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{{Английская Википедия/Панель перехода}}
{{Short description|Christian commemoration of the resurrection of Jesus}}
{{About|the Christian and cultural festival}}
{{pp-semi-indef}}
{{pp-move-indef}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2023}}
{{Infobox holiday
| holiday_name  = Easter
| image         = Resurrection (24).jpg
| caption       = [[Icon]] of the [[Resurrection of Jesus|Resurrection]] depicting [[Christ]] having destroyed the gates of hell and removing [[Adam]] and [[Eve]] from the grave.  Christ is flanked by saints, and [[Satan]], depicted as an old man, is bound and chained.
| observedby    = [[Christians]]
| date          = Variable, determined by the [[Computus]]
| date{{LASTYEAR}} = {{Unbulleted list

  | {{Calendar date |holiday=Easter |format=infobox |year={{LASTYEAR}}}} (Western)
  | {{Calendar date |holiday=Easter (Eastern) |format=infobox |year={{LASTYEAR}}}} (Eastern) }}
| date{{CURRENTYEAR}} = {{Unbulleted list
  | {{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}} = {{Unbulleted list
  | {{Calendar date |holiday=Easter |format=infobox |year={{NEXTYEAR}}}} (Western)
  | {{Calendar date |holiday=Easter (Eastern) |format=infobox |year={{NEXTYEAR}}}} (Eastern) }}
| date{{NEXTYEAR|2}} = {{Unbulleted list
  | {{Calendar date |holiday=Easter |format=infobox |year={{NEXTYEAR|2}}}} (Western)
  | {{Calendar date |holiday=Easter (Eastern) |format=infobox |year={{NEXTYEAR|2}}}} (Eastern) }}
| observances   = [[Prayer]], [[Easter Vigil|all-night vigil]], [[sunrise service]]
| celebrations  = [[Church service]]s, festive family meals, [[Easter egg]] decoration, and gift-giving
| significance  = Celebrates the [[resurrection of Jesus]]
| relatedto     = [[Passover]], [[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 of Jesus Christ|Ascension]], [[Pentecost]], [[Trinity Sunday]], [[Corpus Christi (feast)|Corpus Christi]], and [[Feast of the Sacred Heart]], which follow it.
| type          = 
}}

'''Easter''',{{refn|1=Traditional names for the feast in English are "Easter Day", as in the ''[[Book of Common Prayer]]''; "Easter Sunday", used by [[James Ussher]] ([https://books.google.com/books?id=P_82AQAAMAAJ&pg=PA345 ''The Whole Works of the Most Rev. James Ussher, Volume 4'']<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]] ([https://books.google.com/books?id=VxA5AQAAMAAJ&pg=PA585 ''The Diary of Samuel Pepys, Volume 2'']<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>), as well as the single word "Easter" in books printed in [https://books.google.com/books?id=gMNXPgAACAAJ 1575],<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gMNXPgAACAAJ |title=A Sermon of Christ Crucified, Preached at Paules Crosse the Fridaie Before ... |access-date=20 June 2015 |last=Foxe |first=John |date=1575 |archive-date=9 April 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230409153747/https://books.google.com/books?id=gMNXPgAACAAJ |url-status=live }}</ref> [https://books.google.com/books?id=-gEIAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA15 1584],<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-gEIAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA15 |title=The Historie of Cambria |access-date=20 June 2015 |author=Caradoc (St. of Llancarfan) |date=1584 |archive-date=9 April 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230409153748/https://books.google.com/books?id=-gEIAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA15 |url-status=live }}</ref> and [https://books.google.com/books?id=O2M9AQAAMAAJ&pg=PA183 1586].<ref>{{Cite web |last=(de Granada) |first=Luis |title=A Memoriall of a Christian Life: Wherein are Treated All Such Thinges, as ... |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=O2M9AQAAMAAJ&pg=PA183 |access-date=20 June 2015 |date=1586 |archive-date=9 April 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230409153811/https://books.google.com/books?id=O2M9AQAAMAAJ&pg=PA183 |url-status=live }}</ref>|group="nb"}} also called '''Pascha'''{{refn|1=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>|group="nb"}} ([[Aramaic]], [[Greek language|Greek]], [[Latin]]) or '''Resurrection Sunday''',{{refn|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>|group="nb"}} is a [[Christian festival]] and cultural [[holiday]] commemorating the [[resurrection of Jesus]] from the dead, described in the [[New Testament]] as having occurred on the third day of [[Burial of Jesus|his burial]] following [[Crucifixion of Jesus|his crucifixion]] by the [[Roman people|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 Christ]], preceded by [[Lent]] (or [[Great Lent]]), a 40-day period of [[fasting]], [[prayer]], and [[penance]].

