrection Sunday, marks the high point of the Christian year. It is the day that we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. }}</ref><ref name="BodaSmith2006">{{cite book|last1=Boda|first1=Mark J.|last2=Smith|first2=Gordon T.|title=Repentance in Christian Theology|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lseYbjrdXhAC&pg=PA316|access-date=19 April 2014 |date=2006 |publisher=Liturgical Press|isbn=978-0814651759|page=316|quote=Orthodox, Catholic, and all Reformed churches in the Middle East celebrate Easter according to the Eastern calendar, calling this holy day "Resurrection Sunday", not Easter.|archive-date=4 August 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200804060401/https://books.google.com/books?id=lseYbjrdXhAC&pg=PA316|url-status=live}}</ref>}} is a Christian festival and cultural holiday commemorating the resurrection of Jesus from the dead, described in the Bible's New Testament as having occurred on the third day of his burial following his crucifixion by the Romans at Calvary {{circa|30 AD}}.<ref>{{cite book|url = https://books.google.com/books?id=gDbKexa1jfcC&q=easter+central+feast&pg=PA224 |title=Anniversaries and Holidays |first1=Bernard |last1=Trawicky |first2=Ruth Wilhelme |last2=Gregory |publisher=American Library Association|quote = Easter is the central celebration of the Christian liturgical year. It is the oldest and most important Christian feast, celebrating the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. The date of Easter determines the dates of all movable feasts except those of Advent. |date=2000 |isbn = 978-0838906958|access-date = 17 October 2020|archive-date = 12 October 2017|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20171012025026/https://books.google.com/books?id=gDbKexa1jfcC|url-status = live}}</ref><ref>{{cite book | last = Aveni | first = Anthony | title = "The Easter/Passover Season: Connecting Time's Broken Circle", ''The Book of the Year: A Brief History of Our Seasonal Holidays'' | publisher = Oxford University Press |date=2004 | pages = 64–78 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=4Mmmvol6DvkC | isbn = 0-19-517154-3 | access-date = 17 October 2020 | archive-date = 8 February 2021 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210208133723/https://books.google.com/books?id=4Mmmvol6DvkC | url-status = live }}</ref> It is the culmination of the Passion of Jesus, preceded by Lent (or Great Lent), a 40-day period of fasting, prayer, and penance.

Easter-observing Christians commonly refer to the last week of Lent, before Easter, as Holy Week, which in Western Christianity begins on Palm Sunday (marking the entrance of Jesus in Jerusalem), includes Spy Wednesday (on which the betrayal of Jesus is mourned),<ref name=Cooper2013>{{cite book |last=Cooper |first=J.HB. |title=Dictionary of Christianity |date=23 October 2013 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=9781134265466 |page=124 |quote=Holy Week. The last week in LENT. It begins on PALM SUNDAY; the fourth day is called SPY WEDNESDAY; the fifth is MAUNDY THURSDAY or HOLY THURSDAY; the sixth is Good Friday; and the last 'Holy Saturday', or the 'Great Sabbath'. }}</ref> and contains the days of the Easter Triduum including Maundy Thursday, commemorating the Maundy and Last Supper,<ref>{{cite book|url = https://books.google.com/books?id=dyWqm3hCMC0C&pg=PA113|title = The Companion to the Book of Common Worship|author = Peter C. Bower|publisher = Geneva Press|quote = Maundy Thursday (or ''le mandé''; Thursday of the ''Mandatum'', Latin, commandment). The name is taken from the first few words sung at the ceremony of the washing of the feet, "I give you a new commandment" (John 13:34); also from the commandment of Christ that we should imitate His loving humility in the washing of the feet (John 13:14–17). The term ''mandatum'' (maundy), therefore, was applied to the rite of foot-washing on this day.|access-date = 11 April 2009|isbn = 978-0664502324|date=2003 |archive-date = 8 June 2021|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210608184343/https://books.google.com/books?id=dyWqm3hCMC0C&pg=PA113|url-status = live}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|url = https://books.google.com/books?id=Tbb9axN6qFwC&pg=PA33|title = Three Day Feast: Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and Easter|publisher = Augsburg Fortress|first=Gail |last=Ramshaw|quote = In the liturgies of the Three Days, the service for Maundy Thursday includes both, telling the story of Jesus' last supper and enacting the footwashing.|date=2004 |access-date = 11 April 2009|isbn = 978-1451408164|archive-date = 5 November 2021|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20211105035735/https://books.google.com/books?id=Tbb9axN6qFwC&pg=PA33|url-status = live}}</ref> as well as Good Friday, commemorating the crucifixion and death of Jesus.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uZFRAAAAYAAJ&pg=PT125|title=New century reference library of the world's most important knowledge: complete, thorough, practical, Volume 3|publisher=Syndicate Pub. Co.|first=Leonard |last=Stuart|quote=Holy Week, or Passion Week, the week which immediately precedes Easter, and is devoted especially to commemorating the passion of our Lord. The Days more especially solemnized during it are Holy Wednesday, Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and Holy Saturday. |date=1909 |access-date=11 April 2009|archive-date=5 November 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211105035735/https://books.google.com/books?id=uZFRAAAAYAAJ&pg=PT125|url-status=live}}</ref> In Eastern Christianity, the same events are commemorated with the names of days all starting with "Holy" or "Holy and Great", and Easter itself might be called Great and Holy Pascha. In both Western and Eastern Christianity, Eastertide—also known as the Easter or Paschal season—begins on Easter Sunday and continues for seven weeks, concluding on the 50th day, Pentecost Sunday. However, in Eastern Christianity, the leavetaking of the feast occurs on the 39th day, the eve of the Feast of the Ascension.

Easter and its related holidays are moveable feasts, not falling on a fixed date; its date is computed based on a lunisolar calendar (solar year plus Moon phase) similar to the Hebrew calendar, generating a number of controversies. The First Council of Nicaea (325) established common Paschal observance by all Christians on the first Sunday after the first full moon on or after the vernal equinox.<ref name="oikoumene.org">{{cite web|url=http://www.oikoumene.org/en/resources/documents/wcc-commissions/faith-and-order-commission/i-unity-the-church-and-its-mission/frequently-asked-questions-about-the-date-of-easter.html|title=Frequently asked questions about the date of Easter|access-date=22 April 2009|archive-date=22 April 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110422235601/http://www.oikoumene.org/en/resources/documents/wcc-commissions/faith-and-order-commission/i-unity-the-church-and-its-mission/frequently-asked-questions-about-the-date-of-easter.html }}</ref> Even if calculated on the basis of the Gregorian calendar, the date of that full moon sometimes differs from that of the astronomical first full moon after the March equinox.<ref>{{cite journal |url=http://adsabs.harvard.edu/full/1923JRASC..17..141W |title=Clarence E. Woodman, "Easter and the Ecclesiastical Calendar" in ''Journal of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada'' |bibcode=1923JRASC..17..141W |access-date=12 May 2019 |archive-date=12 May 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190512191909/http://adsabs.harvard.edu/full/1923JRASC..17..141W |url-status=live |last=Woodman |first=Clarence E. |journal=Journal of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada |date=1923 |volume=17 |page=141 }}</ref>

Easter is linked to the Jewish Passover by its name ({{langx|he|פֶּסַח}}, {{xlit|he|pesach}}; {{langx|arc|פָּסחָא|pascha}}; whence the term ''Pascha''), by its origin (according to the synoptic Gospels, both the crucifixion and the resurrection took place during the week of Passover)<ref>{{Cite web|title=5 April 2007: Mass of the Lord's Supper {{!}} BENEDICT XVI|url=http://www.vatican.va/content/benedict-xvi/en/homilies/2007/documents/hf_ben-xvi_hom_20070405_coena-domini.html|access-date=1 April 2021|website=www.vatican.va|archive-date=5 April 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210405050523/http://www.vatican.va/content/benedict-xvi/en/homilies/2007/documents/hf_ben-xvi_hom_20070405_coena-domini.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|last=Reno|first=R. R.|date=14 April 2017|title=The Profound Connection Between Easter and Passover |work=The Wall Street Journal|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-profound-connection-between-easter-and-passover-1492173908|access-date=1 April 2021|issn=0099-9660|archive-date=17 December 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211217090449/https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-profound-connection-between-easter-and-passover-1492173908|url-status=live}}</ref> and by much of its symbolism, as well as by its position in the calendar. In most European languages, both the Christian Easter and the Jewish Passover are called by the same name; and in the older English translations of the Bible, as well, the term Easter was used to translate Passover.<ref>{{cite book|first=Francis X.|last=Weiser|url=https://archive.org/details/handbookofchrist0000weis/page/214|title=Handbook of Christian Feasts and Customs|page=[https://archive.org/details/handbookofchrist0000weis/page/214 214]|location=New York|publisher=Harcourt, Brace and Company |date=1958 |isbn=0-15-138435-5}}</ref> The English term may derive from the Anglo-Saxon goddess name {{lang|ang|Ēostre}}.

Easter traditions vary across the Christian world, and include sunrise services or late-night vigils, exclamations and exchanges of Paschal greetings, flowering the cross,<ref name="Whitehouse2022">{{cite book |last1=Whitehouse |first1=Bonnie Smith |title=Seasons of Wonder: Making the Ordinary Sacred Through Projects, Prayers, Reflections, and Rituals: A 52-week devotional |date=15 November 2022 |publisher=Crown Publishing Group |isbn=978-0-593-44332-3 |pages=95–96 |language=en}}</ref> the wearing of Easter bonnets by women, clipping the church,<ref name="clipping the church">{{cite web | url=http://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780198607663.001.0001/acref-9780198607663-e-201 | title=clipping the church | publisher=Oxford University Press | work=Oxford Reference | doi=10.1093/acref/9780198607663.001.0001 | date=2003 | last1=Simpson | first1=Jacqueline | last2=Roud | first2=Steve | isbn=9780198607663 | access-date=31 March 2013 | archive-date=12 April 2020 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200412143800/http://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780198607663.001.0001/acref-9780198607663-e-201 | url-status=live }}</ref> and the decoration and the communal breaking of Easter eggs (a symbol of the empty tomb).<ref name="Jordan2000">{{cite book|url = https://books.google.com/books?id=mzKVPZthGHUC&q=easter+egg+Christian&pg=PA51|title = Christianity|publisher = Nelson Thornes|first=Anne |last=Jordan|quote = Easter eggs are used as a Christian symbol to represent the empty tomb. The outside of the egg looks dead but inside there is new life, which is going to break out. The Easter egg is a reminder that Jesus will rise from His tomb and bring new life. Eastern Orthodox Christians dye boiled eggs red to represent the blood of Christ shed for the sins of the world. |date=2000 |access-date=7 April 2012 |isbn=978-0748753208 |archive-date=8 February 2021|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210208133819/https://books.google.com/books?id=mzKVPZthGHUC&q=easter+egg+Christian&pg=PA51|url-status = live}}</ref><ref name="tomb1">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hPMVAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA119|title=The Guardian, Volume 29|publisher=H. Harbaugh|quote=Just so, on that first Easter morning, Jesus came to life and walked out of the tomb, and left it, as it were, an empty shell. Just so, too, when the Christian dies, the body is left in the grave, an empty shell, but the soul takes wings and flies away to be with God. Thus you see that though an egg seems to be as dead as a stone, yet it really has life in it; and also it is like Christ's dead body, which was raised to life again. This is the reason we use eggs on Easter. (In olden times they used to color the eggs red, so as to show the kind of death by which Christ died, – a ''bloody'' death.) |date=1878 |access-date=7 April 2012|archive-date=4 August 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200804014344/https://books.google.com/books?id=hPMVAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA119|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="tomb2">{{cite book|url = https://books.google.com/books?id=Wn-38NunUnAC&pg=PT120|title = Christian belief and practice|publisher = Heinemann|author = Gordon Geddes, Jane Griffiths|quote = Red eggs are given to Orthodox Christians after the Easter Liturgy. They crack their eggs against each other's. The cracking of the eggs symbolizes a wish to break away from the bonds of sin and misery and enter the new life issuing from Christ's resurrection.|date=2002 |access-date = 7 April 2012|isbn = 978-0435306915|archive-date = 29 July 2020|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20200729113653/https://books.google.com/books?id=Wn-38NunUnAC&pg=PT120|url-status = live}}</ref> The Easter lily, a symbol of the resurrection in Western Christianity,<ref name="Collins">{{cite news|title=Easter Lily Tradition and History|url=http://guardianlv.com/2014/04/easter-lily-tradition-and-history/|last=Collins|first=Cynthia|date=19 April 2014|newspaper=The Guardian|access-date=20 April 2014|quote=The Easter Lily is symbolic of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Churches of all denominations, large and small, are filled with floral arrangements of these white flowers with their trumpet-like shape on Easter morning.|archive-date=17 August 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200817151814/https://guardianlv.com/2014/04/easter-lily-tradition-and-history/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Schell 1916 https://archive.org/details/EasterCelebrations/page/n96 84">{{cite book|last=Schell|first=Stanley |title=Easter Celebrations|url=https://archive.org/details/EasterCelebrations |date=1916 |publisher=Werner & Company|page=[https://archive.org/details/EasterCelebrations/page/n96 84]|quote=We associate the lily with Easter, as pre-eminently the symbol of the Resurrection.}}</ref> traditionally decorates the chancel area of churches on this day and for the rest of Eastertide.<ref name="lutherleaguereview">{{cite book|title=Luther League Review: 1936–1937|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4GDTAAAAMAAJ|date=1936|publisher=Luther League of America|access-date=20 June 2015|archive-date=3 August 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200803094720/https://books.google.com/books?id=4GDTAAAAMAAJ|url-status=live}}</ref> In addition to the viewing of Passion Plays during Lent and Easter, many television channels air films related to the resurrection, such as ''The Passion of the Christ'', ''The Greatest Story Ever Told'' and ''The Jesus Film''.<ref>{{cite web |title=Delve deeper into Holy Week with Jesus films |url=https://www.umc.org/en/content/delve-deeper-into-holy-week-with-jesus-films |publisher=The United Methodist Church |access-date=4 April 2020 |language=en |date=3 March 2016}}</ref> Additional customs that have become associated with Easter and are observed by both Christians and some non-Christians include Easter parades, communal dancing (Eastern Europe), the Easter Bunny and egg hunting.<ref name="Duchak2002" /><ref name="Sifferlin2015" /><ref name="Black2004"/><ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=c4FPAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA844|title=The Church Standard, Volume 74|publisher=Walter N. Hering|quote=When the custom was carried over into Christian practice the Easter eggs were usually sent to the priests to be blessed and sprinkled with holy water. In later times the coloring and decorating of eggs was introduced, and in a royal roll of the time of Edward I., which is preserved in the Tower of London, there is an entry of 18d. for 400 eggs, to be used for Easter gifts.|date=1897|access-date=7 April 2012|archive-date=30 August 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200830235433/https://books.google.com/books?id=c4FPAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA844|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|url = https://books.google.com/books?id=if70Aqo36WYC&pg=PR5|title = From Preparation to Passion|quote = So what preparations do most Christians and non-Christians make? Shopping for new clothing often signifies the belief that Spring has arrived, and it is a time of renewal. Preparations for the Easter Egg Hunts and the Easter Ham for the Sunday dinner are high on the list too.|date=2010 |access-date = 7 April 2012|isbn = 978-1609577650|last1 = Brown|first1 = Eleanor Cooper| publisher=Xulon Press |archive-date = 4 August 2020|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20200804020716/https://books.google.com/books?id=if70Aqo36WYC&pg=PR5|url-status = live}}</ref> There are also traditional Easter foods that vary by region and culture.

