Easter, one of the most important Christian holidays, celebrates the resurrection of Jesus Christ. The holiday includes a series of events and holidays that begins with Lent and ends with Holy Week. Lent starts on Ash Wednesday and lasts for 40 days (not including Sundays) to represent the 40 days Jesus spent fasting in the wilderness. Observant Christians spend the 40 day period fasting, engaged in prayer and sacrifice.
The Holy Week Includes:
- Palm Sunday- the Sunday immediately prior to Easter. It commemorates Jesus' arrival in Jerusalem when followers laid palm leaves across the road to greet him.
- Holy Thursday- also known as Maundy Thursday, is the celebration of Jesus' Last Supper with his 12 Apostles
- Good Friday- the day in which Jesus' crucifixion is observed
- Easter Sunday
This holiday is held each year on the first Sunday after the first full moon following the northern spring equinox. The date is between March 21st and April 25th. This year, Easter is on Sunday, April 17th.
A Few Fun Facts
- Easter was named after the Anglo-Saxon goddess Eostre, who was depicted as a Fertility Goddess and a Goddess of Dawn and Light.
- Easter is always celebrated on the Sunday after the full moon following March 21st, which is the official beginning of Spring.
- The act of painting eggs originated from a Ukrainian tradition. For many generations, Ukrainians have decorated eggs to call out to the Gods and Goddesses of health and fertility. This traditional act of pysanka is made by using wax and dyes, but this colorful custom didn't take off until Ukrainian immigrants came to the U.S..
- The White House Easter Egg roll tradition started in 1878. The story goes that President Rutherford B. Hayes was taking a walk when children approached him asking about a possible Easter egg roll. He loved the idea and it's been one of the most popular annual White House events ever since.
- In the mid-1800s people believed that if you wore new clothes on Easter, you would have good luck for the rest of the year.
- During the Easter season, Americans will consume more than 16 million jelly beans. That's enough jelly beans to circle the globe three times, or fill a plastic egg the size of a nine story building.
- Pretzels have been linked to Easter because the twist looks like arms crossed in prayer.
- 12/50 states in the U.S. consider the Friday before Easter an actual federal holiday, but most of the country will go to work on Good Friday.
- PEEPS® Brand Marshmallow Candies are made by the company, Just Born Quality Confections. The company has been a family-owned manufacturer since 1923 and is located in Bethlehem, PA. They make more than 1 billion Peeps per year.