Easter-observing [[Christians]] commonly refer to the week 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 (foot washing)|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 days and 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", "Easter Sunday", "Pascha" or "Sunday of Pascha". In Western Christianity, [[Eastertide]], or the Easter Season, begins on Easter Sunday and lasts seven weeks, ending with the coming of the 50th day, [[Pentecost Sunday]]. In Eastern Christianity, the Paschal season ends with Pentecost as well, but the leave-taking of the Great Feast of Pascha is on the 39th day, the day before the [[Feast of the Ascension]].

Easter and its related holidays are [[moveable feast]]s, not falling on a fixed date; [[Date of Easter|its date]] is computed based on a [[lunisolar calendar]] (solar year plus Moon phase) similar to the [[Hebrew calendar]]. The [[First Council of Nicaea]] (325) established only two rules, namely independence from the Hebrew calendar and worldwide uniformity. No details for the computation were specified; these were worked out in practice, a process that took centuries and generated a number of [[Easter controversy|controversies]]. It has come to be the first Sunday after the [[ecclesiastical full moon]] that occurs on or soonest after 21 March.<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>

The English term is derived from the Saxon spring festival ''[[Ēostre]]'';<ref name="Gamber2014">{{cite book |last1=Gamber |first1=Jenifer |title=My Faith, My Life, Revised Edition: A Teen's Guide to the Episcopal Church |date=September 2014 |publisher=Church Publishing |isbn=978-0-8192-2962-5 |page=96 |language=en |quote=The word "Easter" comes from the Anglo-Saxon spring festival called Eostre. Easter replaced the pagan festival of Eostre.}}</ref> Easter is linked to the Jewish [[Passover]] by its name ([[Hebrew language|Hebrew]]: {{Lang|he|פֶּסַח}} ''pesach'', [[Aramaic]]: {{lang|tmr|פָּסחָא}} ''pascha'' are the basis of 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 versions 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> 

[[Easter traditions]] vary across the [[Christendom|Christian world]], and include [[sunrise service]]s or [[Easter Vigil|late-night vigils]], exclamations and exchanges of [[Paschal greeting]]s, [[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 |page=95-96 |language=en}}</ref> the wearing of [[Easter bonnet]]s by women, [[clipping the church]],<ref>{{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 egg]]s (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 (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 [[Lilium longiflorum|Easter lily]], a symbol of the resurrection in Western Christianity,<ref>{{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>{{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 [[Church (building)|churches]] on this day and for the rest of Eastertide.<ref>{{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> Additional customs that have become associated with Easter and are observed by both Christians and some non-Christians include [[Easter parade]]s, communal dancing (Eastern Europe), the [[Easter Bunny]] and [[egg hunt]]ing.<ref name="Duchak2002" /><ref name="Sifferlin2015" /><ref>{{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>{{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 food]]s that vary by region and culture.

