In the Christian belief, Christian Easter is not only one day, but it is the longest liturgical season as Christians believe in 50 days of Easter.
These 50 days of Easter season, also known as the Easter Tide, is the time to celebrate a new life. After the resurrection, Jesus spent forty days on earth before ascension, and then ten days on Pentecost.
Easter is not just an extended celebration of Jesus’ resurrection. In early churches, Lent was a season for new believers to learn faith and prepare for Easter Sunday baptism.
What is called as Octave of Easter?
The season of Easter, the Eastertide, begins at sunset on the eve of Easter & ends at Pentecost, this day they celebrate the gift of the Holy Spirit and the birth of the church.
The original purpose of the 50 days of the Easter season is to continue the belief formation of these new Christians.
The period from Easter Sunday to Holy Sunday of Mercy (Sunday after Easter Sunday) is especially happy.
The Catholic Church calls these eight days (including Easter Sunday and Holy Sunday of Mercy) the octave of Easter.
(The octave is sometimes used to indicate the eighth day, which is the Holy Sunday of Mercy, not the entire eight days.)
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Every day in the octave of Easter is very important, so it is regarded as a continuation of Easter Sunday itself.
Therefore, fasting is not allowed in the octave of Easter (since it has been fasting since Sunday), and on Friday after Easter, the usual obligation is to give up meat.
How many days until Easter Season lasts?
The 50 days of Easter season will not end after the octave of Easter since Easter is the most important feast in the Christian calendar, even more, important than Christmas.
The Easter season will last for 50 days until the Lord’s Day rises to Pentecost, seven full weeks after Easter Sunday!
Indeed, to fulfill our Easter duties (at least one request for Holy Communion during Easter), the Easter season is further extended until the Trinity Sunday (the first Sunday after Pentecost).
However, the last week does not count towards the regular Easter season.
How many days are in between Easter and Pentecost?
If Pentecost Sunday is the seventh Sunday after Easter Sunday, does this mean that there are only 49 days in the Easter season? After all, seven weeks’ times seven days is 49 days, right?
Your math is ok.
However, just as we calculate Easter Sunday and God’s Mercy Sunday in octave of Easter, we also calculate Easter Sunday and Pentecost Sunday in the 50 days of Easter season.
How the 50 Days of Easter does lead to Journey of Awakening?
The resurrection of Christ is not an exaggerated declared victory, so everyone may know his return, but a mysterious visit to those who are still loyal and have eyes to see.
Because we also know the salvation we are waiting for, we are not completely discouraged by the darkness we face during Holy Week because death makes sense for the resurrection.
Instead, we lived with patience, awareness, and expectation for a few hours before Easter, and stayed vigilant while we waited for the resurrection of Christ to appear.
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In our last journey of the Passion of Christ beginning with Holy Week, we tell the story that led to the second coming of Christ and continued development, until we finally announced: “He is risen!”
This is the announcement of Easter and the declaration of the coming season.
Just as we were invited into darkness during Holy Week and thought about how to crucify Christ in our way, we are now invited to live in the resurrection.
We celebrate the resurrected Christ and glorify the things that bring us new life, big and small.
In the past fifty days, we have been called to watch all life through the lens of Sunday’s feast, living in the kingdom of God that we named and celebrated our resurrection.
These places of life are the road signs of the journey because, in our awakening journey, they are the places where we continue to meet Christ the way, truth, life, and to the journey of awakening.
How do Christians celebrate the Easter season?
Children are not the only ones among us who experience pure joy and hope to continue. The original disciples must have experienced this experience in the resurrection of Christ.
We sometimes see the same happiness on the faces of the newly baptized people who sent the Easter Vigil because they were cleansed of sins and started a new life of grace.
This is a kind of joy, which cannot be achieved as soon as joy.
Therefore, since the third century, the church has allowed the joy of Easter into a 50-day season from Easter to Pentecost, during which it is forbidden to kneel and pray, while the newly baptized people are immersed in what they experienced.
Many churches have used these weeks to teach sacramental theology and help people identify their spiritual gifts and calls.
The congregation may invite non-professionals to participate in the ministry as part of the celebration of Pentecost.
What is the significance of the 12 days of Christmas Season?
From Christmas Day to February 2nd demonstration feast Candlemas, Christmas lasted 40 days. The 12 days of Christmas are the grandest part of Christmas, from Christmas to Epiphany.
Prayers during 50 Days of Easter Season
Easter eve
O God, you made this most holy night to shine with the glory of the Lord’s resurrection: Stir up in your Church that Spirit of adoption which is given to us in Baptism, that we, being renewed both in body and mind, may worship you in sincerity and truth; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.
