Holy Week

Easter in church history
Controversy over the date of Easter

Easter is one of the movable feasts, the calendar date varies each year. Easter Sunday will depend on the first spring full moon, with the beginning of spring is fixed at 21 March and is calculated differently than in the Jewish calendar.

After it had been decided at the First Council of Nicaea in 325, a first universally binding rules, it came with the introduction of the Gregorian calendar again to a different date for Easter. to the Eastern Churches (with the exception of the Finnish Orthodox Church and the East Syrian Church) took the Gregorian calendar to calculate the moving parties not to, so that the date of Easter western Christendom from that of the Orthodox and ancient Eastern churches to deviate up each other for five weeks.

All other movable Christian holidays are calculated on Easter Sunday off.

Holy Week
The Easter Festkreis begins in the Western churches since the year 1091 with Ash Wednesday, followed by a 40-day fasting period. This recalls the 40 years the Israelites in the desert and on the 40 days that Jesus fasted in the wilderness and prayed. Lent, also known as Lent ends with the 40th Day on Holy Saturday. The Eastern Christianity expects the Sundays of Lent, also included, but the other one the week before Easter Sunday, not with the 40 days of fasting, but as a distinct time period.

This last week before Easter Sunday, Holy Week begins with Palm Sunday, which Christians celebrate Jesus' entry into Jerusalem. On Maundy Thursday Christianity celebrates the Last Supper of Jesus with his disciples.

On Good Friday following the death of Jesus is commemorated on the cross, the grave on Easter Saturday is rest, and on the third day, Easter Sunday, finally celebrated the resurrection of Jesus from the dead.

Easter Liturgy
Easter was the first Christian centuries, the only ordinary Tauftermin. Since Carolingian times the Easter games meet for the mostly uneducated faithful catechetical an important role, as the liturgical celebration of the Resurrection Church on West Klerikerliturgie stunted, which was already on vorgefeiert Karsamstagmorgen.

The Eastern churches, by contrast, have until today at the celebration, as the vigil held on the evening till morning, while in most churches of the West was to restore the Easter Vigil liturgy, the "Day Mass (High Mass), the climax of Easter.

As the joy of Easter time began after the testimony of the New Testament, early on the first day of the week with the discovery of the empty tomb of Jesus, the Easter Vigil liturgy ends at sunrise with the celebration of the Eucharist. The Dawn, the appearance of the light after dark night is, in many hymns, literary works and artistic representations of recurring symbol of the resurrection of Christ and the coming resurrection of all people.

Thus in the Ambrose of Milan, and attributed to the 4th or 5 -Century hymn rutilat Aurora lucis, which is sung to the Lauds of Easter Sunday:

"The morning becomes red and glowing, the whole sky sounds of praise, exulting in joy on the ground, groaning and lamenting the underworld.
The sharp, royal hero broke the spell of severe death. His foot crushed the power of hell: For hard bondage we are liberated.
He whom the stone was sealed, and the one still in the grave guarded, he rises from the grave as the winner goes on in glorious triumph.
Even all complaints are muted, transformed into joy, the pain, for resurrection is the Lord, a bright angel does it manifest.
The Lord be praised and glory, the rose from the grave, the father and the spirit at the same time, through all time and eternity. Amen. "

Source: http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ostern

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