Easter

Easter is one of the most important festivals of the Christian tradition as in the Orthodox tradition , celebrates, in fact, the resurrection of Christ as the Passover celebrates the deliverance of the Hebrews from Egypt by Moses.

The date of Easter is different every year and is in the Sunday following the first full moon after the vernal equinox (March 21): Easter, therefore, falls from March 22 (if March 21 is Saturday and the full moon) to 25 in April.

Liturgical ritual of Easter

Easter is preceded by Lent, a period of 40 days of fasting and abstinence, which in turn follows the festivities of Carnival .
The week before Easter is called Holy Week and is marked by special liturgies.
The Sunday before Easter is Palm Sunday: the blessing of the palms and olive branches, commemorating the entry of Jesus into Jerusalem, the crowd waving palm branches.
On Maundy Thursday there is the washing of feet, in remembrance of the gesture made ​​by Jesus at the Last Supper.
Good Friday is dedicated to the celebration of the Via Crucis which traces the passion of Christ, and Holy Saturday is the only day of the year in which Mass is not celebrated, and is not given Communion.

Traditions of Easter

Easter, in time, has been enhanced with rituals and customs, and religious origin.
In particular, the custom of awarding Easter eggs dates back to ancient rites: even the ancient Persians and Greeks are giving away eggs in spring, as a symbol of nature's reawakening. The custom was then maintained by the Jews who ate eggs at Easter as a sign of rebirth, while the lamb recalls the sacrifice made by the Jews to Moses before leaving for Egypt. Over the Easter egg, which always holds a surprise inside, Christians also exchange good wishes for a Happy Easter.

On Easter Christian (Catholic and Protestant) according to the Julian calendar:

Easter 2012 Date: April 8
Easter 2013 Date: March 31
Easter 2014 Date: April 20
Easter 2015 Date: April 5
Easter 2016 Date: March 27
Easter 2017 Date: April 16
Easter 2018 Date: April 1
Easter 2019 Date: April 21
Easter 2020 Date: April 12
Easter 2021 Date: April 4
Easter 2022 Date: April 17
Easter 2023 Date: April 9
Easter 2024 Date: March 31
Easter 2025 Date: April 20

Easter Monday

Easter is followed by another public holiday on Monday, commonly called Easter, which commemorates the apparition of the angel announcing the resurrection of Christ to women who had gone to visit the tomb and found it empty.
The feast of Easter Monday was set up in Italy after World War II to "empower" the Easter holidays: it is traditionally devoted to outings and travel.