The Lenten (from Middle English lenten, “spring”) season is rooted in the preparation of candidates for baptism at the Paschal vigil. For several weeks they received intensive instruction, each session followed by prayer and exorcism. The earliest detailed account of these ceremonies is in the Apostolic Tradition (c. 200) of St. Hippolytus. At the conclusion all the faithful joined the catechumens (inquirers for instruction) in a strict fast on the Friday and Saturday before Easter. These were the days “when the Bridegroom was taken away” (compare Mark 2:20).

As a 40-day period (six weeks) Lent is mentioned in canon 5 of the first ecumenical Council of Nicaea in 325. In the 4th century, instruction of the baptismal candidates was normally given by the bishop. Several such “catechetical lectures” on the creed and sacraments have survived, notably those of St. Cyril of Jerusalem and Theodore of Mopsuestia. St. Augustine’s treatise De catechizandis rudibus (c. 400) gave a less dogmatic and more biblical and historical approach. The Roman church organized its instruction around three (later seven) “scrutinies,” at which the catechumens were introduced to the Gospels, the Apostles’ Creed, and the Lord’s Prayer.

Since Sunday was never a fast day, piety sought to conform the Lenten fast exactly to 40 days, after the examples of the 40 days in the wilderness of Moses, Elijah, and Christ. In the Eastern churches, where Saturdays were also excluded from fasting, this developed into an eight-week Lent. At Rome, from the late 5th century, the fast began on Wednesday before the first Sunday in Lent.

During Lent also, grievous sinners were excluded from Communion and prepared for their restoration. As a sign of their penitence, they wore sackcloth and were sprinkled with ashes (Tertullian, De paenitentia 11; compare the biblical precedents Jeremiah 6:26, Jonah 3:6, Matthew 11:21). This form of public penance began to die out in the 9th century. At the same time, it became customary for all the faithful to be reminded of the need for penitence by receiving an imposition of ashes on their foreheads on the first day of Lent—hence the name Ash Wednesday.

The last week of Lent was one of special devotion in remembrance of the Lord’s Passion. St. Athanasius in his Festal Letter of 330 called it “holy Paschal week.” The Church of Jerusalem in particular organized dramatic ceremonies during the week at appropriate holy sites of its neighbourhood. A detailed description is contained in the account of a Spanish nun (c. 395), Peregrinatio ad loca sancta (or Peregrinatio Etheriae). From Jerusalem many of these ceremonies, such as the Palm Sunday procession and the Good Friday veneration of the cross, spread to other churches.

The Roman Catholic liturgy of Holy Week begins with the blessing of palms and a procession on Sunday, with a solemn rendition of St. Matthew’s Passion narrative at the mass. On Thursday the bishop blesses the sacred oils for the catechumens and the sick and the chrism (oil) for confirmation, and, in ancient times, penitents were reconciled for their Easter Communion. After a festal mass commemorating the institution of the Eucharist, the altars are stripped and washed. An additional ceremony, of medieval origin, has given its name to this day—the washing of feet, in imitation of the Lord’s action at the Last Supper (John 13:2–15). It is popularly called the Maundy, from the anthem sung during the ceremony (Mandatum, “a new commandment,” John 13:34).

Another medieval custom, which had a popular revival in the late 20th century, is the service of Tenebrae, held on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, in the evening. It is the old choir office of Matins and Lauds, originally sung before dawn and marked by the gradual extinguishing of candles before the breaking of the light of day.

On Good Friday (the day commemorating the Crucifixion of Christ), the Mass of the Presanctified is observed. Its name is derived from the fact that there is no consecration of the sacred elements of bread and wine. Instead, Communion is ministered from the Reserved Sacrament (consecrated elements retained from previous celebrations). Other features are the singing of the Passion according to John, the impressive series of intercessions, and the adoration of the cross with singing of the Reproaches and the hymn “Pange lingua” (“Sing, my tongue, the glorious battle”). Following the Communion and dismissal of the people, there are no further liturgical rites other than the daily choir offices until the vigil of Easter.

Easter

The term Easter, commemorating the Resurrection of Christ, comes from the Old English ēaster or ēastre, a festival of spring. The Greek and Latin Pascha comes from the Hebrew Pesaḥ, “Passover.” The earliest Christians celebrated the Lord’s Passover at the same time as the Jews, during the night of the first (paschal) full moon of the first month of spring (Nisan 14–15). By the middle of the 2nd century most churches had transferred this celebration to the Sunday after the Jewish feast. But certain churches of Asia Minor clung to the older custom, for which they were denounced as “Judaizing” (Eusebius, Ecclesiastical History, Book V, chapters 23–25). The first ecumenical Council of Nicaea in 325 decreed that all churches should observe the feast together on a Sunday. Yet many disparities remained in the way the several churches calculated the date of Easter. Today the Eastern churches follow the Julian calendar and the Western churches follow its correction by Pope Gregory XIII in 1582, so that in some years there may be a month’s difference in the time of celebration.

Since 1900, various religious, business, and professional groups have promoted the concept of a fixed world calendar, which would include a fixed date for Easter. Proposals have been placed before the League of Nations and its successor, the United Nations. The Second Vatican Council in its “Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy” (1963) accepted the principle of a fixed date for Easter, subject to approval by other churches, provided that no world calendar impaired the regular succession of a seven-day week. The World Council of Churches in the early 1970s canvased its member bodies to this end, and a large majority replied in favour of such a change. An Easter message of Athenagoras I, the Orthodox Patriarch of Constantinople, in 1969, called for a resolution of the differences between the Eastern and Western churches and a search for a common date. Among those preferring a fixed date for the observance of Easter—regardless of the issue respecting a common world calendar—the second Sunday in April has been widely proposed.

The Easter celebration continues for 50 days, to and including the Feast of Pentecost. In the early church, as on all Sundays, there was no fasting or kneeling in prayer during the period.

The liturgy began with a solemn vigil on Saturday evening. A new fire was lit for the blessing of the Paschal candle (the Exultet)—symbol of the driving away of the powers of darkness and death by the Passover of the Lord. There followed a series of lessons from the Old Testament and a homily. Then, toward midnight, while the faithful were engaged in prayers, candidates for baptism were taken to the baptistery for their initiation. Returning to the assembly, they were confirmed by the bishop with chrism and the laying on of hands, and toward dawn the Easter Eucharist was completed. A similar celebration was repeated on the eve of Pentecost for those who were hindered from receiving baptism at Easter.

As at Christmas, so also at Easter, popular customs reflect many ancient pagan survivals—in this instance, connected with spring fertility rites, such as the symbols of the Easter egg and the Easter hare or rabbit. The Easter lamb, however, comes from the Jewish Passover ritual, as applied to Christ, “the Lamb of God” (compare John 1:29, 36; 1 Corinthians 5:7).