Easter
Easter (Old English: Ēostre) or the Pasch or (among Eastern Orthodox) Pascha (Latin: Pascha; Greek: Πάσχα, Paskha; Aramaic: פַּסחא Pasḥa; from Hebrew: פֶּסַח Pesaḥ) is a Christian festival and holiday celebrating the resurrection of Jesus Christ on the third day after his crucifixion at Calvary as described in the New Testament. Easter is the culmination of the Passion of Christ, preceded by Lent, a forty-day period of fasting, prayer, and penance. The last week of Lent is called Holy Week, and it contains the days of the Easter Triduum, including Maundy Thursday, commemorating Maundy and the Last Supper, as well as Good Friday, commemorating the crucifixion and death of Jesus. Easter is followed by a fifty-day period called Eastertide or the Easter Season, ending with Pentecost Sunday. The festival is referred to in English by a variety of different names including Easter Day, Easter Sunday, Resurrection Day and Resurrection Sunday.
Read more about Easter.
Famous quotes containing the word easter:
“In your Easter bonnet, with all the frills upon it,
You’ll be the grandest lady in the Easter parade.”
—Irving Berlin (1888–1989)
“Why wont they let a year die without bringing in a new one on the instant, cant they use birth control on time? I want an interregnum. The stupid years patter on with unrelenting feet, never stopping—rising to little monotonous peaks in our imaginations at festivals like New Year’s and Easter and Christmas—But, goodness, why need they do it?”
—John Dos Passos (1896–1970)