This page is devoted to Easter coloring pages.

What is Easter?

Easter is a holiday that is the culmination of Holy Week in Christian religions. In Christian theology, this is the week in which Jesus Christ held the Last Supper, was crucified and then, three days later, arose from the dead. This sequence is known as the Crucifixion and the Resurrection. It is the beginning of the Easter Season, which begins on Easter Sunday and continues for the subsequent seven weeks. It is preceded by Lent, a period of six weeks that commences on Ash Wednesday.



Easter occurs on different days every year, and thus is known as a 'moveable feast.' The date does not derive from history, but rather from church doctrine. It is not a creation of Rome, but rather of the Eastern Orthodox church. In  the year 325, the First Council of Nicaea determined that Easter should fall on the first Sunday that occurs after the full moon that occurs on or soonest after 21 March - which often but not always is the spring equinox. The earliest date for Easter is 22 March, and the latest is 25 April, as the lunar cycle (28 days) is determinative and will not last past the latter date without there being a full moon and a subsequent Sunday.



In practice and secular terms, Easter is a mark of the end of winter and the first bloom of spring. It is celebrated with Easter Eggs, delivered by the Easter Bunny, and solemn religious services and parades. It is the holiest of the Christian holidays, and observant Christians rank Easter as a more important religious holiday than Christmas or any other day on the calendar.


Easter is not always celebrated on the same day everywhere. The Roman Catholic and related churches use a different calendar than the Eastern Orthodox Church. The Julian calendar was promulgated by Julius Caesar well before the birth of Christ and marked a significant reform and improvement of the archaic Roman calendar. Some Eastern Churches still use the Julian calendar. However, most churches, including all those in the Roman Catholic sphere, switched to the Gregorian calendar in 1582 or at some point thereafter. The Gregorian calendar matches the actual solar/earth cycle slightly better than the older Julian calendar, though the differences are slight - the Romans under Caesar did a very good job figuring out their calendar. The churches using the Julian calendar use the same reference points for Easter, i.e., the first full moon after 21 March, but their 21 March falls on 5 April in the Gregorian calendar. Thus, their Easter may take place weeks after the rest of the world celebrates it. They also, though, can celebrate it at the same time, depending upon when the full moon occurs in a particular year.





2014