==Etymology== {{main|Ēostre|Names of Easter}}

The modern English term ''Easter'', cognate with German {{lang|de|Ostern}}, developed from an Old English word that usually appears in the form {{lang|ang|Ēastrun}}, {{lang|ang|Ēastron}}, or {{lang|ang|Ēastran}}; but also as {{lang|ang|Ēastru}}, {{lang|ang|Ēastro}}; and {{lang|ang|Ēastre}} or {{lang|ang|Ēostre}}.{{efn|{{IPA|ang|ˈæːɑstre, ˈeːostre}}.}} In the 8th century AD, Anglo-Saxon monk and scholar Bede recorded in his ''The Reckoning of Time'' that {{lang|ang|Ēosturmōnaþ}} (Old English for 'Month of Ēostre', translated in Bede's time as "Paschal month") was an English month, corresponding to April, which he says "was once called after a goddess of theirs named Ēostre, in whose honour feasts were celebrated in that month".<ref>{{cite book|last=Wallis|first=Faith|title=Bede: The Reckoning of Time|date=1999 |publisher=Liverpool University Press|isbn=0853236933|page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=yFsw-Vaup6sC&pg=PA53 54]|title-link=The Reckoning of Time}}</ref>

In Latin and Greek, the Christian celebration was, and still is, called {{xlit|grc|Pascha}} (Greek: {{lang|grc|Πάσχα}}), a word derived from Aramaic {{lang|arc|פסחא}} ({{xlit|arc|Paskha}}), cognate to the Hebrew {{lang|hbo|פֶּסַח}} ({{xlit|hbo|Pesach}}). The word originally denoted the Jewish festival known in English as Passover, commemorating the Jewish Exodus from slavery in Egypt.<ref name="HC">{{cite web | url=http://www.history.com/topics/history-of-easter/videos#history-of-the-holidays-easter-video | title=History of Easter | publisher=A&E Television Networks | work=The History Channel website | date=27 October 2009 | access-date=9 March 2013 | archive-date=31 May 2013 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130531191802/http://www.history.com/topics/history-of-easter/videos#history-of-the-holidays-easter-video | url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite book|url = https://books.google.com/books?id=PB-zfFmR0I0C&pg=PA21|title = The Antenicene Pascha: A Rhetorical History|author = Karl Gerlach|publisher = Peeters Publishers|quote = The second century equivalent of easter and the paschal Triduum was called by both Greek and Latin writers "Pascha (πάσχα)", a Greek transliteration of the Aramaic form of the Hebrew פֶּסַח, the Passover feast of Ex. 12.|page = xviii|date=1998 |isbn = 978-9042905702|access-date = 9 January 2020|archive-date = 8 August 2021|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210808003356/https://books.google.com/books?id=PB-zfFmR0I0C&pg=PA21|url-status = live}}</ref> As early as 50 AD, Paul the Apostle, writing from Ephesus to the Christians in Corinth,<ref>{{bibleverse|1 Corinthians|5:7}}</ref> applied the term to Christ. It is unlikely that the Ephesian and Corinthian Christians were the first to hear Exodus 12 interpreted as speaking about the death of Jesus, not just about the Jewish Passover ritual.<ref>{{cite book|url = https://books.google.com/books?id=PB-zfFmR0I0C&q=%22Pascha%22+name&pg=PA21|title = The Antenicene Pascha: A Rhetorical History|author = Karl Gerlach|publisher = Peters Publishers|quote = For while it is from Ephesus that Paul writes, "Christ our Pascha has been sacrificed for us", Ephesian Christians were not likely the first to hear that Ex 12 did not speak about the rituals of Pesach, but the death of Jesus of Nazareth.|page = 21|date=1998 |isbn = 978-9042905702|access-date = 17 October 2020|archive-date = 28 December 2021|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20211228004322/https://books.google.com/books?id=PB-zfFmR0I0C&q=%22Pascha%22+name&pg=PA21|url-status = live}}</ref> In most languages, the feast is known by names derived from the Greek and Latin {{xlit|grc|Pascha}}.<ref name="Etymology"/><ref name="Passover"/> Pascha is also a name by which Jesus himself is remembered in the Orthodox Church, especially in connection with his resurrection and with the season of its celebration.<ref>Orthros of Holy Pascha, Stichera: "Today the sacred Pascha is revealed to us. The new and holy Pascha, the mystical Pascha. The all-venerable Pascha. The Pascha which is Christ the Redeemer. The spotless Pascha. The great Pascha. The Pascha of the faithful. The Pascha which has opened unto us the gates of Paradise. The Pascha which sanctifies all faithful."</ref> Others call the holiday "Resurrection Sunday" or "Resurrection Day", after the Greek {{langx|grc|Ἀνάστασις}} ({{xlit|grc|Anastasis}}, {{gloss|Resurrection}}).<ref name="GammanBindon2014" /><ref name="BodaSmith2006" /><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.simplycatholic.com/easter-or-resurrection-day/|publisher=Simply Catholic|title=Easter or Resurrection day?|date=17 January 2019|access-date=4 April 2021|archive-date=8 June 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210608184717/https://www.simplycatholic.com/easter-or-resurrection-day/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.christianpost.com/news/easter-facts-about-resurrection-sunday.html|publisher=Christian Post|title=Easter: 5 facts you need to know about resurrection sunday|date=1 April 2018|access-date=4 April 2021|archive-date=22 November 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211122123930/https://www.christianpost.com/news/easter-facts-about-resurrection-sunday.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

==Theological significance== [[File:Pötting Kirchenfenster 7 Osterlamm.jpg|thumb|A stained-glass window depicting the Passover Lamb, a concept integral to the foundation of Easter<ref name=Passover>{{cite book|url = https://books.google.com/books?id=CRvzTM0kev4C&pg=PA96|title = Welcome to the Church Year: An Introduction to the Seasons of the Episcopal Church|author = Vicki K. Black|publisher = Church Publishing, Inc.|quote = Easter is still called by its older Greek name, ''Pascha'', which means "Passover", and it is this meaning as the Christian Passover-the celebration of Jesus's triumph over death and entrance into resurrected life-that is the heart of Easter in the church. For the early church, Jesus Christ was the fulfillment of the Jewish Passover feast: through Jesus, we have been freed from slavery of sin and granted to the Promised Land of everlasting life.|date=2004 |isbn = 978-0819219664|access-date = 9 January 2020|archive-date = 8 August 2021|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210808003357/https://books.google.com/books?id=CRvzTM0kev4C&pg=PA96|url-status = live}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|url = https://books.google.com/books?id=PB-zfFmR0I0C&pg=PA21|title = The Antenicene Pascha: A Rhetorical History|author = Karl Gerlach|publisher = Peeters Publishers|quote = Long before this controversy, Ex 12 as a story of origins and its ritual expression had been firmly fixed in the Christian imagination. Though before the final decades of the 2nd century only accessible as an exegetical tradition, already in the Pauline letters the Exodus saga is deeply involved with the celebration of bath and meal. Even here, this relationship does not suddenly appear, but represents developments in ritual narrative that must have begun at the very inception of the Christian message. Jesus of Nazareth was crucified during Pesach-Mazzot, an event that a new covenant people of Jews and Gentiles both saw as definitive and defining. Ex 12 is thus one of the few reliable guides for tracing the synergism among ritual, text, and kerygma before the Council of Nicaea.|page = 21|date=1998 |isbn = 978-9042905702|access-date = 9 January 2020|archive-date = 8 August 2021|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210808003356/https://books.google.com/books?id=PB-zfFmR0I0C&pg=PA21|url-status = live}}</ref>]]

Easter celebrates Jesus' supernatural resurrection from the dead, which is one of the chief tenets of the Christian faith.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Torrey |first1=Reuben Archer |author-link1=Reuben Archer Torrey |title=Torrey's New Topical Textbook |chapter-url=http://www.ccel.org/ccel/torrey/ttt.html |access-date=31 March 2013 |date=1897 |chapter=The Resurrection of Christ |archive-date=20 November 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211120170816/https://www.ccel.org/ccel/torrey/ttt.html |url-status=live }} (interprets primary source references in this section as applying to the Resurrection) {{cite encyclopedia | url=https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/137622/The-Letter-of-Paul-to-the-Corinthians | title=The Letter of Paul to the Corinthians | publisher=Encyclopædia Britannica | encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica Online | access-date=10 March 2013 | archive-date=24 April 2015 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150424020543/http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/137622/The-Letter-of-Paul-to-the-Corinthians | url-status=live }}</ref> Paul writes that, for those who trust in Jesus's death and resurrection, "death is swallowed up in victory". The First Epistle of Peter declares that God has given believers "a new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead". Christian theology holds that, through faith in the working of God, those who follow Jesus are spiritually resurrected with him so that they may walk in a new way of life and receive eternal salvation, and can hope to be physically resurrected to dwell with him in the Kingdom of Heaven.<ref name="Jesus EB">{{cite encyclopedia | url=https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/303091/Jesus-Christ | title=Jesus Christ | publisher=Encyclopædia Britannica | encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica Online | access-date=11 March 2013 | archive-date=3 May 2015 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150503100711/http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/303091/Jesus-Christ | url-status=live }}</ref>

Easter is linked to Passover and the Exodus from Egypt recorded in the Old Testament through the Last Supper, sufferings, and crucifixion of Jesus that preceded the resurrection.<ref name=Passover/> According to the three Synoptic Gospels, Jesus gave the Passover meal a new meaning, as in the upper room during the Last Supper he prepared himself and his disciples for his death.<ref name=Passover/> He identified the bread and cup of wine as his body, soon to be sacrificed, and his blood, soon to be shed. The Apostle Paul states in his First Epistle to the Corinthians: "Get rid of the old yeast that you may be a new batch without yeast—as you really are. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed." This refers to the requirement in Jewish law that Jews eliminate all {{xlit|he|chametz}}, or leavening, from their homes in advance of Passover, and to the allegory of Jesus as the Passover lamb.<ref>{{cite book|editor=Barker, Kenneth|title=Zondervan NIV Study Bible|publisher=Zondervan|location=Grand Rapids|date=2002|isbn=0-310-92955-5|page=1520}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|url = https://books.google.com/books?id=PB-zfFmR0I0C|title = The Antenicene Pascha: A Rhetorical History|author = Karl Gerlach|publisher = Peeters Publishers|pages = 32, 56|date=1998 |isbn = 978-9042905702|access-date = 9 January 2020|archive-date = 27 December 2021|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20211227231601/https://books.google.com/books?id=PB-zfFmR0I0C|url-status = live}}</ref>

==Early Christianity== [[File:The Last Supper - Leonardo Da Vinci - High Resolution 32x16.jpg|thumb|''The Last Supper'' (1495–1498). Mural, tempera on gesso, pitch and mastic, 700 x 880 cm (22.9 x 28.8 ft). In the Santa Maria delle Grazie Church, Milan, Italy, it is Leonardo da Vinci's dramatic interpretation of Jesus' last meal before death. The Last Supper celebrated by Jesus and his disciples. The early Christians, too, would have celebrated this meal to commemorate Jesus's death and subsequent resurrection.]]

As the Gospels assert that both the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus occurred during the week of Passover, the first Christians timed the observance of the annual celebration of the resurrection in relation to Passover.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Landau|first=Brent|title=Why Easter is called Easter, and other little-known facts about the holiday|url=http://theconversation.com/why-easter-is-called-easter-and-other-little-known-facts-about-the-holiday-75025|access-date=3 April 2021|website=The Conversation |date=12 April 2017 |archive-date=12 August 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210812003604/https://theconversation.com/why-easter-is-called-easter-and-other-little-known-facts-about-the-holiday-75025|url-status=live}}</ref> Direct evidence for a more fully formed Christian festival of Pascha (Easter) begins to appear in the mid-2nd century. Perhaps the earliest extant primary source referring to Easter is a mid-2nd-century Paschal homily attributed to Melito of Sardis, which characterizes the celebration as a well-established one.<ref name="Melito"> {{cite journal| last = Melito of Sardis| title = Homily on the Pascha| journal = Kerux| publisher = Northwest Theological Seminary| url = http://www.kerux.com/documents/KeruxV4N1A1.asp| access-date = 28 March 2007| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070312203732/http://www.kerux.com/documents/KeruxV4N1A1.asp| archive-date = 12 March 2007 | df = dmy-all}}</ref> Evidence for another kind of annually recurring Christian festival, those commemorating the martyrs, began to appear at about the same time as the above homily.<ref>Cheslyn Jones, Geoffrey Wainwright, Edward Yarnold, and Paul Bradshaw, Eds., ''The Study of Liturgy, Revised Edition'', Oxford University Press, New York, 1992, p. 474.</ref>

While martyrs' days (usually the individual dates of martyrdom) were celebrated on fixed dates in the local solar calendar, the date of Easter was fixed by means of the local Jewish<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Genung|first=Charles Harvey|title=The Reform of the Calendar|jstor=25105305|journal=The North American Review|volume=179|issue=575|date=1904|pages=569–583}}</ref> lunisolar calendar. This is consistent with the celebration of Easter having entered Christianity during its earliest, Jewish period.<ref>Cheslyn Jones, Geoffrey Wainwright, Edward Yarnold, and Paul Bradshaw, Eds., ''The Study of Liturgy, Revised Edition'', Oxford University Press, New York, 1992, p. 459: "[Easter] is the only feast of the Christian Year that can plausibly claim to go back to apostolic times ... [It] must derive from a time when Jewish influence was effective ... because it depends on the lunar calendar (every other feast depends on the solar calendar)."</ref>

==Date== {{Main|Date of Easter|List of dates for Easter}}

Easter and holidays related to it are moveable feasts, in that they do not fall on a fixed date in the Gregorian or Julian calendars (both of which follow the cycle of the sun and the seasons). Instead, the date for Easter is determined on a lunisolar calendar similar to the Hebrew calendar.

===Early Church controversies=== {{Main|Easter controversy}}

[[File:5part-icon.jpeg|thumb|A five-part Russian Orthodox icon depicting the Easter story. Eastern Orthodox Christians use a different computation for the date of Easter from the Western churches.]]

