About Holy Week

The source for this article is cited in my book “Calendar Reformation“, in which I have written about EASTER.

M.S.Vincent (msvincent_kgf@yahoo.com, Milpitas – CA).

 

1.            Why “Resurrection Day” is called Easter?

 St. Bedes (672 -735 AD) who was an English scholar and historian believed that the word  ’‘Easter’‘ was probably derived from the name of a Scandinavian Goddess of spring ‘‘Eastre’‘  or  ‘‘Eostre’‘,  whose festival is celebrated in the spring season. Similarly, Easter is also celebrated in spring. When Christianity became popular, the old Festival names were retained and celebrated as Christian feasts.

 2.            Why Easter is not celebrated on a fixed date like Christmas?

 Christian Churches celebrate feasts like Christmas on fixed dates (immovable date) and feasts like Easter on floating dates (movable date). Easter is associated with ‘‘Paska’‘ or  ‘‘Pacha’‘ or "Passover’‘ feast of Jews.  Easter day is fixed as follows.

After March 21st of every year, the Full Moon day is noted; the Sunday following the Full moon is celebrated as Easter.

For Example: Let’s look at 2009 calendar. The first Full moon after March 21^st falls on Thursday - 9th of April. The following Sunday -12th of April is Easter.

March 21st is called ‘‘Vernal Equinox’‘ in astronomy. It is an important day for astronomical calculations because on that day the Sun enters into the Zodiac sign ‘‘First point of Aries’‘.

On the day of Vernal Equinox the day time and night time are almost equal.  [Vernal = Spring, Equinox = Equal Night]

In California, where I am staying now (April 2009), during the Month of December, we observed sunset at 4pm in the evening, the night time was longer and day time was shorter. I was keenly observing the changes. From January, the pattern changed and day time started gradually increasing. By March-21st, I found that the day and night were almost equal. From March-21^st onwards, the duration of day began to get longer. By first week of April, sunset was observed at 8 pm. By mid June, sunset is expected at 9:30 pm. In short, after March-21^st, the duration of day light increases while the duration of night shortens.

 3.            Why the beginning of ‘‘Lent” days is called Ash Wednesday?

Lent days in total are 46 days, if Sundays are excluded it is 40 days. These forty days represent the forty days and nights Jesus spent in the desert, where he was tempted by Satan. Due to the Church’s practice of smearing ash on the forehead, it’s called Ash Wednesday. The ash reminds us that "We are from dust and to dust we shall return".

In Old Saxon, word Lent means ’‘Spring’‘. Since, these days fall in spring, it is called Lent days. Also it is said that the word Lent is an old English word meaning "Lengthen", indicating that in spring day time begin to get longer.

4.            Why the previous day to Ash Wednesday called ‘‘Fat Tuesday”?

The lent days are days of “Fasting and Penance". People in the western countries celebrated before fasting began. On the Tuesday before Ash Wednesday, they ate fatty foods, had delicious drinks and celebrated with Carnivals. The joyful celebration would suddenly end on Tuesday mid night at 12 pm, i.e when Ash Wednesday begins. Hence it’s called ‘‘Fat Tuesday’‘.

5.            Why the Thursday before Good Friday called ‘‘Maundy Thursday”?  

Maundy means command (Mandatum) in Latin, This refers to the commandment of Christ given to his disciples during the Last Supper to "Love One Another". Christ washed the feet of his disciples as an act of humility, which is done symbolically by catholic priests on Maundy Thursday.  On this day the agony of Christ in the Garden of Gethsemane is remembered.

John 13:34: “A new command I give, love one another as I have loved you."  This is the commandment (Mandatum or Mandate) given by Christ to His disciples.   The word Maundy was derived from Madatum.

In Latin Mandatum Novum means ‘‘New Commandment’‘. Commonly Maundy Thursday is also called the Holy Thursday.

This day is commemorated for four events 1) Washing of disciples foot by Christ  2) The institution of Holy Eucharist at Last Supper  3)  Agony of Christ in the Garden of Gethsemane  4)  Betrayal of Christ by Judas.

6.            Why is the Day of Crucifixion called ‘‘Good Friday”?

In English, "God be with you” has gradually become “Good bye”. Similarly it is said ”God Friday” has become ”Good Friday”.

But some argue that "Good Friday" is meaningful because it brings the greatest good to humanity “The Salvation".

7.            Why Palm Sunday is observed?

Palm Sunday is observed one week before Easter. Palm Sunday commemorates the triumphant entry of Jesus into Jerusalem riding on a donkey to celebrate Passover. The crowd greeted him by waving palm leaves and branches.

