All About Lent and Easter
All About Easter...
What is the complicated formula that determines when Easter comes?
It is the first Sunday, after the first full moon, after the vernal equinox. Vernal equinox is the day in the spring when the days and nights are again of equal length.
Where did we get the name Easter?
The word “Easter comes from the name of Eostre, who was a Teutonic goddess of spring. When the early pagans celebrated a spring festival heralding the renewal of life with the coming of a new spring, the early Christians added a spiritual dimension.
How did Ash Wednesday get it’s name?
Many primitive religions, including the early Hebrew religion, felt they could make peace with a God who was angry with them for some wrongdoing by burning a sacrifice. They thought the rising smoke and the odors could reach the dwelling place of the Gods. The ashes were the remnants of the offering. Placing ashes on their body showed others that they were sorrowful and trying to renew relations with their God.
What does “Maundy Thursday” mean?
The word “Maundy” comes from the Latin Mandatum, meaning “commandment.” On that last night before His crucifixion, as He shared the Passover meal with His disciples, Jesus game them a new commandment that they “Love one another.”
Why do we call it “Good Friday”?
From the perspective of what man did, it was certainly a ‘bad’ Friday. But from the post-resurrection viewpoint of what God did, it can certainly be called “Good”. Others explain it’s origin as a word changed from “God’s Friday” to Good Friday”, the same kind of change that occurs in the English phrase “God be with ye” to our modern “Goodbye.”