The precise date of Easter has at times been a matter of contention. By the later 2nd century, it was widely accepted that the celebration of the holiday was a practice of the disciples and an undisputed tradition. The Quartodeciman controversy, the first of several Easter controversies, arose concerning the date on which the holiday should be celebrated.<ref name="NEW ADVENT 1909">{{cite encyclopedia |last=Thurston|first=Herbert| title=Easter Controversy | encyclopedia =The Catholic Encyclopedia | date=1909-05-01 | url=http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/05228a.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230423124325/https://www.newadvent.org/cathen/05228a.htm|archive-date=April 23, 2023| access-date=2023-04-23 |location=New York |publisher=Robert Appleton Company|volume=5|via=New Advent}}</ref>

The term "Quartodeciman" refers to the practice of ending the Lenten fast on Nisan 14 of the Hebrew calendar, "the {{LORD}}'s passover".<ref>{{bibleverse|Leviticus|23:5|ESV}}</ref> According to the church historian Eusebius, the Quartodeciman Polycarp (bishop of Smyrna, by tradition a disciple of John the Apostle) debated the question with Anicetus (bishop of Rome). The Roman province of Asia was Quartodeciman, while the Roman and Alexandrian churches continued the fast until the Sunday following (the Sunday of Unleavened Bread), wishing to associate Easter with Sunday. Neither Polycarp nor Anicetus persuaded the other, but they did not consider the matter schismatic either, parting in peace and leaving the question unsettled.<ref name="Christian Classics Ethereal Library 2">{{cite web |first1=Philip|last1=Schaff|first2=Tim|last2=Perrine|title= NPNF2-01. Eusebius Pamphilius: Church History, Life of Constantine, Oration in Praise of Constantine|via= Christian Classics Ethereal Library| url=https://ccel.org/ccel/schaff/npnf201/npnf201.ii.html | access-date=2023-04-23|series=Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220730023344/https://ccel.org/ccel/schaff/npnf201/npnf201.i.html|archive-date=July 30, 2022}}</ref>

Controversy arose when Victor, bishop of Rome a generation after Anicetus, attempted to excommunicate Polycrates of Ephesus and all other bishops of Asia for their Quartodecimanism. According to Eusebius, a number of synods were convened to deal with the controversy, which he regarded as all ruling in support of Easter on Sunday.<ref>Eusebius, Church History 5.23.</ref> Polycrates ({{circa|190}}), however, wrote to Victor defending the antiquity of Asian Quartodecimanism. Victor's attempted excommunication was apparently rescinded, and the two sides reconciled upon the intervention of bishop Irenaeus and others, who reminded Victor of the tolerant precedent of Anicetus.<ref name="Kelly 1978 p. ">{{cite book | last=Kelly | first=J. N. D. | title=Early Christian doctrines | publication-place=San Francisco | date=1978 | isbn=0-06-064334-X | oclc=3753468 | publisher=Harper & Row | page=}}</ref><ref name="Grace Communion International 2018">{{cite web | title=The Passover-Easter-Quartodeciman Controversy | website=Grace Communion International | date=2018-11-22 | url=https://www.gci.org/articles/the-passover-easter-quartodeciman-controversy/ | access-date=2023-04-23}}</ref>

Quartodecimanism seems to have lingered into the 4th century, when Socrates of Constantinople recorded that some Quartodecimans were deprived of their churches by John Chrysostom<ref>Socrates, ''Church History'', 6.11, at {{cite web| last = Schaff| first = Philip| title = Of Severian and Antiochus: their Disagreement from John.| work = Socrates and Sozomenus Ecclesiastical Histories| publisher = Calvin College Christian Classics Ethereal Library| date = 13 July 2005| url = http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/npnf202.ii.ix.xii.html| access-date = 28 March 2009| archive-date = 13 October 2010| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20101013152952/http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/npnf202.ii.ix.xii.html| url-status = live}}</ref> and that some were harassed by Nestorius.<ref>Socrates, ''Church History'' 7.29, at {{cite web| last = Schaff| first = Philip| title = Nestorius of Antioch promoted to the See of Constantinople. His Persecution of the Heretics.| work = Socrates and Sozomenus Ecclesiastical Histories| publisher = Calvin College Christian Classics Ethereal Library| date = 13 July 2005| url = http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/npnf202.ii.x.xxix.html| access-date = 28 March 2009| archive-date = 13 October 2010| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20101013184700/http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/npnf202.ii.x.xxix.html| url-status = live}}</ref>

It is not known how long the Nisan 14 practice continued. But both those who followed the Nisan 14 custom, and those who set Easter to the following Sunday, had in common the custom of consulting their Jewish neighbors to learn when the month of Nisan would fall, and setting their festival accordingly. By the later 3rd century, however, some Christians began to express dissatisfaction with the custom of relying on the Jewish community to determine the date of Easter. The chief complaint was that the Jewish communities sometimes erred in setting Passover to fall before the Northern Hemisphere spring equinox.<ref>Eusebius, ''Church History'', 7.32.</ref><ref>Peter of Alexandria, quoted in the Chronicon Paschale. In Alexander Roberts and James Donaldson, eds., ''Ante-Nicene Christian Library, Volume 14: The Writings of Methodius, Alexander of Lycopolis, Peter of Alexandria, And Several Fragments'', Edinburgh, 1869, p. 326, at {{cite web| last = Donaldson| first = Alexander| title = That Up to the Time of the Destruction of Jerusalem, the Jews Rightly Appointed the Fourteenth Day of the First Lunar Month.| work = Gregory Thaumaturgus, Dionysius the Great, Julius Africanus, Anatolius and Minor Writers, Methodius, Arnobius| publisher = Calvin College Christian Classics Ethereal Library| date = 1 June 2005| url = http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/anf06.ix.vi.v.html| access-date = 28 March 2009| archive-date = 15 April 2009| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20090415004506/http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/anf06.ix.vi.v.html| url-status = live}}</ref> The Sardica paschal table<ref>MS Verona, Biblioteca Capitolare LX(58) folios 79v–80v.</ref> confirms these complaints, for it indicates that the Jews of some eastern Mediterranean city (possibly Antioch) fixed Nisan 14 on dates well before the spring equinox on multiple occasions.<ref>Sacha Stern, ''Calendar and Community: A History of the Jewish Calendar Second Century BCE – Tenth Century CE'', Oxford, 2001, pp. 124–132.</ref>

Because of this dissatisfaction with reliance on the Jewish calendar, some Christians began to experiment with independent computations.{{efn|Eusebius reports that Dionysius, Bishop of Alexandria, proposed an 8-year Easter cycle, and quotes a letter from Anatolius, Bishop of Laodicea, that refers to a 19-year cycle.<ref>Eusebius, ''Church History'', 7.20, 7.31.</ref> An 8-year cycle has been found inscribed on a statue unearthed in Rome in the 17th century, and since dated to the 3rd century.<ref>Allen Brent, ''Hippolytus and the Roman Church in the Third Century'', Leiden: E.J. Brill, 1995.</ref>}} Others, however, believed that the customary practice of consulting Jews should continue, even if the Jewish computations were in error.<ref name="NEW ADVENT (Church Fathers)">{{cite encyclopedia| title=Church History, Book II (Eusebius) |series=Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, second series|volume=1|publisher=Christian Literature Publishing Co.|date=January 1, 1890|url=https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/250102.htm | via=New Advent|translator=Arthur Cushman McGiffert| access-date=2023-04-23|editor1=Philip Schaff|editor2=Henry Wace}}</ref>

===First Council of Nicaea (325 AD)=== {{main|First Council of Nicaea}}

[[File:Nikea-arius.png|thumb|The First Council of Nicaea, with Arius depicted as defeated by the council, lying under the feet of Emperor Constantine]]

The settlement of the controversy about the Paschal season caused by the Quartodeciman practice of Asian churches is listed in our principal source for the works of the Council of Nicaea, Socrates Scholasticus's ''Ecclesiastical History'', as one of the two reasons for which emperor Constantine convened the Council in 325.<ref>{{cite book|last=Mosshammer|first=Alden A.|title=The Easter Computus and the Origins of the Christian Era|date=2008|publisher=Oxford University Press|location=Oxford|isbn=978-0-19-954312-0|pages=50}}</ref> The Canons of the Council preserved by Dionysius Exiguus and his successors do not include any relevant provision, but letters of individuals present at the Council mention a decision prohibiting Quartodecimanism and requiring that all Christians adopt a common method to independently determine Paschal observance following the churches of Rome and Alexandria, the latter "since there was among the Egyptians an ancient science for the computation."<ref>{{cite book|last=Mosshammer|first=Alden A.|title=The Easter Computus and the Origins of the Christian Era|date=2008|publisher=Oxford University Press|location=Oxford|isbn=978-0-19-954312-0|pages=51, 65}}</ref> Already in the end of the 4th century and, later on, Dionysius Exiguus and others following him maintained that the bishops assembled at Nicaea had promulgated the celebration of Easter on the first Sunday after the first full moon on or after the vernal equinox and that they had adopted the use of the 19-year lunar cycle, better known as Metonic cycle, to determine the date; subsequent scholarship has refuted this tradition, but, with regards to the rule of the equinox, evidence that the church of Alexandria had implemented it before 325 suggests that the Council of Nicaea implicitly endorsed it.<ref>{{cite book|last=Mosshammer|first=Alden A.|title=The Easter Computus and the Origins of the Christian Era|date=2008|publisher=Oxford University Press|location=Oxford|isbn=978-0-19-954312-0|pages=50–52, 53, 62–65}}</ref>

Canons<ref>Apostolic Canon 7: "If any bishop, presbyter, or deacon shall celebrate the holy day of Easter before the vernal equinox with the Jews, let him be deposed." ''A Select Library of Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers of the Christian Church'', Second Series, Volume 14: The Seven Ecumenical Councils, Eerdmans, 1956, p. 594.</ref> and sermons<ref>St. John Chrysostom, "Against those who keep the first Passover", in ''Saint John Chrysostom: Discourses against Judaizing Christians'', translated by Paul W. Harkins, Washington, DC, 1979, pp. 47ff.</ref> condemning the custom of computing Easter's date based on the Jewish calendar indicate that this custom (called "protopaschite" by historians) did not die out at once, but persisted for a time after the Council of Nicaea.<ref name="McGuckin 2011 p.223 ">{{cite book | last=McGuckin | first=John Anthony | title=The encyclopedia of Eastern Orthodox Christianity | publisher=Wiley-Blackwell | publication-place=Maldin, MA | date=2011 | isbn=978-1-4443-9253-1 | oclc=703879220 | page=223}}</ref> In any case, in the years following the council, the computational system that was worked out by the church of Alexandria came to be normative. The Alexandrian system, however, was not immediately adopted throughout Christian Europe. Following Augustalis' treatise {{lang|la|De ratione Paschae}} (On the Measurement of Easter), Rome retired the earlier 8-year cycle in favor of Augustalis' 84-year lunisolar calendar cycle, which it used until 457. It then switched to Victorius of Aquitaine's adaptation of the Alexandrian system.<ref name="Mosshammer 2008 239–244">{{cite book|last=Mosshammer|first=Alden A.|title=The Easter Computus and the Origins of the Christian Era|date=2008|publisher=Oxford University Press|location=Oxford|isbn=978-0-19-954312-0|pages=239–244}}</ref><ref name="Holford-Strevens, Leofranc 1999 808–809">{{cite book|last1=Holford-Strevens |first1=Leofranc |last2= Blackburn |first2= Bonnie |title=The Oxford Companion to the Year|date=1999|publisher=Oxford University Press|location=Oxford|isbn=0-19-214231-3|pages=[https://archive.org/details/oxfordcompaniont00blac/page/808 808–809]|url=https://archive.org/details/oxfordcompaniont00blac/page/808}}</ref>

Because this Victorian cycle differed from the unmodified Alexandrian cycle in the dates of some of the Paschal full moons, and because it tried to respect the Roman custom of fixing Easter to the Sunday in the week of the 16th to the 22nd of the lunar month (rather than the 15th to the 21st as at Alexandria), by providing alternative "Latin" and "Greek" dates in some years, occasional differences in the date of Easter as fixed by Alexandrian rules continued.<ref name="Mosshammer 2008 239–244"/><ref name="Holford-Strevens, Leofranc 1999 808–809"/> The Alexandrian rules were adopted in the West following the tables of Dionysius Exiguus in 525.<ref name="Declercq 2000 p.143-144">{{cite book | last=Declercq | first=Georges | title=Anno Domini : the origins of the Christian era | publisher=Turnhout |location= Belgium | date=2000 | isbn=2-503-51050-7 | oclc=45243083 | pages=143–144}}</ref>

Early Christians in Britain and Ireland also used an 84-year cycle. From the 5th century onward this cycle set its equinox to 25 March and fixed Easter to the Sunday falling in the 14th to the 20th of the lunar month inclusive.<ref>{{cite book|last=Mosshammer|first=Alden A.|title=The Easter Computus and the Origins of the Christian Era|date=2008|publisher=Oxford University Press|location=Oxford|isbn=978-0-19-954312-0|pages=223–224}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Holford-Strevens |first1=Leofranc |last2= Blackburn |first2= Bonnie|title=The Oxford Companion to the Year|date=1999|publisher=Oxford University Press|location=Oxford|isbn=0-19-214231-3|pages=[https://archive.org/details/oxfordcompaniont00blac/page/870 870–875]|url=https://archive.org/details/oxfordcompaniont00blac/page/870}}</ref> This 84-year cycle was replaced by the Alexandrian method in the course of the 7th and 8th centuries. Churches in western continental Europe used a late Roman method until the late 8th century during the reign of Charlemagne, when they finally adopted the Alexandrian method. Since 1582, when the Roman Catholic Church adopted the Gregorian calendar while most of Europe used the Julian calendar, the date on which Easter is celebrated has again differed.<ref>{{cite web |title=Orthodox Easter: Why are there two Easters? |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/newsround/48067272 |publisher=BBC Newsround |date=20 April 2020 |access-date=4 April 2021 |archive-date=23 December 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211223235240/https://www.bbc.co.uk/newsround/48067272 |url-status=live }}</ref>

===Computations=== {{Further|Date of Easter#Theory}} [[File:Calendario pasquale.jpg|thumb|A calendar of the dates of Easter, for the 95 years 532{{ndash}}626, marble, in the Museum of Ravenna Cathedral, Italy. Five 19-year cycles are represented as concentric circles. Dates are given using the system of the Roman calendar, as well as the day of the lunar month.]]

In 725, Bede succinctly wrote: "The Sunday following the full Moon which falls on or after the equinox will give the lawful Easter."<ref>{{cite book|last=Wallis|first=Faith|title=Bede: The Reckoning of Time|date=1999|publisher=Liverpool University Press|isbn=0853236933|page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=yFsw-Vaup6sC&pg=PA148 148]|title-link=The Reckoning of Time}}</ref> However, this does not precisely reflect the ecclesiastical rules. The full moon referred to (called the Paschal full moon) is not an astronomical full moon, but the 14th day of a lunar month. Another difference is that the astronomical equinox is a natural astronomical phenomenon, which can fall on 19, 20, or 21 March,<ref>[http://earthsky.org/astronomy-essentials/full-moon-vernal-equinox-date-of-easter Why is Easter so early this year?] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210419030303/https://earthsky.org/astronomy-essentials/full-moon-vernal-equinox-date-of-easter |date=19 April 2021 }}, EarthSky, Bruce McClure in Astronomy Essentials, 30 March 2018.</ref> while the ecclesiastical date is fixed by convention on 21 March.<ref>Paragraph 7 of Inter gravissimas [http://isotc.iso.org/livelink/livelink/fetch/2000/2122/138351/138352/1311683/4020763/2015225/8601RevN005_Inter_Gravissimas.pdf?nodeid=2179035&vernum=0refers ISO.org] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220714160228/https://login.iso.org/idp/SSO.saml2?SAMLRequest=fVLLbsIwEPyVyPe8HMTDIpFSOBSJloikPfSCTLKAVWOnXoe2f98k0EIvXFaWdnZmdrxT5EdZs7SxB7WGjwbQOl9HqZD1jZg0RjHNUSBT%2FAjIbMny9GnJqBew2mirSy2JkyKCsUKrmVbYHMHkYE6ihJf1MiYHa2tkvi9Q29Jrq6fN3pfiBFKo9%2BsjP4jtVkuwBw9R%2B50M9bNVXhBn3voSincKVz6p90L98Ymq9vN85XW%2BKXEW85hsgircReMxn0xgwMOKB5wOYAhRWUbDakijFobYwEKh5crGhAaUusHIDQdFOGQBZXT0RpzssuaDUJVQ%2B%2FuZbM8gZI9Fkbln969gsHfeAkgy7RyyXtjcZH2flv8GTJIOdlma8bqWouxzcSvYdT9Sbdrmps966t9InXVr9txyL%2BaZbue%2BnVRK%2FTkzwC3EJCR%2Bch75fxDJDw%3D%3D&RelayState=https%3A%2F%2Fisotc.iso.org%2Flivelink%2Flivelink%2Ffetch%2F2000%2F2122%2F138351%2F138352%2F1311683%2F4020763%2F2015225%2F8601RevN005_Inter_Gravissimas.pdf%3Fnodeid%3D2179035%26vernum%3D0refers&SigAlg=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2F09%2Fxmldsig%23rsa-sha1&Signature=frB%2BJ%2FurXZDghPJm9huiZCq14gY2WIeGWOFOoWlNxfvWrDpaTEOudKYAui7nbgBTBkZArsQGvs5AgK4U1au3iifHt83yClQ5j4VHpDHqXJjilPM%2FzL6hgwl1uwU1hoykZ1V8URkAUazJRUvJlSaboeRRYQtIm1bDLAZLF%2BS3t58%3D |date=14 July 2022 }} to "the vernal equinox, which was fixed by the fathers of the [first] Nicene Council at XII calends April [21 March]". This definition can be traced at least back to chapters 6 & 59 of Bede's ''De temporum ratione'' (725).</ref>