== Etymology ==
{{main|Ēostre|Names of Easter}}
The modern English term ''Easter'', [[cognate]] with modern [[Dutch language|Dutch]] {{lang|nl|ooster}} and [[German language|German]] {{lang|de|Ostern}}, developed from an [[Old English language|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}}.<ref group="nb">{{IPA-ang|ˈæːɑstre, ˈeːostre}}</ref> [[Bede]] provides the only documentary source for the etymology of the word, in his eighth-century ''[[The Reckoning of Time]]''. He wrote 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 [[List of Germanic deities|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 {{transliteration|grc|Pascha}} (Greek: {{lang|grc|Πάσχα}}), a word derived from [[Aramaic]] {{lang|arc|פסחא}} ({{transliteration|arc|Paskha}}), cognate to the Hebrew {{lang|hbo|{{Script/Hebrew|פֶּסַח}}}} ({{transliteration|hbo|Pesach}}). The word originally denoted the Jewish festival known in English as [[Passover]], commemorating the [[the Exodus|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 | 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 the 50s of the 1st century, [[Paul the Apostle]], writing from [[Ephesus]] to the Christians in [[Ancient Corinth|Corinth]],<ref>{{bibleverse|1 Corinthians|5:7}}</ref> applied the term to Christ, and it is unlikely that the [[Early Christianity|Ephesian and Corinthian Christians]] were the first to hear Exodus 12 interpreted as speaking about the [[Crucifixion of Jesus|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, [[Germanic languages]] such as English being exceptions, the feast is known by names derived from the Greek and Latin {{transliteration|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 {{lang-grc|Ἀνάστασις|Anastasis|Resurrection|label=none}} day.<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 ==
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)<br />{{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 in Christianity|salvation]], and can hope to be physically resurrected to dwell with him in the [[Kingdom of Heaven (Gospel of Matthew)|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]], [[passion of Jesus|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 [[Cenacle|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 [[Body of Christ|his body]], soon to be sacrificed, and [[Blood of Christ|his blood]], soon to be shed. The Apostle [[Paul 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 {{transliteration|he|[[chametz]]}}, or leavening, from their homes in advance of Passover, and to the allegory of Jesus as the [[Korban Pesach|Paschal 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:Last-supper-from-Kremikovtsi.jpg|thumb|right|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 during the week of Passover, the first Christians timed the observance of the annual celebration of the resurrections 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 Christianity|Jewish, period]], but does not leave the question free of doubt.<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&nbsp;... [It] must derive from a time when Jewish influence was effective&nbsp;... because it depends on the lunar calendar (every other feast depends on the solar calendar)."</ref>

The ecclesiastical historian [[Socrates Scholasticus]] attributes the observance of Easter by the church to the [[religious syncretism|perpetuation of pre-Christian custom]], "just as many other customs have been established", stating that neither Jesus nor his [[Apostles in the New Testament|Apostles]] enjoined the keeping of this or any other festival. Although he describes the details of the Easter celebration as deriving from local custom, he insists the feast itself is universally observed.<ref>Socrates, ''Church History'', 5.22, in {{cite web| last = Schaff| first = Philip| title = The Author's Views respecting the Celebration of Easter, Baptism, Fasting, Marriage, the Eucharist, and Other Ecclesiastical Rites.| 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.viii.xxiii.html| access-date = 28 March 2007| archive-date = 16 March 2010| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20100316220259/http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/npnf202.ii.viii.xxiii.html| url-status = live}}</ref>

== Date ==
[[File:Pötting Kirchenfenster 7 Osterlamm.jpg|thumb|upright|A stained-glass window depicting the [[Lamb of God|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 and the holidays that are related to it are [[moveable feast]]s, in that they do not fall on a fixed date in the [[Gregorian calendar|Gregorian]] or [[Julian calendar|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]]. The [[First Council of Nicaea]] (325) established two rules, independence of the Jewish calendar and worldwide uniformity, which were the only rules for Easter explicitly laid down by the Council. No details for the computation were specified; these were worked out in practice, a process that took centuries and generated a number of [[Easter controversy|controversies]]. (See also [[Computus]] and [[Reform of the date of Easter]].) In particular, the Council did not decree that Easter must fall on Sunday, but this was already the practice almost everywhere.<ref>{{citation |author=Sozomen |author-link=Sozomen |title=The Ecclesiastical History of Sozomen |url=http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/npnf202.iii.html |access-date=10 February 2023 |archive-date=10 February 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230210105751/https://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/npnf202.iii.html |url-status=live }} Book 7, Chapter 18</ref>

