Easter

The feast of the resurrection of Jesus, the high point of the Christian year.

When: A Sunday between 22 March and 25 April (Western churches), set by the moon; Orthodox Easter is often later

Origin and history

Easter, also called Pascha or Resurrection Sunday, celebrates the resurrection of Jesus from the dead, which the New Testament describes as happening on the third day after his crucifixion, around AD 30. Its other name, Pascha, comes from Pesach, the Hebrew name for Passover, which Jesus was in Jerusalem to celebrate. The English word Easter may come from the name of an Anglo-Saxon goddess, Ēostre. Easter is not a single day but begins Eastertide, a season of fifty days that ends at Pentecost.

Customs

Late-night vigils or sunrise services, and exchanging the Easter greeting 'Christ is risen!'
Decorating and sharing Easter eggs, a symbol of the empty tomb; dyeing eggs red is an ancient custom that spread through the Orthodox churches.
Egg hunts, Easter lilies in church, flowering the cross with fresh flowers, and Easter bonnets.

How traditions differ

Almost all Christian churches keep Easter as their chief feast, but they do not always keep it on the same day. Western churches calculate the date using the Gregorian calendar, while most Eastern Orthodox churches use the older Julian calendar, so the two Easters often fall on different Sundays. See the separate entry on how the date of Easter is set.

In the library

Works: The Bible · The Early Christian Creeds

Great Lives: George Frideric Handel

More in Eastertide

How the date of Easter is set · St George's Day · Ascension Day · Pentecost

Sources checked: Easter (Wikipedia); Easter egg (Wikipedia); Date of Easter (Wikipedia).