In addition, the lunar tables of the Julian calendar are currently five days behind those of the Gregorian calendar. Therefore, the Julian computation of the Paschal full moon is a full five days later than the astronomical full moon. The result of this combination of solar and lunar discrepancies is divergence in the date of Easter in most years (see table).<ref name="dateACC">{{cite web |title=Date of Easter |url=https://www.anglican.ca/ask/faq/easter/ |website=The Anglican Church of Canada |access-date=5 April 2021 |archive-date=26 December 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211226225037/https://www.anglican.ca/ask/faq/easter/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

Easter is determined on the basis of lunisolar cycles. The lunar year consists of 30-day and 29-day lunar months, generally alternating, with an embolismic month added periodically to bring the lunar cycle into line with the solar cycle. In each solar year (1 January to 31 December inclusive), the lunar month beginning with an ecclesiastical new moon falling in the 29-day period from 8 March to 5 April inclusive is designated as the paschal lunar month for that year.<ref name="smart.net">Montes, Marcos J. [http://www.smart.net/~mmontes/ec-cal.html "Calculation of the Ecclesiastical Calendar"] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081103111329/http://www.smart.net/~mmontes/ec-cal.html |date=3 November 2008 }}. Retrieved 12 January 2008.</ref>

Easter is the third Sunday in the paschal lunar month, or, in other words, the Sunday after the paschal lunar month's 14th day. The 14th of the paschal lunar month is designated by convention as the Paschal full moon, although the 14th of the lunar month may differ from the date of the astronomical full moon by up to two days.<ref name="smart.net"/> Since the ecclesiastical new moon falls on a date from 8 March to 5 April inclusive, the paschal full moon (the 14th of that lunar month) must fall on a date from 22 March to 18 April inclusive.<ref name="dateACC"/>

The Gregorian calculation of Easter was based on a method devised by the Calabrian doctor Aloysius Lilius (or Lilio) for adjusting the epacts of the Moon,<ref>G Moyer (1983), [http://articles.adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-iarticle_query?journal=grc..&year=1983&volume=book&page_ind=181 "Aloisius Lilius and the 'Compendium novae rationis restituendi kalendarium'"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211012082725/http://articles.adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-iarticle_query?journal=grc..&year=1983&volume=book&page_ind=181 |date=12 October 2021 }}, pp. 171–188 in G.V. Coyne (ed.).</ref> and has been adopted by almost all Western Christians and by Western countries which celebrate national holidays at Easter. For the British Empire and colonies, a determination of the date of Easter Sunday using Golden Numbers and Sunday letters was defined by the Calendar (New Style) Act 1750 with its Annexe. This was designed to match exactly the Gregorian calculation.<ref name="legislation.gov.uk-calendar">{{cite web |title=Calendar (New Style) Act 1750 |url=https://www.legislation.gov.uk/apgb/Geo2/24/23 |website=legislation.gov.uk|access-date=23 April 2023|archive-date=April 23, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230423123410/https://www.legislation.gov.uk/apgb/Geo2/24/23 |url-status=live }}</ref>

===Western–Eastern divergence===

In Western Christianity, using the Gregorian calendar, Easter always falls on a Sunday between 22 March and 25 April,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-35880795|title=Why Can't the Date of Easter be Fixed|publisher=BBC |author=Caroline Wyatt|date=25 March 2016|access-date=13 April 2017|archive-date=24 November 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211124001359/https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-35880795|url-status=live}}</ref> within about seven days after the astronomical full moon.<ref>[http://aa.usno.navy.mil/faq/docs/easter.php The Date of Easter] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110814045718/http://aa.usno.navy.mil/faq/docs/easter.php |date=14 August 2011 }}. Article from United States Naval Observatory (27 March 2007).</ref> The preceding Friday, Good Friday, and following Monday, Easter Monday, are legal holidays in many countries with predominantly Christian traditions.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Easter Monday in Hungary in 2021|url=https://www.officeholidays.com/holidays/easter-monday|access-date=3 April 2021|website=Office Holidays |archive-date=5 November 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211105114204/https://www.officeholidays.com/holidays/easter-monday|url-status=live}}</ref>

Eastern Orthodox Christians use the same rule but base their 21 March according to the Julian calendar. Because of the thirteen-day difference between the calendars from 1900 through 2099, 21 March Julian corresponds to 3 April in the Gregorian calendar (during the 20th and 21st centuries). Consequently, the date of Orthodox Easter varies between 4 April and 8 May in the Gregorian calendar.

Furthermore, because the lunar tables of the Julian calendar are five days behind astronomical reality, the full moon, as defined by the Eastern Orthodox Church, is five days later, on a day which actually is a waning gibbous moon. Therefore, if a Sunday falls on any of the four days after the astronomical full moon, this is regarded as occurring before the ecclesiastical full moon and Easter Sunday will be a week later.

As a result, Orthodox Easter may fall on the same day as Catholic Easter, a week later, four weeks later, or five weeks later (but at no other time intervals, at least until the 25th century). Easter is celebrated on the same day in years in which the vernal full moon occurs late enough to be after the defined equinoxes of both churches and on a Sunday, Monday, or Tuesday. This is the case for 31 years of the 21st century, but the frequency is decreasing. (It occurred in 47 years in the 17th century, but will happen for the last time in 2698, after which the Easters will be permanently on different dates). It falls one week after Catholic Easter when vernal full moon occurs Wednesday through Saturday, or four or five weeks after Catholic Easter when the Catholic vernal full moon falls before or around 29 March, depending on the day of the week.<ref>{{cite web|date=2021-04-08|title=Some Common Misperceptions about the Date of Pascha/Easter|url=https://www.goarch.org/-/fordham-pascha?fbclid=IwY2xjawPPJglleHRuA2FlbQIxMQBicmlkETBEYW9vTWlyZk9NdHhWZVk3c3J0YwZhcHBfaWQQMjIyMDM5MTc4ODIwMDg5MgABHv4fPgil4VkG05iHtAuStQDCVsB9BGqhVJgtVeB534C_ID3QladSB9SACpIE_aem_UEec_nLU0RPNBayDQf1sTA|access-date=2025-01-10}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|date=2007-07-03|title=Side-by-side Easter calendar reference|url=http://5ko.free.fr/en/easter.php|access-date=2025-01-10}}</ref>

Among the Oriental Orthodox, some churches have changed from the Julian to the Gregorian calendar and the date for Easter, as for other fixed and moveable feasts, is the same as in the Western church.<ref>"The Church in Malankara switched entirely to the Gregorian calendar in 1953, following Encyclical No. 620 from Patriarch Mor Ignatius Aphrem I, dt. December 1952." [http://sor.cua.edu/Calendar/index.html Calendars of the Syriac Orthodox Church] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100224054556/http://sor.cua.edu/Calendar/index.html |date=24 February 2010 }}. Retrieved 22 April 2009</ref>

The Greek island of Syros, whose population is divided almost equally between Catholics and Orthodox, is one of the few places where the two Churches share a common date for Easter, with the Catholics accepting the Orthodox date—a practice helping considerably in maintaining good relations between the two communities.<ref>{{cite news | title=Easter: A date with God | url=https://www.economist.com/international/2011/04/20/a-date-with-god | date=20 April 2011 | newspaper=The Economist | access-date=23 April 2011 | quote=Only in a handful of places do Easter celebrants alter their own arrangements to take account of their neighbours. Finland's Orthodox Christians mark Easter on the Western date. And on the Greek island of Syros, a Papist stronghold, Catholics and Orthodox alike march to Orthodox time. The spectacular public commemorations, involving flower-strewn funeral biers on Good Friday and fireworks on Saturday night, bring the islanders together, rather than highlighting division. | archive-date=23 April 2018 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180423192921/https://www.economist.com/node/18584376 | url-status=live }}</ref> Conversely, Orthodox Christians in Finland celebrate Easter according to the Western Christian date.<ref>{{cite news | title=Easter: A date with God | url=https://www.economist.com/international/2011/04/20/a-date-with-god | date=20 April 2011 | newspaper=The Economist | access-date=23 April 2011 | quote=Finland's Orthodox Christians mark Easter on the Western date. | archive-date=23 April 2018 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180423192921/https://www.economist.com/node/18584376 | url-status=live }}</ref>

===Proposed reforms of the date=== {{Main|Reform of the date of Easter}} <div style="border:1px solid silver;float:right;margin-left:1em;padding:2px;font-size:85%;line-height:1;"> {| class="wikitable" style="margin:0 0 0.2em 0;text-align:center;line-height:0.5;" |- style="line-height:1;" ! style="line-height:1.25;" |Century year ! Remain- der on divide by 900 ! Is a Revised Julian leap year ! Is a Grego- rian leap year ! Revised Julian is same as Grego- rian |-  | 1000 || 100 || {{n&}} || {{n&}} || {{chk}} |- | 1100 || 200 || {{chk}} || {{n&}} || {{n&}} |- | 1200 || 300 || {{n&}} || {{chk}} || {{n&}} |- | 1300 || 400 || {{n&}} || {{n&}} || {{chk}} |- | 1400 || 500 || {{n&}} || {{n&}} || {{chk}} |- | 1500 || 600 || {{chk}} || {{n&}} || {{n&}} |- | 1600 || 700 || {{n&}} || {{chk}} || {{n&}} |- ! 1700 || 800 || {{n&}} || {{n&}} || {{chk}} |- ! 1800 || 0 || {{n&}} || {{n&}} || {{chk}} |- ! 1900 || 100 || {{n&}} || {{n&}} || {{chk}} |- style="border-bottom:ridge magenta;" ! 2000 || 200 || {{chk}} || {{chk}} || {{chk}} |- ! 2100 || 300 || {{n&}} || {{n&}} || {{chk}} |- ! 2200 || 400 || {{n&}} || {{n&}} || {{chk}} |- ! 2300 || 500 || {{n&}} || {{n&}} || {{chk}} |- ! 2400 || 600 || {{chk}} || {{chk}} || {{chk}} |- ! 2500 || 700 || {{n&}} || {{n&}} || {{chk}} |- ! 2600 || 800 || {{n&}} || {{n&}} || {{chk}} |- ! 2700 || 0 || {{n&}} || {{n&}} || {{chk}} |- | 2800 || 100 || {{n&}} || {{chk}} || {{n&}} |- | 2900 || 200 || {{chk}} || {{n&}} || {{n&}} |- | 3000 || 300 || {{n&}} || {{n&}} || {{chk}} |- | 3100 || 400 || {{n&}} || {{n&}} || {{chk}} |- | 3200 || 500 || {{n&}} || {{chk}} || {{n&}} |- | 3300 || 600 || {{chk}} || {{n&}} || {{n&}} |- | 3400 || 700 || {{n&}} || {{n&}} || {{chk}} |- | 3500 || 800 || {{n&}} || {{n&}} || {{chk}} |- | 3600 || 0 || {{n&}} || {{chk}} || {{n&}} |- | 3700 || 100 || {{n&}} || {{n&}} || {{chk}} |- | 3800 || 200 || {{chk}} || {{n&}} || {{n&}} |- | 3900 || 300 || {{n&}} || {{n&}} || {{chk}} |- | 4000 || 400 || {{n&}} || {{chk}} || {{n&}}  |}</div> In the 20th and 21st centuries, some individuals and institutions have propounded changing the method of calculating the date for Easter, the most prominent proposal being the Sunday after the second Saturday in April. Despite having some support, proposals to reform the date have not been implemented.<ref name=Britannica>{{cite encyclopedia | url=https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/176858/Easter | title=Easter (holiday) | publisher=Encyclopædia Britannica | encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica Online | access-date=9 March 2013 | archive-date=3 May 2015 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150503123607/http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/176858/Easter | url-status=live }}</ref> An Orthodox congress of Eastern Orthodox bishops, which included representatives mostly from the Patriarch of Constantinople and the Serbian Patriarch, met in Constantinople in 1923, where the bishops agreed to the Revised Julian calendar.<ref name="Hieromonk Cassian 1998, p.51">Hieromonk Cassian, ''A Scientific Examination of the Orthodox Church Calendar'', Center for Traditionalist Orthodox Studies, 1998, pp. 51–52, {{ISBN|0-911165-31-2}}.</ref>

The original form of this calendar would have determined Easter using precise astronomical calculations based on the meridian of Jerusalem.<ref>M. Milankovitch, "Das Ende des julianischen Kalenders und der neue Kalender der orientalischen Kirchen", ''Astronomische Nachrichten'' 200, 379–384 (1924).</ref><ref>Miriam Nancy Shields, "[http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/1924PA.....32..407S The new calendar of the Eastern churches] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150324181450/http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/1924PA.....32..407S |date=24 March 2015 }}", ''Popular Astronomy'' '''32''' (1924) 407–411 ([http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/1924PA.....32R.411H page 411] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160112122020/http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/1924PA.....32R.411H |date=12 January 2016 }}). This is a translation of M. Milankovitch, "The end of the Julian calendar and the new calendar of the Eastern churches", ''Astronomische Nachrichten'' No. 5279 (1924).</ref> However, all the Eastern Orthodox countries that subsequently adopted the Revised Julian calendar adopted only that part of the revised calendar that applied to festivals falling on fixed dates in the Julian calendar. The revised Easter computation that had been part of the original 1923 agreement was never permanently implemented in any Orthodox diocese.<ref name="Hieromonk Cassian 1998, p.51"/>

In the United Kingdom, Parliament passed the Easter Act 1928 to change the date of Easter to be the first Sunday after the second Saturday in April (or, in other words, the Sunday in the period from 9 to 15 April). However, the legislation has not been implemented, although it remains on the Statute book and could be implemented, subject to approval by the various Christian churches.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld200405/ldhansrd/vo050406/text/50406w05.htm#wa_subhd_30 |title=Hansard Reports, April 2005, regarding the Easter Act of 1928 |publisher=United Kingdom Parliament |access-date=14 March 2010 |archive-date=8 June 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210608213713/https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld200405/ldhansrd/vo050406/text/50406w05.htm#wa_subhd_30 |url-status=live }}</ref>

