May I ask without causing an uproar???

Easter has to coencide with the Jewish Holiday of Passover. That is why it is lunar based. Because the food served at the last super was somehow linked to the passover AND the crucifixion of jesus on good friday was a passover gift* to the Jews by Piolt (Roman leader) that easter has to be linked to passover and therfore lunar.

Catholic fasting rules exempt pregnant women, the sick, kids under 14, the elderly... but it really depends on the individual if they wish to take the exemption. When b/f i did the ash wednesday and easter fast. Also All the standing and kneeling during mass (Catholics have to stand and kneel during different sections of mass, as signs of respect, praise, addoration, pennance for sin) even though as being pg I was exempt from the standing/kneeling requirements. Elderly, disabled/sick, pg women and kids under 8 are all exempt from the standing /kneeling mass requirements but the only time I have ever executed my exemption was when going to mass in plaster from my toes to my hip... so even at 38w pg I was still standing and kneeling although it did often take quite a bit to get back up.

A lot of the catholic feasts/holidays/observances have very strong links to pagan rituals... christmas, easter, all saints day (halloween)... historically this is because in an effort to convert as many people (especially heathens = the unbaptised and those not of a religion, pagan religions were not recognised) as possible the catholic church in its infancy incorperated some of these pagan rituals into their practices sort like a trick to con the pagans into joining as it really wasn't so different... see we celebrate this too (Ostara) but we are enlightened and do it properly... well that was the theory.

I also find it funny that the catholic church has slighlty different customs in different countries, like to some extent the church is evolving slightly to suit the society it is in... Irish catholics have differnent death practices and traditions than do those in Italy or Europe, etc.

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What I always found interesting was that Easter is the only christians holiday decided on a lunar calendar and they will always skip a weekend if it falls on or near Ostara... (or so I've read)

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Easter Sunday is always the first Sunday, after the full moon, after the Equinox.

Easter and Pesach (Passover) often don't co-incide.

Our calender is lunar based, but is worked out different, and during our leap years we have an extra month (Adar II), so it would be an extra 29 or 30 days later.

I think my dates might be a tiny bit off, but the Rabbi said today that Pesach can fall anytime between the 3rd of March and the 25th of April, or close to it.

Infact, i think it was 2 years ago, or last year (had to be one of them, cos i was def. married), our holiday that falls 30 days before Pesach, the festival of Purim (story of Queen Esther for those that will know what i'm talking about), fell on or just after Good Friday, cos i remember having to buy everything before the shops were shut.

HTH :)

oOooOoooo keep it coming girls I love this stuff :D

*hugs*
Cailin

Easter Traditions (catholic)

Ok the Easter services start on Thursday night with the Holy Thursday mass.

HOLY THURSDAY - During this mass there will often be someone receiving their first communion (Eucharist), but this is not the main aspect of HS mass. Also the head priest will wash the feet of 12 members of the church as a symbol of Jesus washing the disciples feet. The 12 people chosen are always male and usually any other priests or brothers at the church and then made up by elder male members of the congregation who contribute to the church community. It is a great honour to be chosen for this. During this mass incense (myrrh based at Easter) is burned periodically but especially during the raising of the Eucharist (converting of the bread and wine into the body and blood of Christ). Holy Thursday is the Mass of the Lords Supper – the day the first Christian mass was ever celebrated, the day communion was given and taken for the first time and theoretically the day the priesthood was instituted by Jesus Christ. After the mass all lights and candles are extinguished in the church and remain so until after the Easter Vigil because of the dark time of Jesus, crucifixion and death.

GOOD FIRDAY – During lent all crucifixes in the church are covered with a purple/violet shroud (the lent colour, different liturgical periods are assigned different colours and the priests robes and church decorations will change to match this colour). On the GF mass the head priest carries the cross down the aisle, usually while the stations of the cross are repeated, each time Jesus falls the priest and entire congregation drop to their knees and remain their for 1 minute of reflection, then the cross proceeds. Once the cross is placed at the alter, the congregation go forward as they would for communion and bow to the cross. After this mass the crosses are uncovered, although lights (inc candles are still not used, until after the vigil, therefore Easter Sunday, as a sign of the light of Jesus’ resurrection.. we are still remembering the darkness of his death.

EASTER VIGIL (either 10pm Sat until 1am Sunday, or starts some time between 3am and 5am Sunday morning. This depends on your parish and priests) – During the Easter vigil mass there are usually quite a few baptisms (christenings) of both adults and babies. This is a very long mass and never lasts under 2 ½ hours (standard mass being 45mins). Also during this mass 2 important (well to Catholics anyway) things occur, the baptismal font is filled with fresh water and a blessing ceremony is preformed and the new Paschal (Easter) candle is lit from a sacred fire created with much ceremony to light candle, once lit all other candles in the church are lit from this flame. In some eastern orthodox religions this candle burns all year without being extinguished but in catholic churches it is lit for mass and it is used during all baptisms (christening candles are lit from it) and plays a large part in death rites also (funeral services) as well as communion, first reconciliation (confession) and communion. There is a new Paschal candle each year. The church year runs from Easter Sunday until Holy Thursday. If your church conducts the vigil mass in the early hours of the morning (3-5am start) then it will also usually incorporate the Easter Sunday Mass.

EASTER SUNDAY MASS – (usual Sunday morning mass times). During the service each member of the congregation is given a candle, during mass this candle is lit from the new Paschal candle (the priest lights his candle, then passes the flame to his assistants and alter boys (and now girls) who pass it to the front row of the congregation who pass it back through the church… this is to symbolise the rising and re-birth of Jesus. Then while holding the candles the priest splashes the whole congregation with holy water where as one we repeat the vowels taken at our baptism… so basically we all re-affirm our baptismal vowels each year, and therefore re-affirm our faith. If you are lucky at your church the priests are nice and during communion ask all the children to come up too and then they give them Easter eggs… just make sure you aren’t at church with a 14 month old who has just learnt how to pronounce chocolate and can’t quite get it right because the ½ of the church who isn’t tsk-tsking will be wetting themselves when said toddler yells “c0ck-dat…mmmmm-num” on the top of her voice the whole time you are in the communion queue from the time she sees the first egg!

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ETA: Easter is the Sunday after the Paschal Full Moon. The Paschal Full Moon may occur from March 21 through April 18, inclusive. Thus the date of Easter is from March 22 through April 25, inclusive. The date of the Paschal full moon is determined from tables, and it may differ from the date of the the actual full moon by up to two days. This definition, along with tables, etc. may be found in "The Explanatory Supplement to the Astronomical Ephemeris and American Ephemeris and Nautical Almanac". This definition that uses tables instead of actual observations of the full moon is useful and necessary since the the full moon may occur on different (local, not UT) dates depending where you are in the world. If the date of Easter was based on local observations, then it would be possible for different parts of the world to celebrate Easter on different dates in the same year.

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... That's why the date changes for easter every year... ion the Catholic church the date is calculated from the Paschal full moon in Rome, ie the Vatican and because the catholic calculation tables have been used since the introduction of the gregorian calendar (prior to the reformation and lutheran split) so most other christian religions have kept the formula. Orthodox religions are more inline with the Jewish Passover and therefor that is why Greek Orthodox and the other eastern churches can have their easter celebrations up to 2 weeks different. Also there are some other feast days in the catholic church that are not fixed but shift depending on when easter falls... these usually have something to do with the life of jesus, (and to a lesser extent mary).

Yep, Yael is right (of course LOL), Easter and Pesach don't always coincide. I didn't know about the extra month in the leap year, thaks Yael, it's always good to learn new things :)

Great thread girls!