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Ash Wednesday to the Last Sunday of Easter

LENT AND HOLY WEEK

Dates 

Lent begins with Ash Wednesday, which falls 40 days prior to Easter.  Sundays are not included in the count of these days, as each Sunday is a “little Easter,” meant to celebrate resurrection.

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Feast Days* and Special Days

*Ash Wednesday - the beginning of the Lent-Easter cycle.  It is marked by the ceremonial distribution of ashes as a symbol of entering into the penitential Season of Lent.  The wearing of ashes, made from the burning of the previous year’s palms from Palm Sunday, is considered a sign of repentance, sorrow, and mourning, an appropriate way to begin Lent.  

  

Women’s World of Prayer – first Friday in March.

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International Women’s Day – 

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*The Triduum – Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, Holy Saturday.

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Meaning of Name

The name Lent comes through Middle English lente and Old English lencten or lengten, referring to the season of spring and the lengthening of days.  It is also related to the French word lente, which means to move “slowly.”

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Liturgical Colour: Purple

Purple is a cool colour on the colour wheel, reflecting divinity, wisdom, dignity, mystery, and creativity.  Dark purple is a penitential colour, evoking sadness and deep reflection.  In the first century CE (Common Era), purple dye was very hard to come by, so only wealthy could afford purple garments.

 

 

EASTER

Dates 

Easter is currently a moveable feast.

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Celebrated in Western Christianity on the first Sunday after the first astronomical full moon on or after the vernal (spring) equinox (fixed as March 21 for ecclesial purposes).  Therefore, Easter falls between March 22 and April 25 on the Gregorian calendar.

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Easter Day within Eastern Christianity is calculated in the same manner but following the Julian calendar, using the actual vernal equinox date at the meridian of Jerusalem, and with the added condition that Easter must fall after Passover. 

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There are talks underway exploring the possibility of fixing the date of Easter to the second or third Sunday of April.  This would allow all Christians to celebrate  on the same day.

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Feast Days* and Special Days

April Fool’s Day – April 1

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Holy Humour Sunday – the Sunday after Easter Sunday.

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Earth Day – 

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*Ascension Day – 40th day after Easter.

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Camping Sunday – last Sunday of April.

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Meaning of Name

The name Easter comes from the Old English Eostre, rooted in the Proto-Germanic austron, meaning “dawn,” and the Proto-Indo- European aus “meaning to shine.”  The word east has the same roots.  Bede, a 7th/8th-century English monk, made a connection between the name Easter and an early Germanic goddess of the dawn or spring, possibly named Eostre, whose feasts were celebrated in the month of April, though there is current debate about who this goddess might actually be.  Within Greek and Lantin traditions, the celebration is referred to as Pascha, a name rooted in the Aramaic word for Passover.

 

Liturgical Colours: White and Gold

White, which is all colours of light combined, has traditionally, in western  cultures, denoted goodness, innocence, and God’s faithfulness.  Gold reflects glory, triumph, wealth, richness, and extravagance.  Gold is also associated with illumination , love, compassion, courage, and wisdom.  Together they are colours of celebration.

                                                                    Lent Easter Gathering 2019, 7

 

Stay safe. Keep a song in your heart.

God Bless

Rev. Janet

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