Easter is the oldest Christian festival, as old as Christianity itself. The Central tenet of Christianity is not the birth of Jesus, but his resurrection. Easter derived from this paschal mystery and from the events of Good Friday
The content of Easter was gradually analyzed into historical events and each began to be celebrated on a different day. As a result, Easter grew into a Holy Week and came to have a preparatory season to precede and a festive season to follow. Thus we have four distinct periods in connection with the observance of Easter –
1. Lent, the forty preparatory penitential days.
2. Holy Week including the Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
3. the Octave ofEaster (classical time for Baptism) and
4. the paschal season or Easter time extending over forty more days. On Holy Thursday the Lord’s supper is held in the evening. The washing of feet is a remarkable trait, emphasizing the love for one another. At home there will be the rite of the paschal bread. After supper, the ‘cross cake’ is brought out and cut into pieces. A piece is broken, dipped into sauce and handed over to each member of the family in due order
