Eastertide (also known as Eastertime or the Easter season) or Paschaltide (also known as Paschaltime or the Paschal season) is a festal season in the

liturgical year The liturgical year, also called the church year, Christian year or kalendar, consists of the cycle of liturgical seasons in Christian churches that determines when feast days, including celebrations of saints, are to be observed, and whi ...

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global pop ...

that focuses on celebrating the

Resurrection of Jesus Christ The resurrection of Jesus ( grc-x-biblical, ἀνάστασις τοῦ Ἰησοῦ) is the Christian belief that God raised Jesus on the third day after his crucifixion, starting – or restoring – his exalted life as Christ and Lord ...

. It begins on

Easter Easter,Traditional names for the feast in English are "Easter Day", as in the '' Book of Common Prayer''; "Easter Sunday", used by James Ussher''The Whole Works of the Most Rev. James Ussher, Volume 4'') and Samuel Pepys''The Diary of Samuel ...

Sunday, which initiates

Easter Week The Octave of Easter is the eight-day period, or octave, that begins on Easter Sunday and ends with the following Sunday. In Christian churches that celebrate it, it marks the beginning of Eastertide. The first seven of these eight days are als ...

Western Christianity Western Christianity is one of two sub-divisions of Christianity ( Eastern Christianity being the other). Western Christianity is composed of the Latin Church and Western Protestantism, together with their offshoots such as the Old Catholic ...

, and

Bright Week Bright Week, Pascha Week or Renewal Week ( el, Διακαινήσιμος Ἑβδομάς) is the name used by the Eastern Orthodox and Byzantine Rite Catholic Churches for the period of seven days beginning on Easter and continuing up to (but n ...

Eastern Christianity Eastern Christianity comprises Christian traditions and church families that originally developed during classical and late antiquity in Eastern Europe, Southeastern Europe, Asia Minor, the Caucasus, Northeast Africa, the Fertile Crescent and ...

. There are several Eastertide customs across the

Christian world Christendom historically refers to the Christian states, Christian-majority countries and the countries in which Christianity dominates, prevails,SeMerriam-Webster.com : dictionary, "Christendom"/ref> or is culturally or historically intertwin ...

, including

sunrise service Sunrise service is a worship service on Easter Sunday practiced by some Christian denominations, such as the Moravian Church. The sunrise service takes place outdoors, sometimes in a park, and the attendees are seated on outdoor chairs or bench ...

s, exclaiming the

Paschal greeting The Paschal greeting, also known as the Easter Acclamation, is an Easter custom among Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, Catholic, and Anglican Christians. It is also found among some Christians from liturgical Protestant denominations, such ...

clipping the church Clipping the church is an ancient custom that is traditionally held in England on Easter Monday or Shrove Tuesday or a date relevant to the Saint associated with the church. The word "clipping" is Anglo-Saxon in origin, and is derived from the w ...

, and decorating

Easter eggs Easter eggs, also called Paschal eggs, are eggs that are decorated for the Christian feast of Easter, which celebrates the resurrection of Jesus. As such, Easter eggs are common during the season of Eastertide (Easter season). The oldest tra ...

, a symbol of the

empty tomb The empty tomb is the Christian tradition that the tomb of Jesus was found empty on the third day after his crucifixion. All four gospels relay the story, but beyond a basic outline, they agree on little. In the original ending of the Gospel of ...

. Eastertide customs include

egg hunting An egg hunt is an Eastertide game during which decorated eggs or Easter eggs are hidden for children to find. Real hard-boiled eggs, which are typically dyed or painted, artificial eggs made of plastic filled with chocolate or Candy, candies, or ...

, eating special

Easter food Easter,Traditional names for the feast in English are "Easter Day", as in the ''Book of Common Prayer''; "Easter Sunday", used by James Ussher''The Whole Works of the Most Rev. James Ussher, Volume 4'') and Samuel Pepys''The Diary of Samuel P ...

s and watching Easter parades. Traditionally lasting 40 days to commemorate the time the resurrected Jesus remained on earth before departing (the period between Easter Day and the Ascension), 20th century liturgical revision has led some western churches to expand Eastertide to 50 days to conclude on Whitsunday.

