From the Religious Education Coordinator

In our Church ……

THE CELEBRATION OF EASTER

On the 13th April, the Church celebrates Holy Week.  In this newsletter we explore the development of this central festival in the Catholic Church.

The celebration of Easter

By the second century the weekly assembly came to be complemented by an annual celebration of the paschal mystery. At first this Christian Pasch was celebrated in accordance with the Jewish calendar for Passover, on the 14th day of the month of Nisan, which could be any day of the week. After much controversy it was decreed by the Council of Nicaea in 325 that the commemoration of Jesus’ suffering, death and resurrection should be held on Sunday rather than a weekday. 

The annual feast of Easter quickly carried over into a week of celebration which further developed into a season of fifty days.  Throughout this time the church rejoiced in the one great mystery of Jesus’ victory over sin and death. It reveled in the new life of the Spirit. But the integrity of this unified season was lost when the Ascension of the Lord began to be celebrated on the fortieth day, leaving ten days to be spent waiting for the gift of the Holy Spirit.

The development of the Triduum

The Easter celebration itself took the form of a night-time vigil, preceded by days of strict fasting. Once it was transferred to Sunday, the service began to focus more exclusively on the resurrection of the Lord. Accordingly, the preceding days of fast developed an identity of their own. Good Friday came to centre on Jesus’ death, Holy Saturday on his burial. The once unified remembrance of the paschal mystery broke up into a series of separate observances. Later developments led to the Vigil being celebrated on Holy Saturday morning, with the addition of Holy Thursday creating a new Triduum of Holy Thursday, Good Friday and Holy Saturday.

The evolution of these rites was aided and abetted by widespread imitation of the liturgies of 4th century Jerusalem. The Holy City had become a popular pilgrimage site. Devout Christians who visited during Holy Week experienced a series of liturgical events at sites associated with Jesus’ passion, death and resurrection. On return home they introduced some of these rituals to their local churches. A number of them, such as the veneration of the cross, survive to this day.

All this enables the whole Christian community to be immersed in the whole saving mystery of Jesus Christ: his ministry, suffering, death and resurrection, glorification and sending of the Holy Spirit. In this mystery the church becomes “a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s own people,” called out of darkness into God’s marvellous light in order to proclaim God’s mighty works (1 Pt 2:9). 

Taken from: https://www.catholic.au/s/article/Lent-and-Easter

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