Easter, the celebration of Christ’s resurrection, is the queen of the Christian holy days. The word “Easter” and the German “Ostern” comes from a common source it is referring to the direction from which the sun rises. In other words, the word referred to the celebration of the spring sun, when all things returned to life. This symbolism was transferred to the resurrection of Christ who brings us new life. There is no evidence that the word “Easter” was the name of an Anglo-Saxon goddess “Eostre”. This was based on a passage in the writings of the Christian author, Bede, who in the eighth century erroneously ascribed the word the word to the goddess. To this day, no research has been able to find any mention of Eostre in Germanic mythology.

As mention above, the earliest word for the annual celebration was probably Paschal. As to the dating of Easter, this has been fixed ever since the Council of Nicea in 325. At Nicea it was decided that Easter would occur on the Sunday following the first full moon after the spring equinox, which occurs between March 22 and April 25.

Easter celebrates Christ’s victory over sin, death, and the devil, as well as the promise of our justification and everlasting life. The season of Easter lasts 50 days until the day of Pentecost.