Western Christianity

Easter time is the period of 50 days, spanning from

Sunday to

Pentecost Pentecost (also called Whit Sunday, Whitsunday or Whitsun) is a Christianity, Christian holiday which takes place on the 50th day (the seventh Sunday) after Easter Sunday. It commemorates the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles in the Ne ...

Sunday. It is celebrated as a single joyful feast, called the "great Lord's Day". Each Sunday of the season is treated as a Sunday of Easter. In some traditions, Easter Sunday is the first Sunday of Eastertide and the following Sunday (Low Sunday) is the second Sunday of Eastertide and so on. Easter Sunday and Pentecost correspond to pre-existing Jewish feasts: The first day of

Pesach Passover, also called Pesach (; ), is a major Jewish holiday that celebrates the The Exodus, Biblical story of the Israelites escape from slavery in Egypt, which occurs on the 15th day of the Hebrew month of Nisan, the first month of Aviv, or ...

(פסח) and the holiday of

Shavu'ot (''Ḥag HaShavuot'' or ''Shavuos'') , nickname = English: "Feast of Weeks" , observedby = Jews and Samaritans , type = Jewish and Samaritan , begins = 6th day of Sivan (or the Sunday following the 6th day of Sivan i ...

(שבועות). In the Jewish tradition, the 49 days between these holidays are known as

Counting of the Omer Counting of the Omer (, Sefirat HaOmer, sometimes abbreviated as Sefira or the Omer) is an important verbal counting of each of the forty-nine days starting with the Wave Offering of a sheaf of ripe grain with a sacrifice immediately following ...

(ספירת העומר)‎. The first eight days constitute the

Octave In music, an octave ( la, octavus: eighth) or perfect octave (sometimes called the diapason) is the interval between one musical pitch and another with double its frequency. The octave relationship is a natural phenomenon that has been refer ...

of Easter and are celebrated as

solemnities In the liturgical calendar of the Roman Rite, a solemnity is a feast day of the highest rank celebrating a mystery of faith such as the Trinity, an event in the life of Jesus, his mother Mary, his earthly father Joseph, or another important sain ...

of the Lord. Since 2000, the Second Sunday of Easter is also called

Divine Mercy Sunday Divine Mercy Sunday (also known as the Feast of the Divine Mercy) is celebrated on the Second Sunday of Easter, which concludes the Octave of Easter. The feast day is observed in the Roman Rite calendar, as well as some Anglo-Catholics of ...

. The name "Low Sunday" for this Sunday, once common in English, is now used mainly in the Church of England. The solemnity of the

Ascension of the Lord The Ascension of Jesus (anglicized from the Vulgate la, ascensio Iesu, lit=ascent of Jesus) is the Christian teaching that Christ physically departed from Earth by rising to Heaven, in the presence of eleven of his apostles. According to the ...

is celebrated on the 40th day of Eastertide (a Thursday), except in countries where it is not a

Holy Day of Obligation In the Catholic Church, holy days of obligation are days on which the faithful are expected to attend Mass, and engage in rest from work and recreation (id est, they are to refrain from engaging in work or activities that hinder the worship owed t ...

. In such countries it is celebrated on the following Sunday (the 43rd day of Eastertide). The nine days from that feast until the Saturday before Pentecost (inclusive) are days of preparation for the

Holy Spirit In Judaism, the Holy Spirit is the divine force, quality, and influence of God over the Universe or over his creatures. In Nicene Christianity, the Holy Spirit or Holy Ghost is the third person of the Trinity. In Islam, the Holy Spirit acts as ...

the Paraclete, which inspired the form of prayer called a

novena A novena (from Latin: ''novem'', "nine") is an ancient tradition of devotional praying in Christianity, consisting of private or public prayers repeated for nine successive days or weeks. The nine days between the Feast of the Ascension and Pe ...