At a summit in Aleppo, Syria, in 1997, the World Council of Churches (WCC) proposed a reform in the calculation of Easter which would have replaced the present divergent practices of calculating Easter with modern scientific knowledge taking into account actual astronomical instances of the spring equinox and full moon based on the meridian of Jerusalem, while also following the tradition of Easter being on the Sunday following the full moon.<ref>[http://www.oikoumene.org/index.php?id=2677 WCC: Towards a common date for Easter] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071213064102/http://www.oikoumene.org/index.php?id=2677 |date=13 December 2007 }}</ref> The recommended World Council of Churches changes would have sidestepped the calendar issues and eliminated the difference in date between the Eastern and Western churches. The reform was proposed for implementation starting in 2001, and despite repeated calls for reform, it was not ultimately adopted by any member body.<ref>{{cite web |title=Why is Orthodox Easter on a different day? |url=https://uscatholic.org/articles/201504/why-do-catholics-and-orthodox-christians-celebrate-easter-on-different-days/ |publisher=U.S. Catholic magazine |date=3 April 2015 |access-date=5 April 2021 |archive-date=9 May 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210509040946/https://uscatholic.org/articles/201504/why-do-catholics-and-orthodox-christians-celebrate-easter-on-different-days/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Iati |first=Marisa |title=Why Isn't Easter Celebrated on the Same Date Every Year? |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/history/2019/04/20/why-isnt-easter-celebrated-same-date-every-year/ |newspaper=Washington Post |date=20 April 2019 |access-date=5 April 2021 |archive-date=10 December 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201210230738/https://www.washingtonpost.com/history/2019/04/20/why-isnt-easter-celebrated-same-date-every-year/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

In January 2016, the Anglican Communion, Coptic Orthodox Church, Greek Orthodox Church, and Roman Catholic Church again considered agreeing on a common, universal date for Easter, while also simplifying the calculation of that date, with either the second or third Sunday in April being popular choices.<ref>[http://cathnews.com/cathnews/23940-christian-churches-close-to-deal-to-fix-common-date-for-easter "Christian Churches to Fix Common Date for Easter"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210609102939/https://cathnews.com/cathnews/23940-christian-churches-close-to-deal-to-fix-common-date-for-easter |date=9 June 2021 }} (18 January 2016). ''CathNews.com''. Retrieved 18 September 2018.</ref>

In November 2022, the Patriarch of Constantinople said that conversations between the Roman Catholic Church and the Orthodox Churches had begun to determine a common date for the celebration of Easter. The agreement is expected to be reached for the 1700th anniversary of the Council of Nicaea in 2025.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Hertz |first=Joachin Meisner |date=16 November 2022 |title=Patriarch of Constantinople: Conversations Are Underway for Catholics and Orthodox to Celebrate Easter on the Same Date |url=https://zenit.org/2022/11/16/patriarch-of-constantinople-conversations-are-underway-for-catholics-and-orthodox-to-celebrate-easter-on-the-same-date/ |access-date=18 November 2022 |website=ZENIT – English |archive-date=17 November 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221117185458/https://zenit.org/2022/11/16/patriarch-of-constantinople-conversations-are-underway-for-catholics-and-orthodox-to-celebrate-easter-on-the-same-date/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

===Table of the dates of Easter by Gregorian and Julian calendars=== {{see also|List of dates for Easter}}

The WCC presented comparative data of the relationships:

==Position in the church year== {{Further|Liturgical year}}

===Western Christianity=== {{Lent calendar.svg|400px}}

In most branches of Western Christianity, Easter is preceded by Lent, a period of penitence that begins on Ash Wednesday, lasts 40 days (not counting Sundays), and is often marked with fasting. The week before Easter, known as Holy Week, is an important time for observers to commemorate the final week of Jesus' life on earth.<ref>{{cite web|title=The Meaning of Holy Week|last=MacKinnon|first=Grace|date=March 2003|publisher=Catholic Education Resource Center|url=https://www.catholiceducation.org/en/culture/catholic-contributions/the-meaning-of-holy-week.html|access-date=16 April 2022|archive-date=12 May 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210512214440/https://www.catholiceducation.org/en/culture/catholic-contributions/the-meaning-of-holy-week.html|url-status=live}}</ref> The Sunday before Easter is Palm Sunday, with the Wednesday before Easter being known as Spy Wednesday (or Holy Wednesday). The last three days before Easter are Maundy Thursday, Good Friday and Holy Saturday (sometimes referred to as Silent Saturday).<ref>{{Cite book |last=Sfetcu |first=Nicolae |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=t4B-AwAAQBAJ&dq=The+last+three+days+before+Easter+are+Maundy+Thursday%2C+Good+Friday+and+Holy+Saturday+%28sometimes+referred+to+as+Silent+Saturday%29&pg=PA10 |title=Easter Traditions |date=2 May 2014 |publisher=Nicolae Sfetcu |access-date=25 January 2023 |archive-date=5 April 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230405023926/https://books.google.com/books?id=t4B-AwAAQBAJ&dq=The+last+three+days+before+Easter+are+Maundy+Thursday,+Good+Friday+and+Holy+Saturday+(sometimes+referred+to+as+Silent+Saturday)&pg=PA10 |url-status=live }}</ref>

Palm Sunday, Maundy Thursday and Good Friday respectively commemorate Jesus's entry in Jerusalem, the Last Supper and the crucifixion. Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and Holy Saturday are sometimes referred to as the Easter Triduum (Latin for "Three Days"). Many churches begin celebrating Easter late in the evening of Holy Saturday at a service called the Easter Vigil.<ref name="Encyclopedia Britannica 1998 (Holy Saturday)">{{cite web | title=Holy Saturday | website=Encyclopedia Britannica | date=1998-07-20 | url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Holy-Saturday | access-date=2023-04-23}}</ref>

The week beginning with Easter Sunday is called Easter Week or the Octave of Easter, and each day is prefaced with "Easter", e.g. Easter Monday (a public holiday in many countries), Easter Tuesday (a much less widespread public holiday), etc. Easter Saturday is therefore the Saturday ''after'' Easter Sunday. The day before Easter is properly called Holy Saturday. Eastertide, or Paschaltide, the season of Easter, begins on Easter Sunday and lasts until the day of Pentecost, seven weeks later.<ref name="Fairchild 2012">{{cite web | last=Fairchild | first=Mary | title=Holy Week Timeline: From Palm Sunday to Resurrection Day | website=Learn Religions | date=2012-03-15 | url=https://www.learnreligions.com/holy-week-timeline-700618 | access-date=2023-04-23}}</ref><ref name="Bucher 2021">{{cite web | last=Bucher | first=Meg | title=What Is Holy Week? - 8 Days of Easter You Need to Know | website=Crosswalk.com | date=2021-02-08 | url=https://www.crosswalk.com/special-coverage/easter/what-is-holy-week.html | access-date=2023-04-23}}</ref><ref name="Huck Ramshaw Lathrop 1988 p. ">{{cite book | last1=Huck | first1=Gabe | last2=Ramshaw | first2=Gail | last3=Lathrop | first3=Gordon W. | title=An Easter sourcebook : the fifty days | publisher=Liturgy Training Publications | publication-place=Chicago | date=1988 | isbn=0-930467-76-0 | oclc=17737025}}</ref>

===Eastern Christianity=== [[File:Christ Pantocrator mosaic from Hagia Sophia 2744 x 2900 pixels 3.1 MB.jpg|thumb|Mosaic of Christ Pantocrator, Hagia Sophia]]

In Eastern Christianity, the spiritual preparation for Easter/Pascha begins with Great Lent, which starts on Clean Monday and lasts for 40 continuous days (including Sundays). Great Lent ends on a Friday, and the next day is Lazarus Saturday. The Vespers which begins Lazarus Saturday officially brings Great Lent to a close, although the fast continues through the following week.<ref name="BBC 2002">{{cite web | title=Religions - Christianity: Lent | website=BBC | date=2002-10-02 | url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/christianity/holydays/lent_1.shtml | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230326025715/https://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/christianity/holydays/lent_1.shtml | archive-date=2023-03-26 | url-status=live | access-date=2023-04-23}}</ref><ref name="McGuckin 2011 p. ">{{cite book | last=McGuckin | first=John Anthony | title=The Orthodox Church : an introduction to its history, doctrine, and spiritual culture | publisher=Blackwell Pub. Ltd | publication-place=Chichester, England | date=2011 | isbn=978-1-4051-5066-8 | oclc=1042251815}}</ref>

The Paschal Vigil begins with the Midnight Office, which is the last service of the Lenten Triodion and is timed so that it ends a little before midnight on Holy Saturday night. At the stroke of midnight the Paschal celebration itself begins, consisting of Paschal Matins, Paschal Hours, and Paschal Divine Liturgy.<ref name="Eastern Liturgy">{{cite web |last=Lash |first=Ephrem (Archimandrite) |title=On the Holy and Great Sunday of Pascha |publisher=Monastery of Saint Andrew the First Called, Manchester, England |date=25 January 2007 |url=http://www.anastasis.org.uk/pascha.htm |access-date=27 March 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070409193104/http://anastasis.org.uk/pascha.htm |archive-date=9 April 2007 }}</ref>

The liturgical season from Easter to the Sunday of All Saints (the Sunday after Pentecost) is known as the Pentecostarion (the "50 days"). The week which begins on Easter Sunday is called Bright Week, during which there is no fasting, even on Wednesday and Friday. The Afterfeast of Easter lasts 39 days, with its Apodosis (leave-taking) on the day before the Feast of the Ascension. Pentecost Sunday is the 50th day from Easter (counted inclusively).<ref>{{cite web | url=http://catholicism.about.com/od/holydaysandholidays/p/Pentecost.htm | title=Pentecost Sunday | work=About.com Religion & Spirituality | publisher=About.com | access-date=28 March 2013 | archive-date=29 March 2013 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130329082039/http://catholicism.about.com/od/holydaysandholidays/p/Pentecost.htm | url-status=live }}</ref> In the Pentecostarion published by Apostoliki Diakonia of the Church of Greece, the Great Feast Pentecost is noted in the synaxarion portion of Matins to be the 8th Sunday of Pascha. However, the Paschal greeting of "Christ is risen!" is no longer exchanged among the faithful after the Apodosis of Pascha.<ref name="Holy Transfiguration Monastery">{{cite book |author= |date=1990 |title=The Pentecostarion |location=Massachusetts |publisher=Holy Transfiguration Monastery |pages=6–7 |isbn=0-943405-02-5}}</ref><ref name="melkite.org 2023">{{cite book |author=Liturgical Commission Of The Sisters Of The Order Of St Basil The Great| title=The Pentecostarion | date=1970 |via=melkite.org | url=https://melkite.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/Church-Book-Pentecostarion-2018.pdf | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230423160615/https://melkite.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/Church-Book-Pentecostarion-2018.pdf | archive-date=2023-04-23 | url-status=live| access-date=2023-04-23}}</ref>

==Liturgical observance==  [[File:Easter Sunday 2016.jpg|thumb|Christian worshippers attend an Easter Sunday church service at St James's Church, Piccadilly, London. The cross in the chancel is draped with a white shroud, symbolizing the resurrection.<ref name="SL2023">{{cite web |title=These Are the Real Meanings behind the Colors of Easter |url=https://www.southernliving.com/holidays-occasions/easter/easter-colors#toc-white |publisher=Southern Living |access-date=10 April 2023 |date=14 February 2023 |quote=On Easter, the color white symbolizes purity, grace, and, ultimately, the resurrection of Jesus Christ, which is the joyful culmination of the Easter season. On this holiday, white Easter lilies are displayed in churches and homes, symbolizing the purity of Christ and representing a trumpet sharing the message that Jesus has risen. }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Meaning of Cross Drape Colors |url=https://www.wakeunion.com/meaning-of-cross-drape-colors.html |publisher=Wake Union Baptist Church |access-date=10 April 2023 |quote=The cross is draped in white on Easter Sunday, representing the resurrection of Christ and that He was "...''raised again for our justification''".}}</ref>]]

===Western Christianity=== The Easter festival is kept in many different ways among Western Christians. The traditional, liturgical observation of Easter, as practised among Roman Catholics, Lutherans,<ref>[http://www.liturgybytlw.com/Lent/VigNotes.html Notes for the Easter Vigil] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211121112654/https://www.liturgybytlw.com/Lent/VigNotes.html |date=21 November 2021 }}, website of Lutheran pastor Weitzel</ref> and some Anglicans begins on the night of Holy Saturday with the Easter Vigil which follows an ancient liturgy involving symbols of light, candles and water and numerous readings from the Old and New Testament.<ref>[https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/liturgicalyear/activities/view.cfm?id=1043 Catholic Activity: Easter Vigil] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210915231610/https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/liturgicalyear/activities/view.cfm?id=1043 |date=15 September 2021 }}, entry on catholicculture.org</ref>

Services continue on Easter Sunday and in a number of countries on Easter Monday. In parishes of the Moravian Church, as well as some other denominations such as the Methodist Churches, there is a tradition of Easter sunrise services,<ref>[https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/sunrise-celebration-easter-service/2012/04/08/gIQA6ExV4S_gallery.html?noredirect=on Easter observed at Sunrise Celebration] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191225181405/https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/sunrise-celebration-easter-service/2012/04/08/gIQA6ExV4S_gallery.html?noredirect=on |date=25 December 2019 }}, report of Washington Post April 2012</ref> often starting in cemeteries<ref>[https://www.courant.com/community/pomfret/hc-pt-pomfret-easter-service-a-tradition-0407-20160404-story.html Sunrise Service At Abington Cemetery Is An Easter Tradition] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210124005037/https://www.courant.com/community/pomfret/hc-pt-pomfret-easter-service-a-tradition-0407-20160404-story.html |date=24 January 2021 }}, report of Hartford Courant newspaper of 4 April 2016</ref> in remembrance of the biblical narrative in the Gospels, or other places in the open where the sunrise is visible.<ref>{{cite web |title=Easter sunrise services: A celebration of resurrection |url=https://www.umc.org/en/content/easter-sunrise-services-a-celebration-of-resurrection |website=The United Methodist Church |access-date=4 April 2021 |date=5 April 2019 |archive-date=23 December 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211223103139/https://www.umc.org/en/content/easter-sunrise-services-a-celebration-of-resurrection |url-status=live }}</ref>

In some traditions, Easter services typically begin with the Paschal greeting: "Christ is risen!" The response is: "He is risen indeed. Alleluia!"<ref>{{cite web |title=The Easter Liturgy |url=https://www.churchofengland.org/prayer-and-worship/worship-texts-and-resources/common-worship/churchs-year/times-and-seasons-6 |website=The Church of England |access-date=4 April 2021 |archive-date=19 October 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211019145516/https://www.churchofengland.org/prayer-and-worship/worship-texts-and-resources/common-worship/churchs-year/times-and-seasons-6 |url-status=live }}</ref>

===Eastern Christianity=== [[File:Receiving the Holy Light at Easter.jpg|thumb|The congregation lighting their candles from the new flame, just as the priest has retrieved it from the altar. The picture is flash-illuminated; all electric lighting is off, and only the oil lamps in front of the Iconostasis remain lit. (St. George Greek Orthodox Church, Adelaide).]]

