Easter is a Christian festival feast and holiday in remembrance of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. The celebration focuses on Easter Sunday which marks the return to life of Jesus three days after being executed on a cross by the Roman authorities 2000 years ago. Easter is often associated with the Jewish feast of Passover and is preceded by lent, a forty day period of fasting, prayer and penance which starts the day after shrove Tuesday. It also includes Mothering Sunday, Ash Wednesday in the lead up to Holy week which begins with Palm Sunday and ends with the Easter tridum of 1) Maunday Thursday which commemorates the last supper 2) Good Friday which marks the crucifixion when traditionally vigils are held in many Churches and hot cross buns are eaten and 3) Easter Sunday which celebrates the resurrection of Christ and is marked by the giving of eggs and evening prayer. Easter is followed by a fifty day period called Eastertide which culminates in Pentecost Sunday. Easter is a movable feast and not a fixed calendar date.
The first council of Nicaea established the date of Easter as the first Sunday after the full moon (Pashcal moon ) following the March equinox and varies between March 22nd and April 25th. Easter customs include The paschal greeting, Clipping the Church, egg giving, decorating and hunting eggs, Easter parades, the Easter bunny and sunrise services. The Easter bunny originated among German Lutherians and is first recorded in 1682 where the Easter hare plays the role of judge as to the good behaviour of children, the hare would bring coloured eggs, candy or toys accordingly. In many churches a live rabbit or hare was introduced into the congregation whilst three interlocking hares are seen externally on many Churches and are said to symbolize the Holy trinity, also in antiquity the hare was a pagan symbol for fertility representing various Gods but later because it was believed to reproduce whilst remaining a virgin or by laying eggs underground it also became a symbol of the virgin Mary.
The pagans celebrated a festival to the Goddess ( Oestre or Ostara) of fertility who was said to fly through the heavens but Bede reports in his writings that this practice had died out by the 8th century. In the Eastern orthodox Church there is a custom of dying eggs red to signify Christ’s blood. Eggs were previously a pagan symbol of the rebirth of the earth which was evident with renewal in spring but was later adopted by early Christians as a symbol of the rebirth of man through the new life of the resurrection with the egg being representative of the empty tomb.
Christians have traditionally given one another painted decorated eggs at Easter and in modern times this has been replaced by the giving of chocolate eggs. Easter egg hunts are common with children searching for eggs which have been left by the Easter bunny. Clipping the Church is another traditional Easter custom being held on Easter Monday or shrove Tuesday which involved the Church congregation particularly children holding hands in an outward facing ring with onlookers cheering and singing hymns, this was often followed by a church ceremony or sermon with refreshments. Only a handful of Churches continue this tradition today.
Easter parades and marches of witness have been part of Christian culture since the early days marking both the procession of Christ into Jerusalem on a donkey on Palm Sunday but also the carrying of the cross to Calvary on Good Friday. In past years there would have been processions to church on Easter Sunday and in the middle-ages these often included passing the twelve stations of the cross. It became the custom to wear new clothes on Easter Sunday following the lead of priests who always wore new vestments. So it was in finest Sunday best clothing that Christians would practice the paschal greeting, a long established tradition in the church on Easter Sunday where one Christian will greet another saying "He is risen" and receives the reply "He is risen indeed".
Easter Sunrise services are held all over the world usually outdoors at sunrise and often in graveyards following an all night prayer vigil. The first sunrise service was recorded in Saxony in 1732. Church services held over the Easter period are very different in atmosphere. Good Friday tends to be reflective and sombre as Christians meditate on the suffering of Jesus on the cross, in contrast to absolute joy on Easter Sunday as the risen lord is celebrated. Easter is the most important of the Christian festivals as it represents most clearly the heart and core beliefs of the Christian faith.