. Before the 1969 revision of the calendar, the Sundays were called First Sunday ''after'' Easter, Second Sunday ''after'' Easter, etc. The Sunday preceding the feast of the Ascension of the Lord was sometimes, although not officially, called

Rogation Sunday Rogation days are days of prayer and fasting in Western Christianity. They are observed with processions and the Litany of the Saints. The so-called ''major'' rogation is held on 25 April; the ''minor'' rogations are held on Monday to Wednesday ...

, and when the Ascension had an octave, the following Sunday was called Sunday within the Octave of the Ascension. When this octave was abolished in 1955, it was called Sunday after the Ascension. Pentecost was followed by an octave, which some reckoned as part of Eastertide. When the

Anglican Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of th ...

and Lutheran churches implemented their own calendar and lectionary reforms in 1976, they adopted the same shortened definition of the Easter season as the Roman Catholic Church had promulgated six years earlier. In the

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britain ...

, the Easter season begins with the

Easter Vigil Easter Vigil, also called the Paschal Vigil or the Great Vigil of Easter, is a liturgy held in traditional Christian churches as the first official celebration of the Resurrection of Jesus. Historically, it is during this liturgy that people are ...

and ends after Evening Prayer (or Night Prayer) on the Day of Pentecost. Some Anglican

provinces A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman '' provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...

continue to label the Sundays between Easter and the Ascension "Sundays After Easter" rather than "Sundays of Easter"; others, such as the

and

ECUSA The Episcopal Church, based in the United States with additional dioceses elsewhere, is a member church of the worldwide Anglican Communion. It is a mainline Protestant denomination and is divided into nine provinces. The presiding bishop of ...

, use the term "Sundays of Easter". Anglican provinces and dioceses which continue to use The Book of Common Prayer (1662) as their standard of doctrine and liturgy persist in having a traditional 40 day Eastertide which concludes on Ascension Day, also known as Holy Thursday. The

Te Deum The "Te Deum" (, ; from its incipit, , ) is a Latin Christian hymn traditionally ascribed to AD 387 authorship, but with antecedents that place it much earlier. It is central to the Ambrosian hymnal, which spread throughout the Latin Ch ...

and Gloria are recited every day even in the ferial Office. On Sundays the "Asperges" is replaced by the "Vidi Aquam" which recalls the solemn baptism of Easter eve. There is no feast day from Easter until Ascension. The Armenians during this period do away even with the abstinence on Fridays. Prayers are said standing, not kneeling. Instead of the "Angelus" the "Regina Caeli" is recited. From Easter to Ascension many churches, about the tenth century, said only one Nocturn at Matins; even some particular churches in the city of Rome adopted this custom from the Teutons (Bäumer, "Gesch. des Breviers", 312). Pope Gregory VII limited this privilege to the week of Easter and of Pentecost. Some dioceses in Germany however, retained it far into the nineteenth century for 40 days after Easter. In every

Nocturn Nocturns (Latin: ''nocturni'' or ''nocturna'') is a Christian canonical hour said in the nighttime. In the liturgy of the Roman Rite of the Catholic Church, nocturns refer to the sections into which the canonical hour of matins was divided fro ...

the three psalms are said under one

antiphon An antiphon ( Greek ἀντίφωνον, ἀντί "opposite" and φωνή "voice") is a short chant in Christian ritual, sung as a refrain. The texts of antiphons are the Psalms. Their form was favored by St Ambrose and they feature prominentl ...

