Easter 1996

Easter is the central Christian celebration of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. The Gospel narratives tell that after Jesus was crucified and buried, women followers came to his tomb early on the first day of the week and found it empty.

Easter is the central Christian celebration of Jesus Christ's resurrection. The New Testament Gospels recount that Jesus was crucified in Jerusalem, died and was buried. Early on the first day of the week women followers visited his tomb and found it empty. Accounts describe angelic messages and later encounters with the risen Jesus. The Gospels differ in some details of who arrived and the sequence of appearances, but all present the resurrection as essential to Christian faith.

Christians understand Easter as the promise that sin and death do not have the final word. Holy Week recalls Jesus' entry into Jerusalem, his final meal with the disciples, arrest, suffering and crucifixion on Good Friday. Easter Sunday brings the transition from mourning to joy. Churches celebrate with night vigils, scripture readings, hymns, baptismal rites and the Eucharist or Holy Communion according to their denominations.

Family meals, decorated eggs and other springtime customs accompany Easter in many countries, but they are cultural additions rather than events of the Gospel narratives. Western and Eastern Christian churches may celebrate on different Sundays due to distinct paschal calculations. The database has no Easter algorithm, so an arbitrary fixed Gregorian date or Hindu lunar tithi must not be substituted.

Easter is significant to the community that observes it and helps preserve religious, family and cultural continuity.

A vigil on the Saturday night, lit from one candle, and the first service of the morning. Lent's fasting ends. Eggs, painted or given, are the old sign of it. In Kerala and Goa the day is kept with a family meal that breaks forty days of restraint.

The date is the first Sunday after the first full moon on or after 21 March, so it moves across five weeks. Orthodox churches compute the same rule on the Julian calendar and usually land one to five weeks later, which is why Easter is the feast most likely to be kept twice in one town.