As Christians around the world focus during this Easter weekend on how Jesus Christ died on the Cross to redeem mankind and to save sinners, some will be contemplating the final lessons the Savior’s last imparted.
As recorded in the Gospels, the Holy Bible, Jesus Christ was mocked, scorned and tortured in the praetorian. He carried his cross up the Via Dolorosa in Jerusalem to Calvary, was nailed to the Cross and hung between two common criminals. He suffered an indescribable and excruciating end, recalled by the Church on Good Friday of Holy Week
The location where Jesus was Crucified and died for the sins of the world is called Golgotha in Scripture. The earliest recorded observance of an Easter celebration comes from the 2nd century, though the commemoration of Jesus’ Resurrection probably occurred earlier. Easter is celebrated on Sunday, April 4, 2021.
Easter was always celebrated on the first Sunday after the 14th day of the month of Nisan. Increasingly, the churches opted for the Sunday celebration. The COUNCIL OF NICAEA in 325 decreed that Easter should be observed on the first Sunday following the first full moon after the spring Equinox (March 21).
In the Christian Calendar Easter follows Lent, the period of 40 days (not counting Sundays) before Easter, which traditionally is observed by acts of penance and fasting. Easter is immediately preceded by Holy Week, which includes Maundy Thursday, the commemoration of Jesus’ Last Supper with his disciples; Good Friday, the day of his Crucifixion; and Holy Saturday, the transition between Crucifixion and Resurrection. Liturgically, Easter comes after the Great Vigil, which was originally observed sometime between sunset on Easter Saturday and sunrise on Easter Sunday. Later it would be celebrated in Western churches on Saturday evening, then on Saturday afternoon, and finally on Sunday morning. In 1955 the Roman Catholic Church set the time for the vigil at 10 PM, which allowed for the Easter mass to be celebrated after midnight. In the Orthodox traditions the vigil continues to be an important liturgical event, while in Protestant churches it is little known.
Easter egg hunts are popular among children in the US. First lady Lucy Hayes, the wife of Pres. Rutherford B Hayes, is often credited with sponsoring the first annual Easter egg roll (an event where children and their parents were invited to roll their eggs on the Monday following Easter) on the White house lawn, in 1878. That year the event was moved to the White House from the grounds of the US Capitol Building, where large numbers of children had gathered beginning in the early 1870s to roll their eggs and play on Easter Monday. Some historical records note that the Hayes first opened the White House lawn to egg rolling festivities the following year, in 1877, after a young boy asked President Hayes directly for permission to use the space.
