Easter, also called Pascha, celebrates Jesus Christ’s Resurrection from the dead on the third day after his Crucifixion.
It is the oldest and most significant Holy Day in the Church, representing the fulfillment of God’s promises to man. It is the key to salvation and foreshadowed by the Jewish celebration of the Passover.
Raising from the dead was Jesus’ victory over evil, sin, and death and proved that He was the Son of God and that death is not the end. Easter gives Catholics hope that they too might have everlasting life.
The Easter Holy Day is celebrated on the first Sunday after the first full moon after the spring equinox. It can fall between March 22 and April 25, coinciding with the Jewish Passover.
In the Catholic Church, the season of Easter continues for seven weeks, until Pentecost Sunday. The first eight days of Easter are called the Octave of Easter and celebrated together as one day.
Easter changes everything:
Share the good news:
After the sabbath, as the first day of the week was dawning, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to see the tomb. And behold, there was a great earthquake; for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven, approached, rolled back the stone, and sat upon it. His appearance was like lightning and his clothing was white as snow. The guards were shaken with fear of him and became like dead men. Then the angel said to the women in reply, “Do not be afraid! I know that you are seeking Jesus the crucified. He is not here, for He has been raised just as He said. Come and see the place where he lay. Then go quickly and tell his disciples, ‘He has been raised from the dead, and He is going before you to Galilee; there you will see Him.’ Behold, I have told you.” Then they went away quickly from the tomb, fearful yet overjoyed, and ran to announce this to his disciples. And behold, Jesus met them on their way and greeted them. They approached, embraced his feet, and did Him homage. Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid. Go tell my brothers to go to Galilee, and there they will see Me.”
Matthw 28: 1-10
The Resurrection is an anchor of hope:
Truly alive again through the power of God:
The Resurrection is a glorious miracle:
Christòs anesti! – “Christ is risen; He is truly risen!” In this traditional proclamation of the Churches of the East, the word “truly” reminds us that our hope is not an illusion, but the truth! And that, in the wake of Easter, humanity’s journey, now marked by hope, advances all the more readily. The first witnesses of the resurrection show this by their example. The Gospels speak of the haste with which, on the morning of Easter, the women “ran to tell the disciples”. Mary Magdalene “ran and went to Simon Peter”, while John and Peter himself then “ran together” to the place where Jesus had been buried. Later, on the evening of Easter, after meeting the Risen Lord on the road to Emmaus, two disciples “set out without delay” and travelled several miles, uphill and in the dark, spurred on by the irrepressible joy of Easter that burned in their hearts. The same joy that led Peter, on the shore of the Lake of Galilee, after catching sight of the risen Jesus, to leave the boat with the others, to throw himself immediately into the water and to swim quickly towards Him. At Easter, then, the journey quickens and becomes a race, since humanity now sees the goal of its journey, the meaning of its destiny, Jesus Christ, and is called to make haste to meet Him, who is the hope of the world.
Pope Francis, Urbi et Orbi Message, 9 April 2023
The difference between Christian Easter and Jewish Passover:
“We bring you the good news that what God promised to the fathers, this day He has fulfilled to us their children by raising Jesus.” The Resurrection of Jesus is the crowning truth of our faith in Christ, a faith believed and lived as the central truth by the first Christian community; handed on as fundamental by Tradition; established by the documents of the New Testament; and preached as an essential part of the Paschal mystery along with the cross: Christ is risen from the dead! Dying, He conquered death; To the dead, He has given life.
Catechism of the Catholic Church 638
Easter lasts longer than a day:
Easter is a season of celebration:
The week after Easter is especially significant:
The Mass readings of the Easter season are special:
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