The feast of Easter, celebration of the resurrection of Christ, unfolds throughout Eastertide, a period of 50 days that allows us to enter more deeply into the Easter mystery, the summit of all Christian life!
Discover in this article the meaning of Eastertide that leads us to Pentecost and how the Church celebrates this blessed time during the eight Sundays of Easter.
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The Easter Season begins with Easter Sunday and ends fifty days later with the celebration of Pentecost. Instituted during the third century, this period includes eight consecutive Sundays, and forms an octave of Sundays, a "week of weeks", as described by Saint Basil.
Each Easter Sunday of Eastertide thus forms one feast day, the day of the resurrection of the Lord! Saint Irenaeus said in this regard that each "has the same scope as Easter Sunday".
The Church invites us to celebrate the resurrection of Christ over a period of fifty days so that Eastertide can help us to deepen the joy of being saved, and so we can fully take in the promise of Jesus: "Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am" (John 17:24)
Thus, from Easter to Pentecost, the fifty days of Eastertide celebrate the living presence of the Risen Christ at our side, in our life and in our world, because, as Saint Paul tells us "if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile." (1 Corinthians 15:17).
Each Easter Sunday invites us to discover the presence of the risen Jesus and allows us to gradually enter into the mystery of Christ. The gospels, very rich, mark this journey and the three liturgical years bring a diversity to these celebrations.
At first, the Gospels recount the various apparitions of Christ after his resurrection. Thus, each year, we reread the story of the discovery of the empty tomb during the Easter Vigil, as well as the confession of faith of the "beloved" disciple in the Gospel of John. The famous account of Saint Thomas' unbelief is also read annually.
On the third Sunday of Easter, the Gospels differ according to the liturgical year: we read either the appearance of Jesus to his disciples on the road to Emmaus (Luke 24:35 -48), or the story of the miraculous fishing (John 21:1-19), or the story of the meal of Christ with his disciples (Luke 24:41).
Then, from the 4th Sunday of Easter, the Gospels bring a meditation on the nature of Christ and his commandments and announce Pentecost:
On the 4th Sunday, we read Jesus’ speech on the good Shepherd: "I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me." (John 10:14)
from the 5th to the 7th Sunday, we read passages from the Gospel of Saint John, which recalls the commandments of Jesus: “Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” (John 15: 9-17) and announces the coming of the Holy Spirit: “I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me.” (John 14:18)
the 8th Sunday is that of Pentecost; we read from Saint John, who reveals to us the words of Jesus concerning the coming of the Paraclete, the Advocate: “If you love me, keep my commands. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever.” (John 14:15 -16; 23b-26)
Eastertide is an opportunity to spiritually walk a path of conversion by meditating on the various apparitions of the Risen Christ, as it gradually manifests itself to us throughout the eight Sundays of Easter!
These fifty days are indeed a time of joy and light: on the one hand, we realize that the presence of Jesus at our side is very real; on the other hand, we are already waiting for an outpouring of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. The coming of the Spirit then signs the new covenant of God with Men and inaugurates the time of evangelization: “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.” (Matthew 28:19-20)!
And then, the last words of Jesus before his Ascension attest to his loving presence at our side: “... and surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” (Mattthew 28:20)
Let's put these fifty days of Easter under the gaze of the resurrected Christ! Let us enter into the joy of being saved, for this joy will never be taken from us, it provides the best answer to the mystery of suffering: Jesus, by his resurrection, transfigured evil, he makes "everything new" and gives us true life!
Discover the prayer communities on Hozana to fully experience this blessed time, a time of light and joy:
“Come, follow me!” (John 19:21). Respond to the call of Christ, follow the resurrected and deepen your relationship with Jesus with a novena.
To prepare for Pentecost, give yourself nine days to pray to the Holy Spirit, get to know him better and discover his 7 gifts.