Eastertide
Sunday, April 16, 2006
Easter is more than Easter Sunday. It is
the defining event of Christianity, so the Church has always
observed it not for a single day, but for the complete tide (season
or festival).
For fifty days, some seven weeks, from Easter Sunday to Pentecost—we mark our church services as special feast, or festival, days: The season’s mood is joyous, flowers return, the liturgical colors are bright (white or gold), we keep the Paschal (from the Latin ‘paschalis’ meaning “feast of Passover”) candle lit, we close services with “Alleluia, alleluia”—ancient Hebrew (Hellel u Yah) for “Praise ye LORD.”
The Passion and Resurrection took place during, and is our, Passover. The Thursday in the sixth week of Easter marks Ascension Day. Then, at Pentecost, fifty days (Pentecost is Greek for “50th Day”) after the Resurrection, the Holy Spirit descended upon the apostles and the people; and we mark the end of Eastertide and the beginning of, well, the season after Pentecost.
Collects during Eastertide are mostly those written in very early times (in the Book of Common Prayer, the more important the day, the more likely that ancient elements will be used) and the first and second lessons are from the New Testament only, concerning what happened after the Resurrection.
“Christ, Our Passover, is sacrificed for Us. Therefore, let Us keep the Feast. Alleluia, alleluia.”
For fifty days, some seven weeks, from Easter Sunday to Pentecost—we mark our church services as special feast, or festival, days: The season’s mood is joyous, flowers return, the liturgical colors are bright (white or gold), we keep the Paschal (from the Latin ‘paschalis’ meaning “feast of Passover”) candle lit, we close services with “Alleluia, alleluia”—ancient Hebrew (Hellel u Yah) for “Praise ye LORD.”
The Passion and Resurrection took place during, and is our, Passover. The Thursday in the sixth week of Easter marks Ascension Day. Then, at Pentecost, fifty days (Pentecost is Greek for “50th Day”) after the Resurrection, the Holy Spirit descended upon the apostles and the people; and we mark the end of Eastertide and the beginning of, well, the season after Pentecost.
Collects during Eastertide are mostly those written in very early times (in the Book of Common Prayer, the more important the day, the more likely that ancient elements will be used) and the first and second lessons are from the New Testament only, concerning what happened after the Resurrection.
“Christ, Our Passover, is sacrificed for Us. Therefore, let Us keep the Feast. Alleluia, alleluia.”