Home › Time › A Key to the Calendar: Easter

A Key to the Calendar: Easter

Easter Sunday has always been regarded as the very queen or the highest of all the Christian festivals. The mournful season of Lent is past, the Savior has been crucified and buried, and "now is Christ risen indeed." "the first fruits of them that slept." The name is derived from Eostre, a goddess to whom the Saxons and other Northern nations sacrificed at about this season. The Pascha, or Jewish Passover, celebrated at this time, lent its name to the Christian Paschal season, but the precise time for keeping Easter has been a cause of contention between Eastern and Western Christians. Customs peculiar to the seasons are dying out in England, but on the Continent paschal eggs, with colored shells, and toys in the shape of gigantic eggs, are given amongst all classes.