. The

Alleluia Alleluia (derived from the Hebrew ''Hallelujah'', meaning "Praise Yahweh") is a Latin phrase in Christianity used to give praise to God. In Christian worship, Alleluia is used as a liturgical chant in which that word is combined with verses of ...

appears as an independent antiphon; an Alleluia is also added to all the antiphons, responsories and versicles, except to the versicles of the preces at

Prime A prime number (or a prime) is a natural number greater than 1 that is not a product of two smaller natural numbers. A natural number greater than 1 that is not prime is called a composite number. For example, 5 is prime because the only ways ...

and Compline. Instead of the "suffragia sanctorum" in the semidouble and ferial Offices, a commemoration of the Holy Cross is used. The iambic hymns have a special Easter

doxology A doxology (Ancient Greek: ''doxologia'', from , '' doxa'' 'glory' and -, -''logia'' 'saying') is a short hymn of praises to God in various forms of Christian worship, often added to the end of canticles, psalms, and hymns. The tradition derive ...

. The feasts of the holy Apostles and martyrs have their own commune from Easter to Pentecost. At Mass the Alleluia is added to the Introit, Offertory and Communion; in place of the Gradual two Alleluias are sung followed by two verses, each with an Alleluia; there is also a special Preface for Paschal Time. Paschal Tide was the period during which every member of the faithful who has attained the year of discretion was bound by the positive law of the Church to receive Holy Communion (Easter duty). During the early Middle Ages from the time of the Synod of Agde (508), it was customary to receive Holy Communion at least three times a year—Christmas, Easter and Pentecost. A positive precept was issued by the

Fourth Lateran Council The Fourth Council of the Lateran or Lateran IV was convoked by Pope Innocent III in April 1213 and opened at the Lateran Palace in Rome on 11 November 1215. Due to the great length of time between the Council's convocation and meeting, many bi ...

(1215) and confirmed by the

Council of Trent The Council of Trent ( la, Concilium Tridentinum), held between 1545 and 1563 in Trento, Trent (or Trento), now in northern Italian Peninsula, Italy, was the 19th ecumenical council of the Catholic Church. Prompted by the Protestant Reformation ...

(Sess. XIII, can. ix). According to these decrees the faithful of either sex, after coming to the age of discretion, must receive at least at Easter the Sacrament of the Eucharist (unless by the advice of the parish priest they abstain for a while). Otherwise during life they are to be prevented from entering the church and when dead are to be denied Christian burial. The paschal precept is to be fulfilled in one's parish church. Although the precept of the Fourth Lateran to confess to the parish priest fell into disuse and permission was given to confess anywhere, the precept of receiving Easter Communion in the parish church was still in force where there are canonically-erected parishes. The term Paschal Tide was usually interpreted to mean the two weeks between Palm and Low Sundays (

Synod of Avignon A synod () is a council of a Christian denomination, usually convened to decide an issue of doctrine, administration or application. The word '' synod'' comes from the meaning "assembly" or "meeting" and is analogous with the Latin word mea ...

, 1337); by St. Antonine of Florence it was restricted to Easter Sunday, Monday and Tuesday; by Angelo da Chiavasso it was defined as the period from

Maundy Thursday Maundy Thursday or Holy Thursday (also known as Great and Holy Thursday, Holy and Great Thursday, Covenant Thursday, Sheer Thursday, and Thursday of Mysteries, among other names) is the day during Holy Week that commemorates the Washing of the ...

to Low Sunday.

Eugene IV Pope Eugene IV ( la, Eugenius IV; it, Eugenio IV; 1383 – 23 February 1447), born Gabriele Condulmer, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 3 March 1431 to his death in February 1447. Condulmer was a Venetian, and ...