Easter Day (50 days of Easter)
Almighty God, who through your only-begotten Son Jesus Christ overcame death and opened to us the gate of everlasting life: Grant that we, who celebrate with joy the day of the Lord’s resurrection, may, by your life-giving Spirit, be delivered from sin and raised from death; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.
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Second Sunday of Easter (50 days of Easter)
Almighty and everlasting God, who in the Paschal mystery established the new covenant of reconciliation: Grant that all who have been reborn into the fellowship of Christ’s Body may show forth in their lives what they profess by their faith; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever. Amen.
Third Sunday of Easter (Fifty days of Easter)
Almighty God, you gave your only Son to be for us both a sacrifice for sin and an example of godly living: Give us grace thankfully to receive his inestimable benefits, and daily to follow the blessed steps of his most holy life; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever. Amen.
Fourth Sunday of Easter (Good Shepherd)
O God, whose Son Jesus Christ is the Good Shepherd of your people: Grant that, when we hear his voice, we may know him who calls us each by name, and follow where he leads; who, with you and the Holy Spirit, lives and reigns, one God, forever and ever. Amen.
Fifth Sunday of Easter (50 days of Easter)
Almighty God, whom truly to know is everlasting life: Grant us so perfectly to know your Son Jesus Christ to be the way, the truth, and the life, that we may steadfastly follow his steps in the way that leads to eternal glory; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever. Amen.
Sixth Sunday of Easter (50 days of Easter)
O God, you have prepared for those who love you such good things as surpass our understanding: Pour into our hearts such love towards you, that we, loving you in all things and above all things, may obtain your promises, which exceed all that we can desire; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever. Amen.
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Ascension Day (50 days of Easter)
Almighty God, whose only-begotten Son our Lord Jesus Christ ascended into heaven: May our hearts and minds also there ascend, and with him continually dwell; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever. Amen.
Sunday following Ascension Day (50 days of Easter)
O God, the King of glory, you have exalted your only Son Jesus Christ with great triumph to your kingdom in heaven: Do not leave us comfortless, but send us Your Holy Spirit to strengthen us, and exalt us to that place where our Savior Christ has gone before; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, in glory everlasting. Amen.
Pentecost Day (Whitsunday)
Almighty God, on this day, through the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, you revealed the way of eternal life to every race and nation: Pour out this gift anew, that by the preaching of the Gospel your salvation may reach to the ends of the earth; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever. Amen.
Conclusion
In this article, we have tried to shed light on the 50 days of Easter season, which one of the longest liturgical seasons in Christianity. While 50 days of unmitigated joy seems hard for us to sustain today, the season still has meaning.
It’s the time when we are meant to experience what it means when we say Christ is risen.
It’s the season when we hear and ponder the beginnings of our Church, the gifts of the Spirit, and the meaning and mission of discipleship, on what joining in the Eucharist commits us to be and do.
For no matter how glorious this 50 days of Easter, taste of the heavenly banquet is meant to be, God eventually calls us out of the celebration and reminds us to move on and live what we’ve celebrated in all the moments of our lives.
People Also Ask (FAQs)
What are the 50 days of Easter?
The day of Pentecost is seven weeks after Easter Sunday: that is to say, the fiftieth day after Easter inclusive of Easter Sunday. Pentecost may also refer to the 50 days of Easter to Pentecost Sunday inclusive of both.
Is Pentecost 40 or 50 days of Easter?
Pentecost is a Christian holy day that celebrates the coming of the Holy Spirit 40 days after Easter. Some Christian denominations consider it the birthday of the Christian church and celebrate it as such. Originally, Pentecost was a Jewish holiday held 50 days after Passover.
What are the 40 days after Easter called?
Ascension Day is traditionally celebrated the 40th day after Easter Sunday, which commemorates Jesus Christ’s ascension into heaven according to Christian belief. 40 days after the resurrection, Jesus and his disciples went to Mount Olivet (Mount of Olives), near Jerusalem.
What did Jesus do after Easter?
After the resurrection, Jesus is portrayed as proclaiming “eternal salvation” through the disciples, and subsequently called the apostles to the Great Commission, as described and, in which the disciples received the call “to let the world know the good news of a victorious Savior and the very presence of God.
What is the Sunday after Easter called?
It is also called the Octave of Easter (eight days after Easter) and Divine Mercy Sunday in the Roman Catholic Church. The Orthodox call it Antipascha, as “Pascha” is their term for Easter and “anti-” in this case refers to “facing” another Sunday of Easter and the resurrection.