please can you tell me the story of easter and what the days represent?
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Easter is the Christian celebration of the Resurrection of Jesus after he had been buried for 3 days after his crucifixion. the best way to find out the story is to look in the Bible.\n\nMatthew chapter 26-28\nMark Chapter 14-16\nLuke chapter 22-24\nJohn Chapter 13-21\n\nor if you can watch the movie "The Passion of The Christ"\nif you have cable it will be on Showtime on Saturday night @9pm EST.
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Easter was stolen from the Pagans.  We had it first.  I hope you all enjoy the following article.\n\n===================\n\nThe Old Ways: Spring\nby Doug and Sandy Kopf\n\nSpring (Earrach) or Vernal Equinox, on approximately March 21, is the mid-point of the Waxing Year. The spark of light that was born at Winter Solstice has reached maturity, and from this point forward, the days grow longer than the nights. This is the time of full Dawn, 6:00 a.m. on the Year Clock, and so was the time of the festivals of the Grecian Goddess, Eostre, and the Germanic Ostara, both Goddesses of Dawn. (It is from these Bright Ladies that the modern Easter holiday takes its name). This is the time that is often seen as the time of Kore’s return from the Underworld, where She (as Persephone) has ruled throughout the Winter. It is also the time of the celebration of the rebirth of Adonis the Beautiful.\n\nSpring is the time for a celebration of planting and of the greening of the Earth. The supermarket is a sign in itself, as the produce department begins to fill with fresh fruits and vegetables. People start to talk about having ‘Spring Fever’ and doing ‘Spring cleaning’, as the brighter sunshine provides a needed morale boost.\n\nNon-Pagans start to shop for Easter finery (putting on new clothes, just like the Earth Mother), or Passover foods, unaware that we are all truly celebrating the same thing: the Revitalization of the Earth, as She warms to the waxing rays of the Sun. We have survived another Winter and are\nonce more surrounded by the delights of Spring. Some authorities say that this was probably the time that the Christian Church should have chosen to celebrate as the birth date of Jesus, since this would have been the time for paying taxes in ancient Jerusalem and, according to the myth, Mary and Joseph were traveling to fulfill that obligation. It is also the season of lambing, the only time shepherds would ‘watch by night’.\n\nMany traditions associated with Spring Equinox have been retained over the years and grafted onto the Easter celebration. Even today, people arise early on Easter morning to attend ‘Sunrise Service’. (Remember Eostre, the Dawn Goddess?) If your group is not opposed to getting up early, a Dawn Circle to greet the Sun on the morning of the Equinox can be wonderful!  Legend says the Sun Dances and, if it is reflected in a bowl of clear water, you can see it for yourself! However, we would not recommend this if you are night-owls. It’s hard to put your whole heart into ritual when you are bleary-eyed and groggy. Festivals should be FUN, not tests of your determination!\n\nDecorated eggs have always been symbols of fertility. In 17th century France, gifts of decorated eggs were given to new brides, in hopes they would bear many children. In Germany, bowls full of eggs were given to the field-workers by the farmer’s wife, to insure a rich harvest. Many\ncultures see the egg as a symbol of Life, or the actual home of the soul.  The egg is the symbol of all good fortune in Russia and decorated eggs are still given as gifts to loved ones and buried in graves to insure rebirth.  These elaborate and ornate treasures are sometimes even set with precious stones. (Note: Faberge’ and Tiffany eggs)\nThe Old Ways: Spring\nby Doug and Sandy Kopf\n\nSpring (Earrach) or Vernal Equinox, on approximately March 21, is the mid-point of the Waxing Year. The spark of light that was born at Winter Solstice has reached maturity, and from this point forward, the days grow longer than the nights. This is the time of full Dawn, 6:00 a.m. on the Year Clock, and so was the time of the festivals of the Grecian Goddess, Eostre, and the Germanic Ostara, both Goddesses of Dawn. (It is from these Bright Ladies that the modern Easter holiday takes its name). This is the time that is often seen as the time of Kore’s return from the Underworld, where She (as Persephone) has ruled throughout the Winter. It is also the time o
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Eggs are associated with Easter for a very simple reason - the egg is seen as the symbol of life (a young chick, duckling etc will grow from it). Then, it also represents Jesus's grave. So when we break the eggs we are remembering what Jesus did when he resurrected and came to life from the dead and got out from his grave (so breaking the egg is similar to Jesus opening his grave).\n\nThe Easter bunny has its origin in pre-Christian fertility lore. The Hare and the Rabbit were the most fertile animals known and they served as symbols of the new life during the Spring season. (more about this one at the website below:)
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Easter has nothing to do with Jesus christ. It was made up by false religions. It's a lie.\n\n\nEaster was “originally the spring festival in honor of the Teutonic goddess of light and spring known in Anglo-Saxon as Eastre.” (The Westminster Dictionary of the Bible) “There is no indication of the observance of the Easter festival in the New Testament.”