Eastern Orthodox, Eastern Catholics and Byzantine Rite Lutherans have a similar emphasis on Easter in their calendars, and many of their liturgical customs are very similar.<ref name="Moroz">{{cite web|url=https://risu.org.ua/ua/index/exclusive/kaleidoscope/63352/|script-title=uk:Лютерани східного обряду: такі є лише в Україні|last=Moroz|first=Vladimir|date=10 May 2016|publisher=РІСУ – Релігійно-інформаційна служба України|language=uk|access-date=19 September 2018|quote=В українських лютеран, як і в ортодоксальних Церквах, напередодні Великодня є Великий Піст або Чотиридесятниця.|archive-date=15 August 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200815014943/https://risu.org.ua/ua/index/exclusive/kaleidoscope/63352/|url-status=live}}</ref>

Preparation for Easter begins with the season of Great Lent, which begins on Clean Monday.<ref name="histchan">{{cite web |title=Easter |url=https://www.history.com/topics/holidays/history-of-easter |website=History.com |date=27 October 2009 |publisher=History |access-date=20 April 2019 |archive-date=9 December 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211209232116/https://www.history.com/topics/holidays/history-of-easter |url-status=live }}</ref> While the end of Lent is Lazarus Saturday, fasting does not end until Easter Sunday.<ref name="easter looks different">{{cite news |last=Olp |first=Susan |title=Celebrating Easter Looks Different for Eastern Orthodox, Catholic and Protestant churches |url=https://billingsgazette.com/news/local/celebrating-easter-looks-different-for-eastern-orthodox-catholic-and-protestant/article_367482c7-49b8-5d22-aad4-4e49a6631fdb.html |access-date=20 April 2019 |work=The Billings Gazette |archive-date=29 November 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211129183358/https://billingsgazette.com/news/local/celebrating-easter-looks-different-for-eastern-orthodox-catholic-and-protestant/article_367482c7-49b8-5d22-aad4-4e49a6631fdb.html |url-status=live }}</ref> The Orthodox service begins late Saturday evening, observing the Jewish tradition that evening is the start of liturgical holy days.<ref name="easter looks different" />

The church is darkened, then the priest lights a candle at midnight, representing the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Altar servers light additional candles, with a procession which moves three times around the church to represent the three days in the tomb.<ref name="easter looks different" /> The service continues early into Sunday morning, with a feast to end the fasting. An additional service is held later that day on Easter Sunday.<ref name="easter looks different" />

===Non-observing Christian groups=== Many Puritans saw traditional feasts of the established Anglican Church, such as All Saints' Day and Easter, as abominations because the Bible does not mention them.<ref name="Daniels89">Daniels, Bruce Colin (1995). Puritans at Play: Leisure and Recreation in Colonial New England. Macmillan, p. 89, {{ISBN|978-0-31216124-8}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Roark|first1=James|last2=Johnson|first2=Michael|last3=Cohen|first3=Patricia|last4=Stage|first4=Sarah|last5=Lawson|first5=Alan|last6=Hartmann|first6=Susan|title=Understanding the American Promise: A History, Volume I: To 1877 |date=2011 |publisher=Bedford/St. Martin's|page=91|quote=Puritans mandated other purifications of what they considered corrupt English practices. They refused to celebrate Christmas or Easter because the Bible did not mention either one.}}</ref> Conservative Reformed denominations such as the Free Presbyterian Church of Scotland and the Reformed Presbyterian Church of North America likewise reject the celebration of Easter as a violation of the regulative principle of worship and what they see as its non-Scriptural origin.<ref>{{cite web|title=The Regulative Principle of Worship|publisher=Free Presbyterian Church of Scotland|access-date=12 April 2022|url=https://www.fpchurch.org.uk/about-us/how-we-worship/the-regulative-principle-of-worship|quote=Those who adhere to the Regulative Principle by singing exclusively the psalms, refusing to use musical instruments, and rejecting "Christmas", "Easter" and the rest, are often accused of causing disunity among the people of God. The truth is the opposite. The right way to move towards more unity is to move to exclusively Scriptural worship. Each departure from the worship instituted in Scripture creates a new division among the people of God. Returning to Scripture alone to guide worship is the only remedy.|archive-date=14 February 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220214205134/https://www.fpchurch.org.uk/about-us/how-we-worship/the-regulative-principle-of-worship/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=Minutes of Session of 1905|publisher=Reformed Presbyterian Church of North America|date=1905|page=130|quote=WHEREAS, There is a growing tendency in Protestant Churches, and to some extent in our own, to observe days and ceremonies, as Christmas and Easter, that are without divine authority; we urge our people to abstain from all such customs as are popish in their origin and injurious as lending sacredness to rites that come from paganism; that ministers keep before the minds of the people that only institutions that are Scriptural and of Divine appointment should be used in the worship of God.}}</ref>

Easter is rejected by groups such as the Restored Church of God, who claim it originated as a pagan spring festival adopted by the Roman Catholic Church.<ref>{{cite web |last=Pack |first=David |title=The True Origin of Easter |url=http://www.thercg.org/books/ttooe.html#c|publisher=The Restored Church of God |access-date=24 March 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110426025504/http://www.thercg.org/books/ttooe.html |archive-date=26 April 2011 }}</ref><ref name="Okogba 2019">{{Cite news | last=Okogba | first=Emmanuel | title=A philosophical critique of Easter celebration (1) |newspaper=Vanguard| date=2019-04-21 | url=https://www.vanguardngr.com/2019/04/a-philosophical-critique-of-easter-celebration-1/ |location=Lagos, Nigeria| access-date=2023-04-23}}</ref>

Jehovah's Witnesses maintain a similar view, observing a yearly commemorative service of the Last Supper and the subsequent execution of Christ on the evening of Nisan 14 (as they calculate the dates derived from the lunar Hebrew calendar). It is commonly referred to by many Witnesses as simply "The Memorial". Jehovah's Witnesses believe that such verses as {{bibleverse||Luke|22:19–20|KJV}} and {{bibleverse|1|Corinthians|11:26|KJV}} constitute a commandment to remember the death of Christ, though not the resurrection.<ref name="BBC 2006">{{cite web | title=Religions - Witnesses: Jehovah's Witnesses at a glance | website=BBC | date=2006-08-30 | url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/witnesses/ataglance/glance.shtml | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221215065417/https://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/witnesses/ataglance/glance.shtml | archive-date=2022-12-15 | url-status=live | access-date=2023-04-23}}</ref><ref name="jw.org">{{cite web |title=Easter or the Memorial{{snd}}Which Should You Observe? |url=http://www.jw.org/en/publications/magazines/wp19960401/origin-of-easter-not-in-bible/ |work=Watchtower Magazine|publisher=Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania |access-date=11 April 2014 |date=1 April 1996 |archive-date=18 April 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140418134842/http://www.jw.org/en/publications/magazines/wp19960401/origin-of-easter-not-in-bible/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

Members of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers), as part of their historic ''testimony against times and seasons'', do not celebrate or observe Easter or any traditional feast days of the established Church, believing instead that "every day is the Lord's Day", and that elevation of one day above others suggests that it is acceptable to do un-Christian acts on other days.<ref>{{cite book |last=Brownlee |first=William Craig |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1fgpAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA243|title=A Careful and Free Inquiry into the True Nature and Tendency of the ...|date=1824 |access-date=20 June 2015|archive-date=1 August 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200801065800/https://books.google.com/books?id=1fgpAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA243|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web| url = http://qfp.quaker.org.uk/passage/27-42/| title = See ''Quaker Faith & practice'' of Britain Yearly Meeting, Paragraph 27:42| access-date = 21 April 2014| archive-date = 8 June 2021| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210608190613/https://qfp.quaker.org.uk/passage/27-42/| url-status = live}}</ref> During the 17th and 18th centuries, Quakers were persecuted for this non-observance of Holy Days.<ref>[http://www.fum.org/QL/issues/1112/EarlyQuakerTop10.htm ''Quaker life'', December 2011: "Early Quaker Top 10 Ways to Celebrate (or Not) "the Day Called Christmas" by Rob Pierson] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120206202629/http://www.fum.org/QL/issues/1112/EarlyQuakerTop10.htm |date=6 February 2012 }}</ref>

==Easter celebrations around the world== {{Main|Easter traditions}} [[File:Easter Colors.svg|thumb|right|upright|Pastel colors are commonly associated with Easter.<ref>{{cite web|title=Easter Colors: Significance and Symbolism|url=https://christian.net/resources/easter-colors-significance-and-symbolism/|last1=Adana|first1=Kor|publisher=Christian.net|access-date=April 6, 2025}}</ref>]]

Easter is celebrated through various customs and practices across cultures and communities around the world. Eastertide is seen as a time of celebration and feasting, in contrast to the antecedent season of Lent, which is a time of penitence and fasting.<ref name="PennoyerWolfe2015">{{cite book |last1=Pennoyer |first1=Greg |last2=Wolfe |first2=Gregory |title=God For Us: Rediscovering the Meaning of Lent and Easter |date=1 December 2015 |publisher=Paraclete Press |isbn=978-1-61261-822-7 |language=en |quote=With the creation of Lent, the church brought together many of these preexisting customs and directed them to a common need--not only among those entering the life of the church for the first time, but also among practicing Christians for whom the mystery of Easter might threaten to become a mere commonplace. Lenet became a way for Christians to mindfully prepare for the coming feast, to open themselves to their own spiritual hunger in order to make room for the life and fulfillment offered at Easter. |edition=Reader's }}</ref> Traditions include sunrise services or late-night vigils, exclamations and exchanges of Paschal greetings, flowering the cross,<ref name="Whitehouse2022"/> the wearing of Easter bonnets by women,<ref name="Friedman2016">{{cite web |last1=Friedman |first1=Sally |title=Easter bonnets top at Burlington City shop |url=https://www.burlingtoncountytimes.com/story/lifestyle/2016/03/27/easter-bonnets-top-at-burlington/17612366007/ |publisher=Burlington County Times |access-date=10 April 2023 |language=English |date=27 March 2016}}</ref> and the custom of clipping the church.<ref name="clipping the church"/> The Easter lily, a symbol of the resurrection in Christianity,<ref name="Collins"/><ref name="Schell 1916 https://archive.org/details/EasterCelebrations/page/n96 84"/> traditionally decorates the chancel area of churches on this day and for the rest of Eastertide.<ref name="lutherleaguereview" /> There are also traditional Easter foods that vary by region and culture. The decoration and communal breaking of Easter eggs is a traditional practice, with the Easter egg symbolising the empty tomb.<ref name="Jordan2000"/><ref name="tomb1"/><ref name="tomb2"/> Related practices include egg rolling, egg tapping, and cascarones or confetti eggs.<ref name="Hunt2016">{{cite web |last1=Hunt |first1=Scott |title=What's Up with Eggs and Easter? |url=https://www.stgeorgesonline.com/2016/03/15/whats-up-with-eggs-and-easter/ |publisher=St. George's Anglican Church |access-date=10 April 2023 |date=15 March 2016 |quote=The egg, with its hard shell, was used to represent Jesus’ tomb. Outside it looks lifeless. But, after a time, from inside breaks out new life. In some traditions the eggs were painted red to represent the blood of Christ shed for us. Easter egg hunts were organized to represent searching out the risen Jesus. Egg rolling was a game to remember how the stone was rolled away from the entrance of Jesus’ tomb. Even Martin Luther is said to have been a fan of Easter Eggs and Easter Egg hunts.}}</ref> Egg hunting, originating in the idea of searching for the empty tomb, is an activity that remains popular among children.<ref name="Hunt2016"/><ref name="Black2004">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GZsHDG1-4X0C&pg=PT109|title=The Church Standard, Volume 74|publisher=Church Publishing, Inc.|quote=In parts of Europe, the eggs were dyed red and were then cracked together when people exchanged Easter greetings. Many congregations today continue to have Easter egg hunts for the children after the services on Easter Day.|first=Vicki K. |last=Black |date=2004|access-date=7 April 2012|isbn=978-0819225757|archive-date=4 August 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200804005753/https://books.google.com/books?id=GZsHDG1-4X0C&pg=PT109|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Davis">{{cite web|url=http://www.cbsnews.com/news/happy-easter-whats-with-the-bunny-and-the-eggs/|title=Easter Traditions Explained|last=Davis|first=David|date=20 April 2014|work=CBS News|access-date=20 April 2014|quote=The German church reformer Martin Luther, Larson-Miller said, also appeared to encourage the tradition. "We know that Martin Luther had Easter egg hunts where the men hid the eggs for the women and children went and it probably has this connection back to this idea of eggs being the tomb."}}</ref> During the last century and a half, Easter has become increasingly commercialized,<ref>{{cite news |title=The commercialization of Easter: How a religious holiday became a $24.9 billion retail event |url=https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2026/apr/3/commercialization-easter-religious-holiday-became-249-billion-retail/ |access-date=10 April 2026 |work=The Washington Times |date=3 April 2026}}</ref> seeing wide sales of greeting cards and confectionery such as chocolate Easter eggs.

In countries where Christianity is a state religion, or those with large Christian populations, Easter is often a public holiday.<ref name="Canada Revenue Agency 2016">{{cite web | last=Agency | first=Canada Revenue | title=Public holidays | website=Canada.ca | date=2016-01-21 | url=https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/services/tax/public-holidays.html | access-date=2023-04-23}}</ref> As Easter always falls on a Sunday, many countries in the world also recognize Good Friday and Easter Monday as public holidays.<ref name="Acevedo 2023">{{cite web | last=Acevedo | first=Sophia | title=Are banks open today? Here's a list of US bank holidays for 2023 | website=Business Insider | date=2023-04-06 | url=https://www.businessinsider.com/personal-finance/when-are-banks-closed-us-bank-holidays | access-date=2023-04-23}}</ref> Depending on the country, retail stores, shopping malls and restaurants may be closed on the Friday, Monday or Sunday.<ref name="Uro Day DeMaris Roitto 2019 p. ">{{cite book | last1=Uro | first1=Risto | last2=Day | first2=Juliette | last3=DeMaris | first3=Richard E. | last4=Roitto | first4=Rikard | title=The Oxford handbook of early Christian ritual | publication-place=Oxford, United Kingdom | publisher=Oxford University Press | date=2019 | isbn=978-0-19-874787-1 | oclc=1081186286 | page=}}</ref>

In the Nordic countries, Good Friday, Easter Sunday, and Easter Monday are public holidays,<ref>Public holidays in Scandinavian countries, for example; {{cite web|title=Public holidays in Sweden|url=http://www.visitsweden.com/sweden/sweden-facts/worth-knowing-about-sweden/public-holidays|publisher=VisitSweden|access-date=10 April 2014|archive-date=13 April 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140413224258/http://www.visitsweden.com/sweden/sweden-facts/worth-knowing-about-sweden/public-holidays/ }} {{cite web|title=Public holidays [in Denmark]|url=http://www.visitdenmark.co.uk/en-gb/denmark/public-holidays|publisher=VisitDenmark|access-date=10 April 2014|archive-date=25 July 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180725120415/https://www.visitdenmark.co.uk/en-gb/denmark/public-holidays|url-status=live}}</ref> and Good Friday and Easter Monday are bank holidays.<ref>{{cite web|title=Bank Holidays|url=http://www.nordea.com/About+Nordea/Contact/Bank+Holidays/1541152.html|publisher=Nordea Bank AB|access-date=10 April 2014|archive-date=13 April 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140413130718/http://www.nordea.com/About+Nordea/Contact/Bank+Holidays/1541152.html }}</ref> In Denmark, Iceland and Norway, Maundy Thursday is also a public holiday; it is a holiday for most workers, except those operating some shopping malls which keep open for a half-day. Many businesses give their employees almost a week off, called Easter break.<ref>{{cite web|title=Lov om detailsalg fra butikker m.v.|url=https://www.retsinformation.dk/Forms/R0710.aspx?id=27066|publisher=retsinformation.dk|access-date=10 April 2014|language=da|archive-date=16 July 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110716030326/https://www.retsinformation.dk/Forms/R0710.aspx?id=27066|url-status=live}}</ref> Schools are closed between Palm Sunday and Easter Monday. According to a 2014 poll, 6 of 10 Norwegians travel during Easter, often to a countryside cottage; 3 of 10 said their typical Easter included skiing.<ref>Mona Langset (12 April 2014) [http://www.vg.no/forbruker/reise/reiseliv/nordmenn-tar-paaskeferien-i-norge/a/10130413/ Nordmenn tar påskeferien i Norge] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160410134907/http://www.vg.no/forbruker/reise/reiseliv/nordmenn-tar-paaskeferien-i-norge/a/10130413/ |date=10 April 2016 }} {{in lang|no}} VG</ref> [[File:Otto Santi Ruvo 2023.jpg|thumb|Holy Week in Ruvo di Puglia, Apulia, Italy]]

