Lent, Holy Week and Easter

The most important season in the Christian church is that of Lent and Easter. The day before Lent starts is called Shrove Tuesday where traditionally all the fats in the house are used up before the fast of Lent. These would have been used to make pancakes.

Lent

This is of forty days duration and stretches from Ash Wednesday to Palm Sunday, the Sunday before Easter. Ash Wednesday gets its name from the practice of burning little crosses from the previous Easter and making a cross on the forehead in ash. The ash reminds Christians that they are sinners and need God's forgiveness. Christians are expected to do acts of penance (to give something up) in Lent. Many give up something that they enjoy, such as sweets or tobacco. Others do works of charity. Many take up extra religious devotions, such as attending church daily. These practices are a kind of spiritual training intended to provide practice in denying your own urges. Such self-denial is an essential element in moral living, as without it you will not be able to resist urges to do evil. It is also a way of doing penance for your sins. On Ash Wednesday Christians of the Catholic tradition abstain from meat and fast, which means that they eat very little. It is thought that Lent lasts for 40 days to represent the 40 days and 40 nights that Jesus spent in the wilderness (Matthew 4:2).

Lent ends with in Holy Week The main days of Holy Week are Holy or Maundy Thursday, Good Friday and Easter Sunday.

Holy Thursday: in some churches is remembered as the day when Jesus instituted the eucharist (the last supper- Mark 14:17-26). Some churches have an evening ceremony in memory of this event where people will sit and pray all night. In some churches the occasion where Jesus showed his humility by washing the disciples feet is reenacted (John 13:1-15)

Good Friday: remembers the day of Jesus' crucifixion, when by his death he paid the price of sin and saved humanity. It is always treated as a sorrowful day. Many Christians fast and abstain from meat on this day as signs of penance and sorrow. Churches differ in their worshiping practices, but most like to have a ceremony in mid afternoon, around the time of Jesus' death. In recent years the practice of having ecumenical (all denominations) services on Good Friday has tended to develop. Such services, which unite all Christians, tend to be in the evening. You can read this story in Mark 14 and 15.

Easter Sunday: (probably the most important day in the church's year) celebrates Jesus' resurrection from the dead to new life for himself and all who believe. Again, many churches have a service late, perhaps midnight, on Holy Saturday, the day before Easter Sunday. This important service is known as the pascal vigil. In some churches the building is darkened for a few moments, then the presiding minister lights the paschal candle, the great Easter candle, from the new fire, the light he has just lit. This candle is used to light all other candles in the church. It is a sign of the light of life breaking out of the darkness of death, and of Christ's victory over sin and death. The lighting of other candles from the pascal candle symbolises our receiving light and life from Christ. In the days of the early church baptisms were performed at Easter, and often still are. Confirmation may sometimes be performed if a bishop or priest authorised to confirm is present. The congregation renew their baptismal vows in the pascal vigil. In the Orthodox Church people on Easter Sunday morning shout out joyfully "Christ has risen." or "Christ is Alive." (Read the story in Matthew chapters 26 & 27, Mark 14 & 15, Luke 22 & 23, John 18 & 19).

Symbols associated with Easter

Easter Eggs	Spring Flowers	Easter Bunny
Christ comes back to life like the new life from the 'dead' egg.	New life after the 'dead' winter	Linked to the pagan festival where a hare would have been sacrificed

Question: Why is it so important for Christians to believe that Jesus rose from the dead?

Question: Many people say that Easter is the most important feast in the church year. Why?

After the resurrection of Jesus up to 11 appearances of Jesus may be discovered in the New Testament, but the six main appearances recorded in the Gospels are:

The bible writer St.Paul says the following "If Christ has not be raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain .... you are still in your sins. Then those who have fallen asleep (died) in Christ have perished ... but in fact Christ has raised then from the dead."

Pentecost

The Easter season really finishes with Pentecost, sometimes known as Whit Sunday. This is fifty days after Easter Sunday. It is always a Sunday as Easter Sunday is counted as day one. It celebrates the descent of the Holy Spirit on the assembled Christians. The Christian church celebrates this day because it believes that the Holy Spirit is the power of God given to the Church as a whole and to each believer in particular. It is the great feast of the Holy Spirit. Many people regard Pentecost day as the birthday of the Church, as it was then that Christ's promises to the Apostles that He would send them the Holy Spirit, the giver of spiritual life and strength, were fulfilled and they felt strengthened to begin the process of spreading the gospel to the world. (Acts 2:1-11)