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 following day, [[Easter Monday]], is a [[legal holiday]] 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 Orthodoxy|Eastern Orthodox]] Christians base Paschal date calculations on the Julian calendar. Because of the thirteen-day difference between the calendars between 1900 and 2099, 21 March corresponds, during the 21st century, to 3 April in the Gregorian calendar. Since the Julian calendar is no longer used as the civil calendar of the countries where Eastern Christian traditions predominate, Easter varies between 4 April and 8 May in the Gregorian calendar. Because the Julian "full moon" is always several days after the astronomical full moon, the Eastern Easter is also often later, relative to the visible [[lunar phases]], than Western Easter.<ref>{{Cite web |title=calendar – The early Roman calendar {{!}} Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/science/calendar/The-early-Roman-calendar |access-date=16 April 2022 |website=Britannica.com |archive-date=16 April 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220416163118/https://www.britannica.com/science/calendar/The-early-Roman-calendar |url-status=live }}</ref>

Among the [[Oriental Orthodoxy|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>

=== Computations ===
{{Main|Date of Easter}}
[[File:17th-century unknown painters - The Resurrection of Christ - WGA23478.jpg|thumb|upright|Icon of the Resurrection by an unknown 17th-century Bulgarian artist]]

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 [[ecclesiastical full moon|14th day]] of a [[lunar month]]. Another difference is that the [[Equinox|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] [[First Council of Nicaea|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 calendar|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 [[Calabria]]n doctor [[Aloysius Lilius]] (or Lilio) for adjusting the [[epact]]s 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 number (time)|Golden Numbers]] and [[Dominical letter|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>

=== Controversies over the date ===
{{Main|Easter controversy}}
[[File:5part-icon.jpeg|thumb|upright|A five-part [[Russian Orthodox]] icon depicting the Easter story. [[Eastern Orthodoxy|Eastern Orthodox]] Christians use a different computation for the date of Easter than 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 [[Disciple (Christianity)|disciples]] and an undisputed tradition. The [[Quartodecimanism|Quartodeciman]] controversy, the first of several [[Easter controversy|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 |publisher=New York: 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 of Caesarea|Eusebius]], the Quartodeciman [[Polycarp]] (bishop of [[Smyrna]], by tradition a disciple of [[John the Apostle]]) debated the question with [[Pope Anicetus|Anicetus]] (bishop of Rome). The [[Asia (Roman province)|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 [[schism (religion)|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 [[Pope Victor I|Victor]], bishop of Rome a generation after Anicetus, attempted to [[excommunication|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 | language=nl | 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.{{refn|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>|group=nb}} 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:Resurrection.JPG|thumb|upright|''The Resurrection of Jesus Christ'', [[fresco]] by [[Piero della Francesca]], 1463]]

This controversy between those who advocated independent computations, and those who wished to continue the custom of relying on the Jewish calendar, was formally resolved by the [[First Council of Nicaea]] in 325, which endorsed changing to an independent computation by the Christian community in order to celebrate in common. This effectively required the abandonment of the old custom of consulting the Jewish community in those places where it was still used. [[Epiphanius of Salamis]] wrote in the mid-4th century:

