Easter Sunday — The Resurrection of the Lord
Dominica Resurrectionis
Easter Sunday is the greatest of all feasts, the day of the Lord’s Resurrection from the dead, the foundation of the Christian faith and the source of the hope of eternal life.
Easter Sunday, the Sunday of the Resurrection, is the greatest and most joyful feast of the entire Christian year — the “feast of feasts” and the “solemnity of solemnities.” On this day the Church celebrates the rising of Our Lord Jesus Christ from the dead, the central mystery of the faith. As Saint Paul declares, “if Christ be not risen again, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain” (1 Corinthians 15:14). Upon the Resurrection rests the whole hope of the Christian.
The day the Lord rose
On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the holy women came to the tomb and found the stone rolled away and the sepulchre empty. An angel announced to them the tidings that have echoed through every age: “He is not here; for he is risen, as he said” (Matthew 28:6). The Lord who had been crucified and laid in the tomb rose again by His own power, victorious over sin and death. Having taken our mortal nature and died for our sins, He rose in glory, the first-born from among the dead, opening to all who believe the gate of everlasting life.
The Paschal mystery
Easter is the culmination of the Sacred Triduum and of the entire liturgical year. In His Passion and death Christ offered the perfect sacrifice for the sins of the world; in His Resurrection He conquered death and was glorified. The two are inseparable, and together they form the Paschal mystery by which mankind is redeemed. The very name of the feast, the Pascha, recalls the passover of old, when the blood of the lamb spared Israel; now Christ, the true Lamb, has passed over from death to life and leads His people with Him.
A season of joy
So great is this solemnity that it is not contained in a single day but overflows into an octave and a season of fifty days, until Pentecost. The Church sings again and again the word long silent through Lent: Alleluia. The Paschal candle, lit from the new fire, proclaims Christ the Light of the world risen from the darkness of the tomb. In the Resurrection the faithful find the pledge of their own rising, and the assurance that death has been swallowed up in victory. Easter is the wellspring of Christian joy and the very heart of the Church’s worship.
The Collect
O God, who on this day, through thine only-begotten Son, hast conquered death, and opened unto us the gate of everlasting life: do thou follow with thy help the desires which thou dost put into our minds, and by thy continual help bring the same to good effect. Through the same Lord Jesus Christ.
Deus, qui hodíerna die per Unigénitum tuum, æternitátis nobis áditum, devicta morte, reserásti: vota nostra, quæ præveniéndo aspiras, étiam adiuvándo proséquere. Per eúndem Dóminum nostrum Iesum Christum.
Patronage
Easter is the principal feast of the entire Church and the foundation of every Sunday, which is kept as a weekly memorial of the Resurrection.
Common Questions
When is Easter Sunday?
Easter is a movable feast, the Sunday of the Resurrection, kept in spring on the first Sunday after the first full moon following the spring equinox. It is the greatest feast of the year, of the First Class.
Why is Easter the greatest feast?
Because it celebrates the Resurrection of Christ from the dead, the central mystery of the Christian faith. Saint Paul teaches that without the Resurrection, faith itself would be in vain; upon it rests the hope of eternal life.
What is the Paschal mystery?
It is the saving work of Christ in His Passion, death, and Resurrection, by which He redeemed the world. The death and rising of the Lord are inseparable, and together they are the heart of the Church’s worship, celebrated above all at Easter.
See where this feast falls in the Church’s year on the liturgical calendar, or find a Traditional Latin Mass near you.
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