In the Christian world, the two most important feast days are Christmas and Easter. Among Catholics and Protestants, the most celebrated holiday is normally Christmas Day. Among  Oriental Orthodox Churches, Easter is the fundamental and most important religious festival in their liturgical calendar. Every other religious celebration, including Christmas, is considered secondary in importance to the celebration of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Personally, I believe that both Christmas and Easter are equally important; and, that both are an essential part of God’s plan. Without God becoming man – Christmas – there would be no Easter. Without the resurrection from the dead – Easter – Christmas would not really matter. The world has witnessed the lives of many great religious prophets – Zoroaster, Moses, Buddha, Mohammed.  However, in the Christian world, it was His miraculous Resurrection that made Jesus Christ more than just a prophet.

In contrast to the Eastern Christian Churches, it is usually Christmas that is the most celebrated holiday in the “Western” Christian world. In my own personal experience, I have observed that there is more excitement in anticipation of the Christmas season. The Holy Week is deemed more as a four-day holiday break rather than an observance of a sacred season. Family gatherings are deemed as obligatory during the Christmas season while the Holy Week seems more like a time to travel or to vacation. There are more Christmas decorations than Easter decorations. Christmas carols dominate the airwaves; but, Easter is more associated with traditional religious songs and chants. 

I have heard many different reasons for the bigger celebration of Christmas than Easter. Some have suggested that it is the tradition of gift giving. There are those that say that Santa Claus and commercialization have made Christmas a secular festival celebrated even by non-Christians. In fact, I have read that in the United States, there have been moves to ban the word Christmas because it has religious connotations. The proposal is that the season’s greeting should simply be “ Happy Holidays.” 

Holy Week and Easter Sunday have, however, remained a predominantly religious holiday. It is true that there are  now attempts to also commercialize the day. The Easter Bunny and the hunt for Easter eggs have started to become part of the festivities in many Westernized households.

Pope Francis once said: “The Easter Triduum is the apex of our liturgical year and it is also the apex of our Christian life.” Reflecting on Holy Week, he said; “ We begin the Triduum by celebrating the Mass of the Lord’s Supper as we recall Christ’s offering of his body and blood to the Father which he gave to the Apostles as food for their nourishment with the command that they perpetually celebrate these mysteries in his honor...On Good Friday we will meditate on the mystery of Christ’s death and we will adore the cross... On Holy Saturday, we will contemplate Jesus lying in the tomb, and with Mary, the Church will keep alive the flame of faith, hoping against every hope in Christ’s resurrection.”

Finally, Pope Francis said: “Then at the Easter Vigil, when the Alleluia resounds again, we will celebrate the Risen Christ, the center and fulfilment of the universe and history. ...our life does not end before a tomb stone, our life continues with the hope of Christ who arose from the Tomb.”

Henry Knox Sherrill, a former bishop of the Episcopal Church,  once wrote: “The joyful news that He is risen does not change the contemporary world. Still before us lie work, discipline, sacrifice. But the fact of Easter gives us the spiritual power to do the work, accept the discipline, and make the sacrifice.”

History of Easter

Easter or Resurrection Sunday is known in most of the non-English speaking Christian world  as Paschal, a Greek and Latin derived word. This term comes from the Jewish festival known as the Passover commemorating the Jewish exodus from slavery in Egypt. In the Orthodox Church, Paschal is also a name by which Jesus is remembered.

Easter is a moveable feast unlike Christmas which has a fixed date. In Western Christian Churches, which uses the Gregorian calendar, Easter falls on a Sunday between March 22 and April 25, within about seven days after the astronomical full moon. Eastern Christianity originally used the Julian calendar. Although the countries that once used the Julian calendar have also begun using the Gregorian calendar, many Orthodox churches still celebrate Easter on their previous dates which is between April 4 and May 8.

Among early Christians, there was no unanimity in the date for celebrating Easter until the First Council of Nicaea in 325 AD which decreed “...that there must be one unanimous concord on the celebration of God’s holy and supremely excellent day. For it was variously observed by people.”

The tradition of Easter eggs is said to have started by the early Christians of Mesopotamia who stained eggs with red coloring “…in memory of the blood of Christ, shed at his crucifixion.” Eggs were originally forbidden during Lent. Then with the coming of Easter, the eating of eggs could resume. 

In Orthodox Churches, eggs are blessed by the priest at the end of the Paschal (Easter) Vigil. While being dormant it contains a new life sealed within. The Easter egg is seen as a symbol of the Resurrection.  

Summer creative writing classes for kids and teens

Young Writers’ Hangout for Kids & Teens on April 22 with Susan Lara, April 29 with Nikki Alfar, May 13, 20, 27 and June 3 (1:30 pm-3 pm/independent sessions); Wonder of Words Workshop on May 8, 10, 12, 15, 17 and 19 (six sessions/ 1:30 pm-3:30 pm for 8-12 years old/ 4 pm-6 pm for 13-17 years old) with authors Sarge Lacuesta, Pam Pastor, Neni SR Cruz, Roel Cruz. Classes at Fully Booked Bonifacio High Street.  For registration and fee details text 0917-6240196 or email [email protected].

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