Easter, annual festival commemorating the resurrection of Jesus Christ, and
the principal feast of the Christian year. It is celebrated on a Sunday on
varying dates between March 22 and April 25 and is therefore called a movable
feast. The dates of several other ecclesiastical festivals, extending over
a period between Septuagesima Sunday (the ninth Sunday before Easter) and
the first Sunday of Advent, are fixed in relation to the date of Easter.
Connected with the observance of Easter are the 40-day penitential season
of Lent, beginning on Ash Wednesday and concluding at midnight on Holy Saturday,
the day before Easter Sunday; Holy Week, commencing on Palm Sunday, including
Good Friday, the day of the crucifixion, and terminating with Holy Saturday;
and the Octave of Easter, extending from Easter Sunday through the following
Sunday. During the Octave of Easter in early Christian times, the newly baptized
wore white garments, white being the liturgical color of Easter and signifying
light, purity, and joy. |
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Easter
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