Pope Benedict XVI holds a woven palm frond while celebrating Palm Sunday mass in Saint Peter's square at the Vatican. Photo / Reuters
Easter is the most important festival in the Christian Liturgical calendar.
Easter Sunday is the celebration of the resurrection of Jesus, which Christians believe occurred on the third day after his crucifixion (Good Friday).
And while many in secular societies see Easter as nothing more than a few
days' holiday and a chance to eat lots of chocolate, for Christians the celebration of Easter comes following forty days of fasting known as Lent.
The date on which Easter Sunday falls is different each year because it is related to the cycle of the moon.
Historically, Easter cannot be earlier than the vernal equinox (March 21), making this year's Easter Sunday (March 23) one of the earliest ever to occur.
EASTER TERMINOLOGY
Holy Week: The week preceding Easter. It includes Palm Sunday, Maundy Thursday and Good Friday but not Easter Sunday.
Palm Sunday: The Sunday preceding Easter each year, Palm Sunday commemorates the entry of Jesus into Jerusalem in the days before his crucifixion. The Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John record that Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a colt or donkey and that the people welcoming him laid small branches in his path to make the trip more comfortable for him.
In many Christian churches, palm fronds are distributed to the congregation on Palm Sunday.
Maundy Thursday: The Thursday before Easter, Maundy Thursday commemorates the events leading up to Jesus' crucifixion on Good Friday. Christians believe Jesus was betrayed by his disciple Judas Iscariot on Maundy Thursday. It is also on this night that the Last Supper - the last meal Jesus ate with his disciples - is commemorated. Following the last supper, Christians believe Jesus went to the Garden of Gethsemane, where he spent the night praying until he was arrested and taken to be interrogated on charges of claiming to be the Son of God.
Good Friday: The day Christians believe Jesus was crucified by order of the Roman governor Pontius Pilate. Following his death, Jesus' body was wrapped in a shroud and placed in a tomb by Joseph of Arimathea.
Easter Sunday: The day when, according to the Christian Gospels, Jesus was resurrected from the dead. Mary Magdalene and another woman went to the tomb to wash Jesus' body but found the tomb empty. As they fled the tomb in confusion, Jesus appeared to them.
- NZ HERALD STAFF
