April 1 marks the Christian holiday of Easter this year, which summons thoughts of dyed eggs, elaborate parades, religious theater, and chocolate bunnies. The holiday celebrates the resurrection of Jesus Christ, but it also has roots in the start of spring (hence, bunnies and eggs).
Today, Christians recognize Easter on the first Sunday after the first full moon of spring, but there wasn’t always a unified idea of when it should be. In the third century, Easter was determined by the Jewish holiday of Passover, observed two weeks after the first full moon of spring. Christians celebrated Easter shortly after Passover, but different regions celebrated it on different days. In A.D. 325, the Christian Church established a unified Easter—which continues to the present.
For many Christians, celebrations don’t start with Easter; they start the week before, during Holy Week, the last week of Lent. The days of the Holy Week represent milestones of Jesus’ life: Palm Sunday is his entry into Jerusalem, Maundy Thursday his last supper, Good Friday his crucifixion, and Easter Sunday his resurrection. And so the holiday carries echoes of a somber and profoundly religious death—and the renewal of life.
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