During Passover feast, Israelites use to share brittle flat bread called Matza (unleavened bread), which is made from flour and water without fermentation. Christ shared Matza with His disciples during the Last Supper.

(I am writing this article from US, just before the Holy week. Here, local restaurants are advertising for Passover dinners highlighting Matza.)

8.            What is Passover festival?

It is “Paska” or “Pascha” festival which the Jews celebrate commemorating the redemption of Israelites from Egypt in 1300 BC. It is celebrated by Jews (Hebrews) because they were liberated from slavery by Moses. Jesus being a Jew went to Jerusalem to celebrate Passover and had the "Last Supper" with His disciples.

This Passover festival starts in Spring on the Full Moon day after 21st of March (Vernal Equinox), Jesus was Crucified during this Passover celebration and subsequently resurrected on the third day. Hence Easter is fixed for the Sunday following the Full moon after March-21^st.

Easter is celebrated in spring in accordance with the Passover which is also celebrated in spring (March and April). Easter Sunday will fall on any Sunday starting from March-22^nd to April-25^th.

9.            Can you give future Easter dates?

Year	Ash Wednesday	Easter
2010	Feb 17	April 4
2011	March 9	April 24
2012	Feb 22	April 8
2013	Feb 13	March 31
2014	March 5	April 20
2015	Feb 18	April 5
2016	Feb 10	March 27
2017	March 1	April 16
2018	Feb 14	April 1
2019	March 6	April 21
2020	Feb 26	April 12
2025	March 5	April 20
2030	March 6	April 21

 

Note: 

- From Ash Wednesday to Easter count 46 days.                 

- In astronomy Full Moon days are calculated by using “Metonic Cycle", hence fixing Easter dates for the future is very easy.

 

10.        From when was Easter celebrated on a common day?

In the beginning the festival of resurrection was celebrated in different dates by different denominations of Christianity.

In 325 AD about 300 Bishops of various Christian Churches assembled at Nicaea (now in Turkey) to formulate uniform Christian doctrine. This council was convened by Roman emperor Constantine. In the council of Nicaea it was decided to celebrate Easter on a common day by all the churches.

The Council decided, "The feast of resurrection should be celebrated on the first Sunday after (not on) the first full moon after March-21^st". (Religious Holidays and Calendars, Page 78)

From the year 325 AD, Easter has been celebrated on a common day by all the Churches. 

11.        If the Full Moon fall on March-21st itself and it happens to be a Sunday, when will be Easter?

Easter can never occur on March-21st. In this case when Full Moon falls on March-21st, Easter will be celebrated on the following Sunday March-28th. In the Council of Nicaea , it is clearly declared that the feast of Resurrection should be celebrated after March-21st and not on March-21st.

I checked Ecclesiastical Calendar; there is no instance when Easter was celebrated on March-21st.

12.        Why can’t Easter be fixed on an immovable date like Christmas?

In the Second Vatican Concil (1963) it was proposed to celebrate Easter on 2nd Sunday of April every year provided a consensus  is reached among the Christian churches. Till to-day it remains a proposal.

13.        Why Easter is considered to be the most important festival for Christians?

Because it brought Salvation to Humanity, In Catholic Ecclesiastical Calendar (Church events Calendar) many feasts are based on the occurence of Easter.

          46 days before Easter is “Ash Wednesday”

          40 days after Easter is “The feast of Ascension”

          50 days after Easter is “Pentacost"

          60 days after Easter is "Corpus Christi"   Etc.

14.        Do Jews celebrate Easter?

Jews are not Christians. They do not celebrate Easter, they Celebrate Passover, since 1300 BC, ever since they were redeemed from Egypt.

For Jews, Christ is not the promised Messiah (Messaih is derived from Hebrew, which means “The Anointed One"). Jews are expecting their Messiah to come. Their religion is Judaism. It was the first ancient religion that believed in one God (monotheism). Polytheism is belief in many gods.

15.        Calendar Year 2009

For the calendar year 2009:

Vernal Equinox : March-21^st

Full Moon falls on April-9^th (In US calendars, this day is marked as "Passover")

Easter Sunday: April 12^th

Note: In any calendar year, Easter cannot occur before March-22^nd. March-22^nd is the earliest date for Easter. In 1818 AD,  Easter was celebrated on  March-22^nd and it will be the year 2285 for Easter to occur on March-22^nd