, 8 July 1440, authoritatively interpreted it to mean the two weeks between Palm and Low Sundays. In later centuries the time has been variously extended: at Naples from

Palm Sunday Palm Sunday is a Christian moveable feast that falls on the Sunday before Easter. The feast commemorates Christ's triumphal entry into Jerusalem, an event mentioned in each of the four canonical Gospels. Palm Sunday marks the first day of Hol ...

to Ascension; at Palermo from

Ash Wednesday Ash Wednesday is a holy day of prayer and fasting in many Western Christian denominations. It is preceded by Shrove Tuesday and falls on the first day of Lent (the six weeks of penitence before Easter). It is observed by Catholics in the Rom ...

to Low Sunday. In Germany, at an early date, the second Sunday after Easter terminated Paschal Tide, for which reason it was called "Predigerkirchweih", because the hard Easter labour was over, or "Buch Sunday", the obstinate sinners putting off the fulfillment of the precept to the last day. In the United States upon petition of the Fathers of the First Provincial Council of Baltimore Paschal Tide was extended by

Pius VIII Pope Pius VIII ( it, Pio VIII; born Francesco Saverio Maria Felice Castiglioni; 20 November 1761 – 30 November 1830), was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 31 March 1829 to his death in November 1830. Pius VIII's ...

to the period from the first Sunday in Lent to Trinity Sunday (II Plen. Coun. Balt., n. 257); in Canada the duration of the Paschal Tide is the same as in the United States. In England it lasts from Ash Wednesday until Low Sunday; in Ireland from Ash Wednesday until the octave of SS. Peter and Paul, 6 July.

Liturgical aspects

Paschal Tide is a season of joy. The liturgical color is white (and sometimes gold, which is the color designated for feasts and festivals. The Paschal Candle is lit on Easter and on Sundays during Eastertide. Eastertide ends on the Day of Pentecost. The Easter lily, a symbol of the resurrection, traditionally serve as the chancel flowers that decorate the

chancel In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar, including the choir and the sanctuary (sometimes called the presbytery), at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building. It may terminate in an apse. Ove ...

area of churches throughout Eastertide. The Orthodox (Greek) Church celebrates on Friday of Easter Week the feast of Our Lady, the Living Fountain (shrine at Constantinople).Holweck, Frederick. "Paschal Tide." The Catholic Encyclopedia
Vol. 11. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1911. 20 December 2021 {{{PD-notice The Sundays from Easter to Ascension Day, besides being called the First, Second (etc.) Sunday in Easteride or after Easter Sunday, have their own peculiar titles.

First Sunday

{{Main, Easter Sunday

Second Sunday

{{Main, Second Sunday of Easter The Second Sunday of Easter is also known in Western Christianity as

, the Octave Day of Easter, White Sunday, Quasimodo Sunday, and Low Sunday. In Eastern Christianity, this day is known as Antipascha, New Sunday (or Renewal Sunday), and Thomas Sunday.

Third Sunday

{{Main, Third Sunday of Easter Traditionally, the Third Sunday of Easter was also called Misericordia Sunday and Good Shepherd Sunday in Western Christianity. Subsequent to modern liturgical reforms, these names are often applied to the Fourth Sunday instead. In Greek Orthodoxy, this day is called the Sunday of the Myrrhbearers.

Fourth Sunday

{{Main, Fourth Sunday of Easter Traditionally, the Fourth Sunday of Easter was also called Jubilate Sunday in Western Christianity. Subsequent to modern liturgical reforms, this name is often more appropriately applied to the Third Sunday instead. The Fourth Sunday of Easter is also known as Good Shepherd Sunday and Vocations Sunday. In Greek Orthodoxy, this day is called the Sunday of the Paralytic.

Fifth Sunday

{{Main, Cantate Sunday The Asian Churches on Wednesday after the third Sunday celebrate with a very solemn Office and an octave, the Mesopentekoste, the completion of the first half of Paschal Tide; it is the feast of the manifestation of the Messiah; the Slav nations in this day have a solemn procession and benediction of their rivers. The fifth Sunday is called Cantate Sunday; by the Orientals it is called Sunday of the Samaritan Woman.

Sixth Sunday

The sixth Sunday, "Vocem jucunditatis" in Asia, Sunday of the Man Born Blind. In the Latin Church follow the Rogation Days; in the Greek Church on Tuesday is kept the apodosis or conclusion of the feast of Easter. The Greeks sing the Canons of Easter up to this Tuesday in the same manner as during Easter Week, whilst in the Latin Church the specific Easter Office terminates on Saturday following the feast. Thursday is the feast of the Ascension. The Friday of this week, in Germany, is called "Witterfreitag"; the fields are blessed against frost and thunderstorms.