{{blockquote|[T]he [[Constantine I|emperor]]{{nbsp}}[...] convened a council of 318 bishops{{nbsp}}[...] in the city of Nicaea{{nbsp}}[...] They passed certain ecclesiastical canons at the council besides, and at the same time decreed in regard to the Passover [i.e., Easter] that there must be one unanimous concord on the celebration of God's holy and supremely excellent day. For it was variously observed by people; some kept it early, some between [the disputed dates], but others late. And in a word, there was a great deal of controversy at that time.<ref name = Epiphianus>Epiphanius, ''Adversus Haereses'', Heresy 69, 11,1, in {{cite book | last = Willams | first = F. | title = The Panarion of Epiphianus of Salamis Books II and III | publisher = E.J. Brill |date=1994 | location = Leiden | page = 331}}</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>

[[Dionysius Exiguus]], and others following him, maintained that the 318 bishops assembled at Nicaea had specified a particular method of determining the date of Easter; subsequent scholarship has refuted this tradition.<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, 62–65}}</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 (bishop)|Augustalis]]' treatise {{lang|la|De ratione Paschae}} (On the Measurement of Easter), Rome retired the earlier [[octaeteris|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|last=Holford-Strevens, Leofranc|first=and Blackburn, 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 | publication-place=Turnhout, Belgium | date=2000 | isbn=2-503-51050-7 | oclc=45243083 | page=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|last=Holford-Strevens, Leofranc|first=and Blackburn, 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>

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=http://www.economist.com/node/18584376 | 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=http://www.economist.com/node/18584376 | 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 ===
{{See also|Reform of the date of Easter}}

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 [[Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople|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 in Christianity|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 of 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 [[Aleppo Easter dating method|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 [[World Council of Churches|WCC]] presented comparative data of the relationships:
{{Table of dates of Easter|format=dmy}}

== 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 [[The Three Days|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 ===
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 | publication-place=Chichester, England | date=2011 | isbn=978-1-4443-9383-5 | 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' Day|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 [[Afterfeast|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 | 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=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |date=1990 |title=The Pentecostarion |location=Massachusetts |publisher=Holy Transfiguration Monastery |page=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==
<!-- "Easter liturgy" redirects here. -->
[[File:Easter Sunday 2016.jpg|thumb|Christian worshippers attend an Easter Sunday [[church service]] at [[St James's Church, Piccadilly|St James's Church]] in 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, [[liturgy|liturgical]] observation of Easter, as practised among Roman Catholics, [[Lutheran]]s,<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 [[Anglican]]s 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 form 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 Church]]es, there is a tradition of [[Sunrise service|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 [[God's Acre|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 (photography)|flash-illuminated]]; all electric lighting is off, and only the [[oil lamp]]s in front of the [[Iconostasis]] remain lit. ([[Community and Parish of Saint George Thebarton, Adelaide, South Australia|St. George Greek Orthodox Church]], Adelaide).]]

[[Eastern Orthodox Church|Eastern Orthodox]], [[Eastern Catholic Churches|Eastern Catholics]] and [[Byzantine Rite Lutheranism|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 |publisher=[[History (U.S. TV network)|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 [[Puritan]]s saw traditional feasts of the established Anglican Church, such as All Saints' Day and Easter, as [[abomination (Bible)|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>

Members of the [[Religious Society of Friends|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>

Groups such as the [[Restored Church of God]] reject the celebration of Easter, seeing it as originating in a pagan spring festival adopted by the Roman Catholic Church.<ref name="Okogba 2019">{{cite web | last=Okogba | first=Emmanuel | title=A philosophical critique of Easter celebration (1) | website=Vanguard News | date=2019-04-21 | url=https://www.vanguardngr.com/2019/04/a-philosophical-critique-of-easter-celebration-1/ | access-date=2023-04-23}}</ref><ref name="McDougall 2010">{{cite web | last=McDougall | first=Heather | title=The pagan roots of Easter | website=the Guardian | date=2010-04-03 | url=http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/belief/2010/apr/03/easter-pagan-symbolism | access-date=2023-04-23}}</ref><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>

