Easter is a moveable Christian festival celebrating the resurrection of Jesus from the dead. In 325 AD the Council of Nicea standardized the date for Easter as the 1st Sunday after the 1st full moon after the beginning of Spring. In the early days of the Christian Church March 21 was designated as the ecclesiastical date for the equinox, regardless of the actual astronomical observation. Thus, Easter is always between March 22 and April 25. Easter did occur on Sunday, March 22 in the year 1818. You may remember Easter Sunday on March 23 in 2008, a very early Easter not to be seen again until 2160. Easter will occur on Sunday, April 25 in the year 2038.
For Orthodox Christians, who follow the Julian calendar for ecclesiastical purposes, Easter must follow the Jewish Passover and can vary from April 4 to May 8. On Sunday, April 16, 2017, the two main branches of Christendom observed Easter at the same time. This will happen next on Sunday, April 20, 2025.
The word Easter, used by the Western Church, probably derives from the Old English term Eastre, which comes from the Germanic festival called Eostarum. This word probably derives from the Latin in albis, coming from alba, meaning dawn. The Germanic festival celebrated the arrival of Spring and dawn coming earlier in the morning after the Winter darkness.
The English churchman, Bede (673-735), mentioned the Spring month of April as Eosturmonath, named from the German goddess Ostara. There is a legend that Ostara, the ancient Germanic goddess of the spring, transformed a bird into a hare, and the hare responded by laying colored eggs for her festival. However, this story seems to have originated in the late 1800s in connection with Jacob Grimm (1785-1863), the editor of Grimm’s Fairy Tales. There is no clear historical record of any goddess named Ostara.
In his book The Reckoning of Time, Bede mentioned the designation Easter is used for the observance of the resurrection of Jesus. By the 11th century the practice of naming the Pascha celebration Easter became widespread among English speaking churches.
The Orthodox Church still uses the term Pascha for the feast of the resurrection. Pascha comes from the Hebrew word for the Passover. Vestiges of Pascha still exist in the Western churches in the naming of the Easter candle, used in many rituals of the season, as the Pascal Candle.
The use of painted and decorated eggs at Easter was first recorded in the 13th century. The Church prohibited the eating of eggs during Holy Week, but chickens continued to lay eggs during that week. Thus, Holy Week eggs were decorated and often coloured for use when the Easter feast began. The use of eggs as a symbol of new life dates to the early Egyptians. Ancient Persians dyed eggs and exchanged them as gifts to represent life and rebirth.
White lilies symbolize the purity of Christ and are common decorations in churches and homes around the Easter holiday. Growing from dormant bulbs into flowers indicate the rebirth and hope of Christ’s resurrection. Asiatic lilies, the type most common at Easter, are native to Japan and were brought to England in 1777.
The Easter rabbit seems to have developed as a type of Santa Claus bringing gifts on the eve of Easter. Rabbits and hares are ancient symbols of fertility and new life.
One of my favourite Easter traditions is eating hot cross buns. The hot cross bun - a traditional English desert with spices, fruits, and a bold icing cross - likely comes from a long tradition of making spiced and sweet buns on festival days. Tradition has an Irish monk first baking them in the 12th century. However, the first reference to hot cross buns comes in 1733 printed in Poor Robin’s Almanac, “Good Friday comes this Month, the old woman runs/With one or two a Penny hot cross Bunns.” Those who share a hot cross bun are supposed to enjoy a strong friendship and bond for the next year. A line from an old Irish rhyme captures this folklore, "Half for you and half for me, between us two, good luck shall be."
Whatever your Easter traditions might be, enjoy the day, share a hot cross bun, and may your relationships be strengthened as you get together with family and friends. Happy Easter!
Columnist John Kreutzwieser loves to research words and writes this weekly Word Wisdom column for Moose Jaw Express/MooseJawToday.com. He has an interest in the usage, origin, and relevance of words for society today. Greek and Latin form the basis of many words, with ancient Hebrew shedding light on word usage.
John would like to know if anyone has a sincere interest in a relevant word that he could possibly research for an upcoming column. If so, please send your requests to wordwisdom2021@gmail.com . Words will be selected according to relevance and research criteria. We cannot confirm that all words will be used.
The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect the position of this publication.