Easter in Italy is one of that country's major holidays.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.ellci.net/easter-how-does-italy-celebrate-this-festivity/|title=Easter: How does Italy celebrate this festivity?|date=8 April 2019 |access-date=6 January 2024}}</ref> Easter in Italy enters Holy Week with Palm Sunday, Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and Holy Saturday, concluding with Easter Day and Easter Monday. Each day has a special significance. In Italy, both Easter Sunday and Easter Monday are national holidays,<ref name="cerimoniale">{{cite web|url=https://presidenza.governo.it/ufficio_cerimoniale/cerimoniale/giornate.html|title=Ufficio del Cerimoniale di Stato|access-date=29 December 2022|language=it}}</ref> which results in a first and a second Easter Sunday, after which the week continues to a Tuesday.<ref name="cerimoniale"/> Also in the Netherlands, both Easter Sunday and Easter Monday are national holidays, and like first and second Christmas Day, they are ''both'' considered Sundays, resulting in a first and a second Easter Sunday, after which the week continues to a Tuesday.<ref>{{cite web|title=Dutch Easter traditions – how the Dutch celebrate Easter|url=http://dutchcommunity.com/2013/03/13/dutch-easter-traditions-how-the-dutch-celebrate-easter/|publisher=Dutch Community|access-date=10 April 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140413141059/http://dutchcommunity.com/2013/03/13/dutch-easter-traditions-how-the-dutch-celebrate-easter/|archive-date=13 April 2014 }}</ref>

Good Friday and Saturday as well as Easter Sunday and Monday are traditionally observed public holidays in Greece. It is customary for employees of the public sector to receive Easter bonuses as a gift from the state.<ref>{{Cite web |last=webteam |date=6 April 2017 |title=Τι προβλέπει η νομοθεσία για την καταβολή του δώρου του Πάσχα {{!}} Ελληνική Κυβέρνηση |url=https://government.gov.gr/τι-προβλέπει-η-νομοθεσία-για-την-καταβ/ |access-date=23 April 2022 |language=el |archive-date=28 July 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210728051730/https://government.gov.gr/%CF%84%CE%B9-%CF%80%CF%81%CE%BF%CE%B2%CE%BB%CE%AD%CF%80%CE%B5%CE%B9-%CE%B7-%CE%BD%CE%BF%CE%BC%CE%BF%CE%B8%CE%B5%CF%83%CE%AF%CE%B1-%CE%B3%CE%B9%CE%B1-%CF%84%CE%B7%CE%BD-%CE%BA%CE%B1%CF%84%CE%B1%CE%B2/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

In the United Kingdom, Good Friday and Easter Monday are bank holidays, except in Scotland, where only Good Friday is a bank holiday.<ref>{{cite web|title=UK bank holidays|url=https://www.gov.uk/bank-holidays|publisher=gov.uk|access-date=10 April 2014|archive-date=21 September 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120921191903/http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Governmentcitizensandrights/LivingintheUK/DG_073741|url-status=live}}</ref> In Canada, Easter Monday is a statutory holiday for federal employees. In the Canadian province of Quebec, either Good Friday or Easter Monday are statutory holidays (although most companies give both).<ref>{{cite web |title=Statutory Holidays |url=https://www.cnesst.gouv.qc.ca/en/working-conditions/leave/statutory-holidays/statutory-holidays |website=CNESST |access-date=1 January 2022 |archive-date=1 January 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220101110616/https://www.cnesst.gouv.qc.ca/en/working-conditions/leave/statutory-holidays/statutory-holidays |url-status=live }}</ref> In Australia, Easter is associated with harvest time;<ref>{{cite web|title = Easter 2016|url = http://publicholidays.com.au/easter/|access-date = 1 June 2015|publisher = Public Holidays Australia|archive-date = 22 December 2021|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20211222181137/https://publicholidays.com.au/easter/|url-status = live}}</ref> Good Friday and Easter Monday are public holidays across all states and territories. The Saturday before Easter is a public holiday in every Australian state except Tasmania and Western Australia. Easter Sunday itself is a public holiday in every state and territory other than Tasmania<ref> https://www.fairwork.gov.au/employment-conditions/public-holidays</ref>; Easter Tuesday is additionally a conditional public holiday in Tasmania, varying upon different industrial awards, and was also a public holiday in Victoria until 1994.<ref>[http://www.australia.gov.au/topics/australian-facts-and-figures/public-holidays Public holidays] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150104013240/http://www.australia.gov.au/topics/australian-facts-and-figures/public-holidays |date=4 January 2015 }}, australia.gov.au</ref> In New Zealand, Good Friday and Easter Monday are both state holidays.

In the United States, which is a secular country, Easter is not designated as a federal holiday.<ref>{{cite web| url = https://www.usa.gov/holidays| title = American holidays| date = 6 December 2023| website = USAGov| publisher = U.S. General Services Administration| access-date = 29 May 2024| quote = Many government offices and some private businesses close on annual federal holidays. '''If the holiday falls during the weekend, the government may observe it on a different day.''' [emphasis added]}}</ref> Easter parades are held in many American cities, though not sponsored by any government, involving festive strolling processions.<ref name="Duchak2002">{{cite book |last=Duchak |first=Alicia |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_ho1VxKARgEC&q=easter+egg+hunt+non-Christians |title=An A–Z of Modern America |date=2002 |publisher=Rutledge |isbn=978-0415187558 |page=372 |access-date=17 October 2020 |archive-date=27 December 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211227231520/https://books.google.com/books?id=_ho1VxKARgEC&q=easter+egg+hunt+non-Christians |url-status=live }}</ref>

Easter In Nigeria is a major Christian festival in respect of the resurrection of Jesus Christ and it's a widely observed festival across Nigeria.<ref>{{Cite web |title=FG DECLARES FRIDAY 3RD AND MONDAY 6TH APRIL 2026 AS PUBLIC HOLIDAYS TO MARK EASTER CELEBRATION – Ministry of Interior |url=https://interior.gov.ng/fg-declares-friday-3rd-and-monday-6th-april-2026-as-public-holidays-to-mark-easter-celebration/ |access-date=2026-04-16 |language=en-US}}</ref>

===Easter food=== {{main|Easter food}}

[[File:Colomba.jpg|thumb|upright|Italian Easter tradition includes Easter bread, the Colomba di Pasqua, the Easter counterpart to traditional Italian Christmas desserts, panettone and pandoro.]]

[[File:Hot cross buns - fig and pecan.jpg|thumb|Hot cross bun]]

Easter is associated with diverse regional food traditions (foodways), including the popular practice of preparing, coloring, and decorating Easter eggs. Lamb is eaten in many countries, mirroring the Jewish Passover meal.<ref>[https://www.thespruceeats.com/traditional-easter-foods-from-around-the-world-4161077 Traditional Easter Foods From Around the World]</ref> Eating lamb at Easter has religious meaning,<ref name="palaisdurosaire">{{Cite web|last=|first=|date=|title=Il simbolismo dell'agnello pasquale|url=https://www.palaisdurosaire.com/it/blog/il-simbolismo-dell-agnello-pasquale-n169|access-date=26 December 2022|website=lacucinaitaliana.it |language=it}}</ref> as the Paschal Lamb of the New Testament represents Jesus Christ and his sacrifice for the sins of humanity.<ref>{{Cite web|last=|first=|date=|title=La Sacra Bibbia|url=https://www.laparola.net/wiki.php?riferimento=Is53%2C7-12&formato_rif=vp|access-date=26 December 2022|language=it}}</ref> Eating lamb at Easter therefore commemorates the death and resurrection of Jesus.<ref name="palaisdurosaire"/>

A hot cross bun is a spiced fruit bun typically marked with a cross on the top, which has been traditionally eaten on Good Friday in the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Canada, India, Pakistan, Malta, United States, and the Commonwealth Caribbean.<ref name="Alexander2017">{{cite news |last1=Alexander |first1=Deepa |title=Season's eatings |url=https://www.thehindu.com/life-and-style/food/hot-cross-buns-fresh-off-the-oven-in-chennai/article17907662.ece |work=The Hindu |access-date=13 March 2021 |language=English |date=10 April 2017 |archive-date=17 January 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220117203350/https://www.thehindu.com/life-and-style/food/hot-cross-buns-fresh-off-the-oven-in-chennai/article17907662.ece |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="caribbean.loopnews.com">{{Cite web |title=Caribbean Easter meals to keep families together during covid-19 |url=https://caribbean.loopnews.com/content/caribbean-easter-meals-keep-families-together-during-covid-19 |access-date=2023-04-03 |website=Loop News |language=en}}</ref><ref name="globalvoices.org">{{Cite web |date=2016-03-25 |title=Hot Cross Buns, A Caribbean Easter Tradition |url=https://globalvoices.org/2016/03/25/hot-cross-buns-a-caribbean-easter-tradition/ |access-date=2023-04-03 |website=Global Voices |language=en}}</ref> They are available all year round in some places, including the UK.<ref name="news.bbc.co.uk">{{cite web |last=Rohrer |first=Finlo |url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/8598312.stm |title=BBC - How did hot cross buns become two a penny? |publisher=BBC News |date=1 April 2010 |access-date=26 April 2014 |archive-date=13 June 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180613213448/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/8598312.stm |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Always a good time for hot cross buns |url=https://www.coles.com.au/whats-happening/inspire-and-create/always-a-good-time-for-hot-cross-buns |website=Coles |access-date=27 December 2021 |language=en |archive-date=26 December 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211226094914/https://www.coles.com.au/whats-happening/inspire-and-create/always-a-good-time-for-hot-cross-buns |url-status=live }}</ref> The bun marks the end of Lent and different parts of the hot cross bun have a certain meaning, including the cross representing the crucifixion of Jesus, the spices inside signifying the spices used to embalm him at his burial and sometimes also orange peel to reflect the bitterness of his time on the cross.<ref name="TurnerTaylor1999">{{cite book|last1=Turner|first1=Ina|last2=Taylor|first2=Ina|title=Christianity|year=1999|publisher=Nelson Thornes|isbn=9780748740871|page=50|quote=To mark the end of the Lent fast Christians eat hot cross buns. These have a special meaning. The cross in the middle shows how Jesus died. Spices inside remind Christians of the spices put on the body of Jesus. Sweet fruits in the bun show that Christians no longer have to eat plain foods.}}</ref><ref name="Fakes1994">{{cite book|last=Fakes|first=Dennis R.|title=Exploring Our Lutheran Liturgy|date=1 January 1994|publisher=CSS Publishing|isbn=9781556735967|page=33|quote=Since people often gave up meat during Lent, bread became one of the staples of Lent. Bakers even began making dough pretzels--a knotted length of dough that represented a Christian praying, with arms crossed and hands placed on opposite shoulders. Hot cross buns are popular during Lent. The cross of course reminds the eater of Christ's cross.}}</ref> The Greeks in the 6th century AD may have marked cakes with a cross.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9806E3D7133AE633A25752C3A9659C946396D6CF |work=The New York Times |title=Who Were The First To Cry "Hot Cross Buns?" |date=31 March 1912 |access-date=4 May 2010 |archive-date=4 March 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304082159/http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9806E3D7133AE633A25752C3A9659C946396D6CF |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.countrylife.co.uk/food-drink/the-history-of-the-hot-cross-bun-1496|title=Curious Questions: Why do we eat hot cross buns at Easter?|first=Annunciata|last=Elwes|date=13 April 2019|website=Country Life}}</ref> In the Christian tradition, the making of buns with a cross on them and consuming them after breaking the fast on Good Friday, along with "crying about 'Hot cross buns{{'"}}, is done in order to commemorate the crucifixion of Jesus.<ref name="Hatton">{{cite book |title=The Origin of the Fasts and Festivals of the Church |date=1843 |publisher=Thomas Hatton |location=London |page=28 |language=en}}</ref> It is hypothesised that the contemporary hot cross bun of Christianity originates from St Albans Abbey in St Albans, England, where in 1361, Brother Thomas Rodcliffe, a 14th-century Christian monk, developed a similar recipe called an 'Alban Bun' and distributed the bun to the poor on Good Friday.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.stalbanscathedral.org/news/archive/2014/the-city-of-st-albans-claims-the-original-hot-cross-bun |work=St Albans Cathedral |title=The City of St Albans Claims the Original Hot Cross Bun |access-date=7 December 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180316214718/https://www.stalbanscathedral.org/news/archive/2014/the-city-of-st-albans-claims-the-original-hot-cross-bun |archive-date=16 March 2018 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

For lunch or dinner on Holy Saturday, families in Sweden and Denmark traditionally feast on a smörgåsbord of herring, salmon, potatoes, eggs, and other kinds of food. In Finland, it is common to eat roasted lamb with potatoes and other vegetables. In Finland, the Lutheran majority enjoys mämmi as another traditional Easter treat, while the Orthodox minority's traditions include eating pasha (also spelled paskha) instead. In Greece, the traditional Easter meal is {{lang|el-Latn|mageiritsa}}, a hearty stew of chopped lamb liver and wild greens seasoned with egg-and-lemon sauce. Traditionally, Easter eggs, hard-boiled eggs dyed bright red to symbolize the spilt Blood of Christ and the promise of eternal life, are cracked together to celebrate the opening of the Tomb of Christ. Greek foods of the Easter tradition are Flaouna, Lazarakia, Koulourakia, Magiritsa and Tsoureki. [[File:Abbacchio Pasquale.jpg|thumb|Abbacchio, a lamb preparation from the Italian Easter tradition]]

Traditional Italian dishes for the Easter period are abbacchio, cappello del prete, casatiello, Colomba di Pasqua, pastiera, penia, pizza di Pasqua and pizzelle. Abbacchio is an Italian preparation of lamb typical of the Roman cuisine.<ref name="abbacchioromanoigp-prodotto">{{cite web|url=http://www.abbacchioromanoigp.it/Il_prodotto_tp5_pg161.aspx|title=Abbacchio Romano IGP|publisher=abbacchioromanoigp.it|access-date=10 June 2014|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140714115702/http://www.abbacchioromanoigp.it/Il_prodotto_tp5_pg161.aspx|archive-date=14 July 2014}}</ref><ref name="Treccani">{{cite web|url=http://www.treccani.it/vocabolario/abbacchio/|title=abbàcchio|publisher=Vocabolario – Treccani|access-date=15 January 2016}}</ref> It is a product protected by the European Union with the PGI mark.<ref name="PGI">{{cite web|url=https://www.qualigeo.eu/prodotto-qualigeo/abbacchio-romano-igp/|title=Abbacchio Romano IGP|publisher=qualigeo.eu|access-date=7 January 2024|language=it}}</ref> In Italy at Easter, abbacchio is cooked in different ways, with recipes that vary from region to region.<ref name="lacucinaitaliana2">{{Cite web|last=|first=|date=25 March 2018|title=Perché si mangia l'agnello a Pasqua? C'entra la religione|url=https://www.lacucinaitaliana.it/news/in-primo-piano/pasqua-agnello-pasquale-simbolo/|access-date=26 December 2022|website=lacucinaitaliana.it |language=it}}</ref> In Rome it is roasted, in Apulia in the oven, in Naples it is cooked with peas and eggs, in Sardinia it is cooked in the oven with potatoes, artichokes and myrtle and in Tuscany it is cooked in cacciatore style.<ref name="lacucinaitaliana2"/> Other local preparations include frying and stewing.<ref name="lacucinaitaliana2"/> Colomba di Pasqua (English: "Easter Dove") is an Italian traditional Easter bread, the Easter counterpart of the two well-known Italian Christmas desserts, panettone and pandoro.

