Easter only the beginning

After wrapping up the goodies and putting away the baskets which held the chocolate bunnies, the celebration of Easter is far from over. In fact, it’s just beginning.

Easter Sunday marks the first day of the Octave of Easter, the eight days which stretch from the first to the second Sunday, as a way of prolonging the joy of Jesus’ resurrection, according to the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops website (usccb.org).

In many countries, including Canada, Easter Monday is a public holiday. It is also called Bright Monday, Renewal Monday, Wet Monday (the water symbolizing purification) and Dyngus Monday. Dyngus Monday or Dyngus Day is a Catholic celebration that originated in Poland and is held across parts of Europe.

It might also be referred to as Śmigus-dyngus and celebrates the end of the restrictive observance of Lent and the joy of Easter.

By Easter Tuesday, most people around the world have gone back to their regular schedules, unless you’re in Tasmania, where it’s a legal holiday for certain workers including public service and banks. In Cyprus, Orthodox Easter Tuesday, which falls one week after the Catholic Easter week, is also a public holiday, with banks, schools and most businesses closed (a good reminder for travelers to the region).

The Octave of Easter concludes with Divine Mercy Sunday, the Second Sunday of Easter.

“The celebration of Easter and Christmas, the two greatest solemnities, continues for eight days with each octave governed by its own rules,” according to General Norms of the Liturgical Calendar.

The Easter season continues, with Easter Sunday followed by the Second, Third, Fourth, Fifth, Sixth and Seventh Sundays of Easter. The 40th day after Easter is the Ascension of the Lord, or Ascension Thursday. In some dioceses, including the Diocese of Baton Rouge, the feast day, which is May 18, is celebrated on the Seventh Sunday of Easter. 

The Easter season ends with Pentecost, May 28, 50 days after Easter. The word comes from the Greek word “pentecoste,” which means “50th day.”

Pentecost, also called Whitsunday in some countries, commemorates the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the apostles in the Upper Room. The vestment color of red represents the fire of faith that the Holy Spirit imparts. 

“On the day of Pentecost when the seven weeks of Easter had come to an end, Christ’s Passover is fulfilled in the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, manifested, given and communicated as a divine person: of his fullness, Christ, the Lord, pours out the Spirit in abundance” (CCC 731).