Easter In The Catholic World

For many Roman Catholics, Easter is a more important celebration than Christmas in the religious calendar due to what it symbolizes to adherents of the religion. In this respect, there is a large amount of time and effort devoted to celebrating the festival, beginning in earnest on Good Friday and reaching its conclusion on Easter Sunday – marking the days from Jesus’ crucifixion to his Resurrection. There are certain traditions which are held to in Catholic countries, and in Catholic churches within other countries.

Among the major elements of the Catholic celebration of Easter is the Passion play, which marks out the passage from Jesus’ arrest in the Garden of Gethsemane to his crucifixion and eventually the Resurrection. A particularly famous Passion play takes place annually in the German village of Oberammergau, where approximately two thousand local residents take part in the story. Visitors come from all over the world to see the Oberammergau Passion play.

Other important traditions of the Catholic celebration of Easter include the lighting of the Paschal candle on Easter Saturday at the Easter Vigil mass. Prior to the lighting of the candle, all lights in the church are extinguished on Holy Thursday (sometimes known as Maundy Thursday) and kept dark until the lighting of the candle. This is to symbolise the light of Christ, lost on Good Friday when he died on the cross. The Paschal candle is then carried into the church to commence the Easter Vigil. It is raised three times by the priest, who says “The Light of Christ” each time to which the congregation respond “Thanks Be To God”.