[[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>

== Easter celebrations around the world ==
{{Main|Easter traditions}}

In countries where Christianity is a [[state religion]], or those with large Christian populations, Easter is often a [[public holiday]].<ref name="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 Easter Monday as a public holiday.<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> Some retail stores, shopping malls, and restaurants are closed on Easter Sunday. [[Good Friday]], which occurs two days before Easter Sunday, is also a public holiday in many countries, as well as in 12 U.S. states. Even in states where Good Friday is not a holiday, many financial institutions, stock markets, and public schools are closed – the few banks that are normally open on regular Sundays are closed on Easter.<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 | date=2019 | isbn=978-0-19-874787-1 | oclc=1081186286 | page=}}</ref>

[[File:Paskhakustodiev.jpg|thumb|upright=0.9|[[Boris Kustodiev]]'s ''Pascha Greetings'' (1912) shows traditional Russian ''[[Paschal greeting|khristosovanie]]'' (exchanging a triple kiss), with such foods as [[Easter eggs|red eggs]], [[kulich]] and [[Paskha (dish)|paskha]] in the background.]]

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/ }}<br>{{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 holiday]]s.<ref>{{cite web|title=Bank Holidays|url=http://www.nordea.com/About+Nordea/Contact/Bank+Holidays/1541152.html|publisher=[[Nordea|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}} [[Verdens Gang|VG]]</ref>

In the [[Netherlands]] both Easter Sunday and Easter Monday [[Public holidays in the Netherlands|are national holidays]]. Like first and second Christmas Day, they are ''both'' considered Sundays, which results 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>

In [[Greece]] Good Friday and Saturday as well as Easter Sunday and Monday are traditionally observed [[Public holidays in Greece|public holidays]]. It is custom 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 [[Commonwealth of Nations|Commonwealth]] nations Easter Day is rarely a public holiday, as is the case for celebrations which fall on a Sunday. In the [[United Kingdom]] both Good Friday and Easter Monday are [[Public holidays in the United Kingdom|bank holidays]], except for 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 [[Public holidays in Canada#Statutory holidays for federal employees|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. "Easter Saturday" (the Saturday before Easter Sunday) is a public holiday in every state except [[Tasmania]] and [[Western Australia]], while Easter Sunday itself is a public holiday only in [[New South Wales]]. [[Easter Tuesday]] is additionally a conditional public holiday in Tasmania, varying between [[Industrial award|award]], 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 the United States, because Easter falls on a Sunday, which is already a non-working day for federal and state employees, it has not been designated as a federal or state holiday.<ref>{{cite web |title=2022 Puerto Rican Public Holidays |url=https://welcome.topuertorico.org/reference/holi.shtml |website=welcome.topuertorico.org |publisher=Magaly Rivera |access-date=3 April 2022 |archive-date=26 January 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220126085518/https://welcome.topuertorico.org/reference/holi.shtml |url-status=live }}</ref> [[Easter parade]]s are held in many American cities, 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 eggs ===
{{main|Easter egg}}
{{see also|Easter food}}

==== 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|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.}}<!--|access-date=5 April 2015--></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 egg]]s.

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 Township, Pennsylvania|South Canaan, Pennsylvania]] |publisher=[[Saint Tikhon's Orthodox Theological Seminary|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 people|Slavic]] countries and elsewhere. A batik-like decorating process known as [[pisanka (Polish)|pisanka]] produces intricate, brilliantly colored eggs. The celebrated [[House of Fabergé]] workshops created [[Fabergé egg|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 sweets as their [[Lenten sacrifice]], individuals enjoy them at Easter after having abstained from them 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="300px" 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 [[Easter 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=[[NARA|National Archives]]|work=[[whitehouse.gov]]|archive-date=20 January 2021}}</ref>

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

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 (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 [[Anthropomorphism|anthropomorphic]] Easter gift-giving character analogous to [[Santa Claus]] in American culture. Many children around the world follow the tradition of [[Easter egg|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 [[Rabbits in Australia|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>

