The Octave of Easter is the eight-day period, or
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 ...
, that begins on
Easter Sunday and ends with
the following Sunday. In
Christian
Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...
churches that celebrate it, it marks the beginning of
Eastertide. The first seven of these eight days are also collectively known as Easter Week.
Days in the octave
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Easter Sunday
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Second Sunday of Easter (also
Divine Mercy Sunday in the Roman Catholic Church)
Liturgical celebration
Roman Rite Catholicism
In the
Ordinary Form of the
Roman Rite
The Roman Rite ( la, Ritus Romanus) is the primary liturgical rite of the Latin Church, the largest of the ''sui iuris'' particular churches that comprise the Catholic Church. It developed in the Latin language in the city of Rome and, while dist ...
of the
Catholic Church, Easter is one of two solemnities with an octave, the other being
Christmas. The days of the octave are given the second-highest rank in the calendar (second only to the
Paschal Triduum and Easter itself), ranking even above normal
solemnities.
The paschal
sequence ''
Victimae paschali laudes'' may be sung before the Gospel reading on each of these days.
The Gospel readings for each of middle days within the octave are taken from the various Scriptural accounts of the
Resurrection of Jesus.
* Monday:
* Tuesday:
* Wednesday:
* Thursday:
* Friday:
* Saturday:
References
Easter liturgy
Eastertide
Liturgical octaves
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