Easter is the most important annual religious feast in the Christian liturgical year.
Traditionally Easter season is a forty-six day period symbolic of the forty days Jesus wandered in the wilderness. Easter season begins on Ash Wednesday, named for the practice of mixing oil with the ashes of the previous year’s palm branches used on Palm Sunday, to be applied in the shape of a cross to the foreheads of the faithful as a sign of repentance. Ash Wednesday worship service includes music, pastoral homily (sermon), and Holy Communion.
Ash Wednesday is a moveable feast, occurring as early as February 4 or as late as March 10 because it is dependent upon the date of Easter, also a moveable feast, that falls between March 22 and April 25. Ash Wednesday marks the official start of Lent, a season of prayer, penance, and fasting—typically of a particiular food or activity—as a reminder of Jesus' sacrifice for the sins of humanity.
Passion Week, the week preceding Easter, is especially significant, beginning with Palm Sunday, so named because followers waved palm branches and hailed Jesus as the One coming in the name of the Lord as Jesus made his triumphal entry into Jerusalem on the fold of a donkey.
Later in the week, Holy Thursday or Maundy Thursday commemorates the Last Supper, during which Jesus celebrated the Passover with his disciples. The word maundy originates in the Latin word mandate, and refers to the command that Jesus gave to his disciples at the Last Supper: to love and serve one another.
The following day, Good Friday, commemorates Christ's death upon the cross and is called good because, on this day, the faithful rejoice in the good news that Jesus has paid the price for their sins, granting forgiveness and assuring reconciliation with God. Good Friday worship includes music, Holy Communion, and thoughtful meditation of Jesus' last steps before his sacrifice upon the cross.
The day after Good Friday is called Holy Saturday or Silent Saturday.
Christians celebrate Jesus' resurrection on Easter Sunday, which marks the beginning of Holy Week, also known as Easter Week, or the Octave of Easter. Each day of this week is prefaced with the word Easter.
Easter season traditionally ends on the fortieth day after Easter, a Thursday known as Ascension Day, which commemorates the bodily Ascension of Jesus into heaven. But contemporary calendars record Easter Season as a fifty-day period lasting until Pentecost, seven weeks after Easter Sunday. Pentecost commemorates the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles and other followers of Jesus as described in the New Testament Book of Acts, Chapter 2
According to Scripture, Jesus was resurrected from the dead on the third day following his Crucifixion, variously interpreted to have occurred between 26 and 36 AD.
The New Testament teaches that the Resurrection of Jesus is a foundation of the Christian faith, establishing Jesus as the powerful Son of God, proof that God will judge the world in righteousness. Through Jesus, God has given everyone the opportunity for a new birth into a living hope through the Resurrection. Through faith in God, and by the power of the Holy Spirit, Christians may be transformed to be more like Jesus every day.
The Last Supper and Crucifixion link Easter to the Passover and Exodus from Egypt, recorded in the Old Testament. According to the narratives of the New Testament, Jesus gave the Passover meal a new meaning, as he prepared himself and his disciples for his death in the upper room during the Last Supper. Jesus identified the loaf of bread as his body soon to be sacrificed and the cup of wine as his blood soon to be shed.