Easter is the most important Christian festival of the year. Easter celebrates the return to life of Jesus Christ, the founder of Christianity, after His Crucifixion. Jesus's return to life is called the Resurrection. The Gospels tell that on the morning two days after Jesus's death His tomb was found empty. Soon, Jesus's followers began to see Him and talk with Him. Christians believe Jesus's Resurrection means that they, too, can receive new life after death. The Easter festival celebrates this belief.
Most Christians observe Easter on the first Sunday after the first full moon following the first day of spring in the Northern Hemisphere. Thus, the festival can occur on any Sunday between March 22 and April 25. In the Eastern Orthodox Churches, the celebration of Easter may take place later because these churches use additional factors in calculating the date of the festival.
The Easter festival is closely associated with spring. The new plant life that appears in spring symbolizes the new life Christians gain because of Jesus's Crucifixion and Resurrection. The word Easter may have come from an early English word, Eastre. Some scholars say Eastre was the name of a pagan goddess of spring, the name of a spring festival, or the name of the season itself. Other scholars believe the word Easter comes from the early German word eostarun, which means dawn. This word may be an incorrect translation of the Latin word albae, meaning both dawn and white. Easter was considered a day of "white" because newly baptized church members wore white clothes at Easter observances.
Christians in many European countries call Easter Pascha. This word comes from the Hebrew word pesah, which means passover. Jesus was celebrating the Jewish festival of Passover shortly before He was arrested and sentenced to be crucified. Passover recalls how God rescued the Jews from slavery in ancient Egypt (see Passover). Christians believe that Easter, like Passover, is a time of rescue. They say that by His death and Resurrection, Jesus rescued them from eternal death and punishment for their sins.