Capirotada or Capilotade, also known as Capirotada de vigilia, is a traditional Mexican food similar to a bread pudding that is usually eaten during the Lenten period. It is one of the dishes served on Good Friday. Despite originally being consumed before Lent, ''capirotada'' is now consumed during Lent, especially during Holy Week and on Good Friday.<ref>[http://thezenchilada.com/current_issue.html Capirotada] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190616182748/http://www.thezenchilada.com/current_issue.html |date=2019-06-16 }} The Zenchilada page 102 Winter 2011]</ref> Recently, it has been given a spiritual meaning in relation to the passion of Christ and the Lenten season, thus, for many people, the bread represents the Body of Christ, the syrup is his blood, the cloves are the nails of the cross, and the whole cinnamon sticks are the wood of the cross.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2018-03-26|title=Eatymology: Capirotada|url=https://thelocalpalate.com/articles/eatymology-capirotada/|access-date=2020-09-04|website=The Local Palate|language=en-US|archive-date=2020-10-28|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201028025341/https://thelocalpalate.com/articles/eatymology-capirotada/|url-status=dead}}</ref> The melted cheese stands for the Holy Shroud.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Mather|first=Robin|title=Mexican Easter bread pudding with a long culinary lineage|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/dining/craving/sc-easter-mexican-bread-pudding-food-0407-20170404-story.html|access-date=2020-09-04|website=chicagotribune.com|date=4 April 2017 }}</ref>

The Easter mona is a Spanish kind of cake that is especially eaten on Easter Sunday or Easter Monday in the Spanish regions of Catalonia, Valencia and Murcia.<ref>{{cite web |title=Twenty things you didn't know about the Mona de Pasqua |url=https://www.barcelona.cat/culturapopular/en/noticia/infobarcelonaentwenty-things-you-didnt-know-about-the-mona-de-pasqua_491374 |website=Barcelona City Council|accessdate=12 April 2020}}</ref> In other Spanish regions, these Easter cakes are common with variations in the recipe and name. According to the writing of Joan Amades, mentions of the ''mona'' date back to the 15th century,<ref>{{cite web |title=The Easter 'mona' cake: what does the custom signify and where does it come from? |url=https://www.barcelona.cat/culturapopular/en/noticia/infobarcelonaenthe-easter-mona-cake-what-does-the-custom-signify-and-where-does-it-come-from_493912 |website=Barcelona City Council|date=27 March 2023 }}</ref> though in the Joan Lacavalleria's 1696 dictionary, ''Gazophylacium Catalano-Latinum'', ''mona'' still has a purely zoological definition (meaning female monkey). The 1783 edition of the dictionary of the Royal Spanish Academy has the following definition: "Catalonia, Valencia and Murcia. Cake baked with eggs in their shell at Easter, known in other parts of the Iberian Peninsula as Hornazo".<ref>{{cite web |title=La Mona de Pascua (siglo XVIII, Barcelona, Murcia y Valencia) |url=http://usuaris.tinet.cat/vne/cal_03.htm|language=es|website=Tinet|location=Tarragona}}</ref> [[File:Paskha2.jpg|thumb|Two paskhas with candles (with a kulich and Easter eggs in the background)]]

Paskha is a Slavic festive dish made in Eastern Orthodox countries which consists of food that is forbidden during the fast of Great Lent. It is made during Holy Week and then brought to Church on Great Saturday to be blessed after the Paschal Vigil. The name of the dish comes from Pascha, the Eastern Orthodox celebration of Easter. Pasha is also often served in Finland. Cheese paskha is a traditional Easter dish made from tvorog (like cottage cheese),<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/pashka|title=Pashka definition and meaning - Collins English Dictionary|website=Collinsdictionary.com|access-date=28 December 2017}}</ref> which is white, symbolizing the purity of Christ, the Paschal Lamb, and the joy of the Resurrection. It is formed in a mold, traditionally in the shape of a truncated pyramid which symbolizes the first Passover in Egypt, a nod to Christianity's early Jewish beginnings and a reminder that the Last Supper of Jesus was a Passover Seder. Others believe the pyramid is a symbol of the Trinity, the Church, or the Tomb of Christ. It is usually served as an accompaniment to rich Easter breads called paska in Ukraine and kulich in Russia (where the "paskha" name is also used in the Southern regions).<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.pravmir.com/article_178.html |title=Easter recipes: Kulich & Paskha |access-date=2014-04-11 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130327040815/http://www.pravmir.com/article_178.html |archive-date=2013-03-27 }}</ref> The Easter foods; bread and cheese paska are very rich and made of many dairy items given up during Great Lent. They are brought to church on Easter to be blessed by the priest.

===Easter eggs=== {{main|Easter egg}}

====Traditional customs==== The egg is an ancient symbol of new life and rebirth.<ref>{{Cite web|date=3 April 2021|title=Easter Sunday 2021: Date, Significance, History, Facts, Easter Egg|url=https://news.jagatgururampalji.org/easter-sunday-spiritual-significance/|access-date=3 April 2021|website=S A NEWS |archive-date=3 April 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210403192335/https://news.jagatgururampalji.org/easter-sunday-spiritual-significance/|url-status=live}}</ref> In Christianity it became associated with Jesus's crucifixion and resurrection.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.history.com/topics/holidays/easter-symbols|title=Easter Symbols and Traditions – Holidays|website=History.com|date=27 October 2009 |access-date=27 April 2017|archive-date=25 December 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211225054738/http://www.history.com/topics/holidays/easter-symbols|url-status=live}}</ref> The custom of the Easter egg originated in the early Christian community of Mesopotamia, who stained eggs red in memory of the blood of Christ, shed at his crucifixion.<ref name="SiemaszkiewiczDeyrup2013">{{cite book|last1=Siemaszkiewicz|first1=Wojciech|last2=Deyrup|first2=Marta Mestrovic|title=Wallington's Polish Community |date=2013 |publisher=Arcadia Publishing|isbn=978-1439643303|page=101|quote=The tradition of Easter eggs dates back to early Christians in Mesopotamia. The Easter egg is a reminder that Jesus rose from the grave, promising an eternal life for believers.}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TinZAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA558 |title=Donahoe's Magazine, Volume 5 |publisher=T.B. Noonan |quote=The early Christians of Mesopotamia had the custom of dyeing and decorating eggs at Easter. They were stained red, in memory of the blood of Christ, shed at His crucifixion. The Church adopted the custom, and regarded the eggs as the emblem of the resurrection, as is evinced by the benediction of Pope Paul V., about 1610, which reads thus: 'Bless, O Lord! we beseech thee, this thy creature of eggs, that it may become a wholesome sustenance to thy faithful servants, eating it in thankfulness to thee on account of the resurrection of the Lord.' Thus the custom has come down from ages lost in antiquity. |date=1881 |access-date =24 April 2014|archive-date =1 August 2020|archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20200801065711/https://books.google.com/books?id=TinZAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA558|url-status =live}}</ref> As such, for Christians, the Easter egg is a symbol of the empty tomb.<ref name="tomb1" /><ref name="tomb2" /> The oldest tradition is to use dyed chicken eggs.

In the Eastern Orthodox Church Easter eggs are blessed by a priest<ref name="GBN">{{Cite book |date=2000 |publication-date=2000 |title=The Great Book of Needs: Expanded and Supplemented (Volume 2): The Sanctification of the Temple and other Ecclesiastical and Liturgical Blessings |pages=337 |place=South Canaan, Pennsylvania |publisher=Saint Tikhon's Seminary Press |isbn=1-878997-56-4 |url=https://stmpress.com/collections/service-books-1/products/the-great-book-of-needs-volume-2 |access-date=5 May 2021 |archive-date=16 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210116154319/https://stmpress.com/collections/service-books-1/products/the-great-book-of-needs-volume-2 |url-status=live }}</ref> both in families' baskets together with other foods forbidden during Great Lent and alone for distribution or in church or elsewhere. <gallery widths="300px" heights="240px"> File:Pasxalina abga.jpg|Traditional red Easter eggs for blessing by a priest File:2004 Velikden Pascha Gorazd Andrej Timkovic Presov monastyr.jpg|A priest blessing baskets with Easter eggs and other foods forbidden during Great Lent File:Expedition 51 Soyuz Blessing (NHQ201704190004).jpg|A priest distributing blessed Easter eggs after blessing the Soyuz rocket </gallery>

Easter eggs are a widely popular symbol of new life among the Eastern Orthodox but also in folk traditions in Slavic countries and elsewhere. A batik-like decorating process known as pisanka produces intricate, brilliantly colored eggs. The celebrated House of Fabergé workshops created exquisite jewelled Easter eggs for the Russian Imperial family from 1885 to 1916.<ref>{{cite book|last1=von Solodkoff|first1=A.|title=Masterpieces from the House of Fabergé|date=1989|publisher=Abradale Press|isbn=978-0810980891}}</ref>

====Modern customs==== A modern custom in the Western world is to substitute decorated chocolate, or plastic eggs filled with candy such as jellybeans; as many people give up candy (sweets) as their Lenten sacrifice, individuals indulge in them at Easter after having abstained during the preceding forty days of Lent.<ref name="Shoda2014">{{cite book |last=Shoda |first=Richard W. |title=Saint Alphonsus: Capuchins, Closures, and Continuity (1956–2011) |date=2014 |publisher=Dorrance Publishing |isbn=978-1-4349-2948-8 |page=128 }}</ref>

<gallery widths="270px" heights="200px"> File:Easter eggs - straw decoration.jpg|Easter eggs, a symbol of the empty tomb, are a popular cultural symbol of Easter.<ref name="Jordan2000"/> File:Candy eggs in an Easter basket.JPG|Marshmallow rabbits, candy eggs and other treats in an Easter basket File:Easter-egg-3195.jpg|An Easter egg decorated with the Easter Bunny </gallery>

Manufacturing their first Easter egg in 1875, British chocolate company Cadbury sponsors the annual egg hunt which takes place in over 250 National Trust locations in the United Kingdom.<ref>{{cite news |title=Amazing archive images show how Cadbury cracked Easter egg market |url=https://www.birminghammail.co.uk/news/nostalgia/easter-2015-amazing-archive-images-8963621 |access-date=21 May 2019 |work=Birmingham Mail |archive-date=9 August 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200809002239/https://www.birminghammail.co.uk/news/nostalgia/easter-2015-amazing-archive-images-8963621 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/cadbury-national-trust-church-england-airbrush-faith-easter-egg-hunt-remove-christianity-holiday-a7665436.html|title=Cadbury and National Trust accused of 'airbrushing faith' by Church of England for dropping 'Easter' from egg hunt|website=Independent.co.uk|agency=The Independent|date=4 April 2017|access-date=21 May 2019|archive-date=2 July 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190702052007/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/cadbury-national-trust-church-england-airbrush-faith-easter-egg-hunt-remove-christianity-holiday-a7665436.html|url-status=live}}</ref> On Easter Monday, the President of the United States holds an annual Easter egg roll on the White House lawn for young children.<ref>{{cite web|title=Easter Egg Roll|url=https://trumpwhitehouse.archives.gov/eastereggroll|access-date=10 April 2014|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210120193618/https://trumpwhitehouse.archives.gov/eastereggroll/|via=National Archives|work=whitehouse.gov|archive-date=20 January 2021}}</ref>

=====Easter Bunny===== {{Main|Easter Bunny}}

[[File:Bunny Wabbits (26218859322).jpg|thumb|Inflatable Easter Bunny in front of San Francisco City Hall]] In some traditions, the children put out their empty baskets for the Easter Bunny to fill while they sleep. They wake to find their baskets filled with candy eggs and other treats.<ref name="Anderson2017">{{cite news |last=Anderson |first=Emma |title=Easter in Germany: The very deutsch origins of the Easter Bunny |url=https://www.thelocal.de/20170410/made-in-germany-the-very-deutsch-origins-of-the-easter-bunny/ |access-date=4 April 2021 |work=The Local Germany |date=10 April 2017 |archive-date=23 November 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211123035016/https://www.thelocal.de/20170410/made-in-germany-the-very-deutsch-origins-of-the-easter-bunny/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Sifferlin2015">{{cite news |last=Sifferlin |first=Alexandra |title=What's the Origin of the Easter Bunny? |url=https://time.com/3767518/easter-bunny-origins-history/ |magazine=Time |access-date=4 April 2021 |date=21 February 2020 |orig-year=2015 |archive-date=22 October 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211022112913/https://time.com/3767518/easter-bunny-origins-history/ |url-status=live }}</ref> A custom originating in Germany,<ref name="Anderson2017" /> the Easter Bunny is a popular legendary anthropomorphic Easter gift-giving character analogous to Santa Claus in American culture. Many children around the world follow the tradition of coloring hard-boiled eggs and giving baskets of candy.<ref name="Sifferlin2015" /> Historically, foxes, cranes and storks were also sometimes named as the mystical creatures.<ref name="Anderson2017" /> Since the rabbit is a pest in Australia, the Easter Bilby is available as an alternative.<ref>{{cite news |last=Conroy |first=Gemma |title=10 Reasons Australians Should Celebrate Bilbies, not Bunnies, This Easter |url=https://www.australiangeographic.com.au/topics/wildlife/2017/04/10-reasons-australians-should-celebrate-bilbies-not-bunnies-this-easter/ |access-date=4 April 2021 |work=Australian Geographic |date=13 April 2017 |archive-date=18 July 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210718202300/https://www.australiangeographic.com.au/topics/wildlife/2017/04/10-reasons-australians-should-celebrate-bilbies-not-bunnies-this-easter/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

==See also== {{Portal|Christianity|Holidays}}

* Divine Mercy Sunday * Life of Jesus in the New Testament * List of Easter films * List of Easter hymns * List of Easter television episodes * List of movable Eastern Christian observances * Regina caeli

==Footnotes== {{Notelist}}

==References== {{Reflist}}

==External links== {{Sister project auto|wikt=yes}}

===Liturgical=== * [http://www.liturgies.net/Easter/Easter.htm Liturgical Resources for Easter] * [http://ocafs.oca.org/FeastSaintsViewer.asp?SID=4&ID=1&FSID=27 Holy Pascha: The Resurrection of Our Lord] (Orthodox icon and synaxarion)

===Traditions=== * [http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/05224d.htm Roman Catholic View of Easter] (from the ''Catholic Encyclopedia'')

===Calculating=== * [http://www.staff.science.uu.nl/~gent0113/easter/eastercalculator.htm A Perpetual Easter and Passover Calculator] Julian and Gregorian Easter for any year plus other info * [http://www.noeticspace.com/paschalion Orthodox Paschal Calculator] Julian Easter and associated festivals in Gregorian calendar 1583–4099

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Category:Easter  Category:Passover Category:Christian festivals and holy days Category:Alawite traditions