The religious holiday of Easter celebrates the resurrection of Jesus Christ, as described in the New Testament of the Bible. Although observed as the holiest day by Christians and Orthodox Christians, it is a movable holiday and is recognized on different days by the two sects each year. Orthodox Christians celebrate Easter later than most Christians in the Western world because churches calculate the holidays according to different calendars.
The origins of Easter
According to the New Testament of the Bible, Jesus Christ was crucified by the Romans around AD 30, died on the cross on a Friday, and was buried in a tomb outside Jerusalem. Three days later, on a Sunday, Christ rose from the dead, according to Matthew 28:1-10.
Christians celebrate the resurrection every year on Easter Sunday, the culmination of the 40-day season of Lent. Lent begins on Ash Wednesday and ends with Holy Week, which includes Palm Sunday, commemorating Jesus’ humble entry into Jerusalem, Maundy Thursday, honoring the Last Supper, Good Friday, the day Jesus been crucified and Holy Saturday, the time of transition between crucifixion and resurrection.
Known as Pascha, the Greek word for “Passover”, Easter in the Orthodox Church celebrates “the eternal Passover from death unto life from heaven to earth”. Great Lent, the church’s strictest fasting period, takes place for 40 days, ending eight days before Easter on Lazarus Saturday – when Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead, according to Eastern Orthodoxy. This is followed by Palm Sunday and Holy Week, with continuous fasting until Easter. Orthodox Easter always follows the Jewish holiday of Passover.
Many historians, citing the 8th century monk and Anglo-Saxon scholar the Venerable Bede in his “The Reckoning of Time”, believe that Easter’s etymological name comes from Eostre, the Anglo-Saxon goddess of spring and fertility. , who was often depicted in designs surrounded by the hares and believed to be venerated during pagan festivals. The Anglo-Saxons would also have called the month of April Eostre-monath.
Why Orthodox Easter and Easter have different days
A Kosovo Serb priest holds hand-painted Easter eggs as he attends a religious service at the Church of St. Sava in the city of Mitrovica during Orthodox Easter, April 5, 2010.
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Orthodox Christians, who believe that the faith is inseparable from the church, follow the Julian calendar when it comes to celebrating Easter Sunday. The Julian calendar was established by Julius Caesar in 45 BC. AD and is based on the solar cycle – the revolutions of the Earth around the sun.
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Orthodox Easter takes place between April 4 and May 8, after the first full moon after Passover. The Orthodox Passover always falls after the Jewish celebration of Passover because, according to the New Testament, Christ’s crucifixion and resurrection took place after he entered Jerusalem to celebrate Passover. In 2022, the Orthodox Easter takes place on April 24.
In 1582, Pope Gregory XIII instituted the Gregorian calendar to correct the inaccuracies of the Julian calendar. The new calendar added leap years to correct an 11-minute miscalculation that caused the seasons to become out of sync with the calendar, moving Easter away from the vernal equinox. According to the Gregorian calendar, the churches established that Easter should occur on the first Sunday after the full moon which occurs on or after the vernal equinox. In 2022, Easter is celebrated on April 17.
Much of the world has come to officially recognize the Gregorian calendar, but Orthodox churches, primarily in Greece, Cyprus, Russia, Romania, Bulgaria and elsewhere, continue to observe Easter according to the Julian calendar.
Orthodox Easter traditions
Women light candles during an Easter service at a church in Baku on April 8, 2018.
Tofik Babayev/AFP/Getty Images
As with many Christian holidays, some Easter traditions can be traced to pagan celebrations. Decorating eggs, which symbolize new life, dates back to the 13th century when the church forbade eating eggs during Holy Week, and they were decorated instead.
The Easter Bunny, meanwhile, is said to have been brought to the United States by German immigrants in the 1700s, although some historians attribute the character to rabbits as a symbol of fertility.
Christians and Orthodox Christians celebrate Easter with joyful church services, often punctuated with white lilies, followed by meals and family gatherings. Eastern Orthodox churches often hold an Easter Vigil on Holy Saturday, the eve of Easter, and a candlelight procession may take place that evening, with Easter services and celebrations beginning at midnight.
Traditional Christian Easter meals often include ham, spring vegetables, and hot rolls (sweet rolls marked with a cross on top). At Orthodox Christian Easter dinners, with boiled eggs dyed red, which symbolize the blood of Christ, lamb is usually served. John 1:29 says, “Behold the Lamb of God who taketh away the sins of the world.” The lamb also has strong Jewish significance, as it was used as a sacrifice and is often served during Passover.