== Music ==
{{Expand section|small=no|date=March 2021}}
{{More citations needed section|date=April 2023}}
{{Cleanup rewrite|date=April 2023}}
* [[Marc-Antoine Charpentier]]:<ref name="Cessac">{{Cite web|last=Cessac|first=Catherine|title=Messes, vol. 3|url=https://boutique.cmbv.fr/fr/messes-vol-3|website=boutique.cmbv.fr}}</ref><ref name="Encyclopedia Britannica-Marc-Antoine Charpentier">{{cite web| website=Encyclopedia Britannica | date=1998-07-20 | url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Marc-Antoine-Charpentier | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230423164543/https://www.britannica.com/biography/Marc-Antoine-Charpentier|title=Marc-Antoine Charpentier | archive-date=2023-04-23 | url-status=live | access-date=2023-04-23}}</ref>
** ''Messe pour le samedi de Pâques'', for soloists, chorus and continuo, H.8 (1690).
** ''Prose pour le jour de Pâques'', for 3 voices and continuo, H.13 (1670)
** ''Chant joyeux du temps de Pâques'', for soloists, chorus, 2 treble viols, and continuo, H.339 (1685).
** ''O filii à 3 voix pareilles'', for 3 voices, 2 flutes, and continuo, H.312 (1670).
** ''Pour Pâques'', for 2 voices, 2 flutes, and continuo, H.308 (1670).
** ''O filii pour les voix, violons, flûtes et orgue'', for soloists, chorus, flutes, strings, and continuo, H.356 (1685?).
* [[Louis-Nicolas Clérambault]]: ''Motet pour le Saint jour de Pâques'', in F major, opus 73
* [[André Campra]]: ''Au Christ triomphant'', cantata for Easter
* [[Dieterich Buxtehude]]: Cantatas BuxWV 15 and BuxWV 62
* [[Carl Heinrich Graun]]: ''Easter Oratorio''
* [[Heinrich Ignaz Franz Biber|Henrich Biber]]: ''Missa Christi resurgentis'' C.3 (1674)
* [[Michael Praetorius]]: ''Easter Mass''
* [[Johann Sebastian Bach]]: ''Christ lag in Todesbanden'', BWV 4; ''Der Himmel lacht! Die Erde jubilieret'', BWV 31; ''Oster-Oratorium'', BWV 249.
* [[Georg Philipp Telemann]]: more than 100 cantatas for Eastertide.
* [[Jacques-Nicolas Lemmens]]: ''Sonata n° 2 "O Filii", Sonata n° 3 "Pascale"'', for organ.
* [[Charles Gounod]]: ''Messe solennelle de Pâques'' (1883).
* [[Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov]]: ''La Grande Pâque russe'', symphonic overture (1888).
* [[Sergei Rachmaninoff|Sergueï Vassilievitch Rachmaninov]]: ''Suite pour deux pianos n°1 – Pâques'', op. 5, n° 4 (1893).

== 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]]
* [[Movable Eastern Christian Observances]]
* [[Regina Caeli]]
* [[:Category:Film portrayals of Jesus' death and resurrection]]

== Footnotes ==
{{Reflist|group=nb}}

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
{{Wikiquote}}
{{Commons category|Easter}}
{{wikivoyage}}
{{Wiktionary|Easter}}
{{Wikisource|Category:Easter}}
* Greek words (Wiktionary): [[wikt:Πάσχα|Πάσχα]] (Easter) vs. [[wikt:πάσχα|πάσχα]] (Passover) vs. [[wikt:πάσχω|πάσχω]] (to suffer)

===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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{{s-ttl|title=Easter|years={{#invoke:Easter|Calculate|{{CURRENTYEAR}}|day=Easter|format=F j, Y}}}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Second Sunday of Easter]]}}
{{end}}

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