Seventh Sunday

Sunday within the octave of Ascension is called "Exaudi" from the Introit; in some dioceses it is called Feast of Our Lady, Queen of the Apostles (double major) or of the Cenacle (first class); in Rome it was called Sunday of the Roses ("Pascha rosarum" or "rosatum"), since in the Pantheon rose-leaves were thrown from the rotunda into the church; in the Greek and Russian Churches it is the feast of the 318 Fathers of the first Nicene Council; the Armenians call it the "second feast of the flowers", a repetition of Palm Sunday. By older liturgists the week before Pentecost is called "Hebdomada expectationis", week of the expectation of the Holy Ghost. On the Vigil of Pentecost the baptismal water is blessed in the Latin Church; in the Oriental Churches, that Saturday is the psychosabbaton (All Soul's Day), upon which the Greeks bless wheat cakes and hold processions to the cemeteries.

Eastern Christianity

Byzantine Rite

{{Main, Pentecostarion In the

Eastern Orthodox Church The Eastern Orthodox Church, also called the Orthodox Church, is the second-largest Christian church, with approximately 220 million baptized members. It operates as a communion of autocephalous churches, each governed by its bishops via ...

Pascha Pascha (or other similar spellings) may refer to: * Passover, the Aramaic spelling of the Hebrew word ''Pesach'' **Pesach seder,_the_festive_meal_beginning_the_14th_and_ending_on_the_15th_of_Nisan *Easter.html" ;"title="san in the Hebrew c ..., t ...

begins on Easter Sunday at

Matins Matins (also Mattins) is a canonical hour in Christian liturgy, originally sung during the darkness of early morning. The earliest use of the term was in reference to the canonical hour, also called the vigil, which was originally celebrated by ...

which is normally celebrated at midnight and continues for forty days through the ninth hour on the day before the Ascension.

East Syriac Rite

The

East Syriac Rite The East Syriac Rite or East Syrian Rite, also called the Edessan Rite, Assyrian Rite, Persian Rite, Chaldean Rite, Nestorian Rite, Babylonian Rite or Syro-Oriental Rite, is an Eastern Christian liturgical rite that employs the Divine Liturgy ...

refers to Eastertide as the ''Season of Resurrection'', also known by the Syriac

transliteration Transliteration is a type of conversion of a text from one writing system, script to another that involves swapping Letter (alphabet), letters (thus ''wikt:trans-#Prefix, trans-'' + ''wikt:littera#Latin, liter-'') in predictable ways, such as ...

''Qyamta'' and the season runs up to the feast of Pentecost. In this rite, the following feasts are fixed to various days of the Season of Resurrection:{{cite web, url=http://www.syromalabarliturgy.org/assets/assettt/panchangam%20English%202021%20(1).pdf, title=Syro-Malabar Liturgical Calendar: 2020–2021, author=Syro-Malabar Major Archiepiscopal Commission for Liturgy, pages=28–32 * Friday after Easter:

All Saints' Day All Saints' Day, also known as All Hallows' Day, the Feast of All Saints, the Feast of All Hallows, the Solemnity of All Saints, and Hallowmas, is a Christian solemnity celebrated in honour of all the saints of the church, whether they are know ...

* Fourth Sunday after Easter ("Fifth Sunday of Resurrection"): Mar Addai * Sixth Thursday after Easter: Ascension of Our Lord The Second Sunday of Resurrection is also known as "New Sunday" or "St. Thomas Sunday".

References

{{reflist, 2 {{Catholic, wstitle=Paschal Tide

External links

Easter Season Resource Library - Crossroads Initiative
{{Easter {{Liturgical year of the Catholic Church {{Authority control Catholic liturgy