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Easter will be on April 8 in 2007.
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Please find below details about Pesach (passover). You just say: 'Happy Easter' or 'Have a nice Easter'.\nHope this will answer your questions!\nTiff\n\nSHALOM & WELCOME\nto a celebration of the Jewish holiday of Pesach (Passover) \nPassover is the 8 day observance commemorating the freedom and exodus of the Israelites (Jewish slaves) from Egypt during the reign of the Pharaoh Ramses II. \nA time of family gatherings and lavish meals called Seders, the story of Passover is retold through the reading of the Haggadah. With its special foods, songs, and customs, the Seder is the focal point of the Passover celebration. Passover begins on the 15th day of the Jewish month of Nissan. As the Jewish day begins at sundown the night before, for the year 2006, the first night of Passover will be April 12th.
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easter lands on a different day each year because it's the 1st sunday after the 1st full moon after the first day of spring.  since a full moon doesn't occur the same day each year, easter sunday will be a floating hoilday
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For those of us who believe.  Easter is when we take the time to remember/reflect the time when our Savior Jesus Christ was sacrificed on the cross in order to save our souls, so that we may be forgiven our sins and allowed to enter the kingdom of heaven.
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The true meaning of Easter has nothing to do with Jesus. Some Christians decided that's when they were going to have one of their festivals because they thought that stealing Pagan dates, etc. would encourage more Pagans to convert to Christianity. Easter, or Eostre, is a Pagan godess of fertility. That's what the eggs and bunnies are all about.
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In the days of the early Christian church, only Easter Sunday was celebrated as a holy day.  By the fourth century, each day of the week preceding Easter were established as holy days including Good Friday.  To most Christians, Good Friday is really a misnomer in that it was a "bad" Friday—the crucifixion day of Jesus.  Some believe the term "Good" evolved from "God" or God's Friday.  Others believe "good" represents the good gift of salvation brought forth by the martyrdom.  Regardless, it is a holy day throughout the Christian world.\n\nCeremonial worship of the holiday follows closely to the events described in the scriptures.  Some congregations still hold a three hour service on Friday representing the three hours He hanged on the cross.  A typical service includes seven distinct elements representative of Christ's seven utterances while on the cross.
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Only with great difficulty.\n\nSee http://www.davros.org/misc/easter.html
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The Story of Mother's Day\n\nThe earliest Mother's Day celebrations can be traced back to the spring celebrations of ancient Greece in honor of Rhea, the Mother of the Gods. During the 1600's, England celebrated a day called "Mothering Sunday". Celebrated on the 4th Sunday of Lent (the 40 day period leading up to Easter*), "Mothering Sunday" honored the mothers of England. \n*(For more information on Lent/Easter check out - Easter on the Net)\nDuring this time many of the England's poor worked as servants for the wealthy. As most jobs were located far from their homes, the servants would live at the houses of their employers. On Mothering Sunday the servants would have the day off and were encouraged to return home and spend the day with their mothers. A special cake, called the mothering cake, was often brought along to provide a festive touch. \n\n\nAs Christianity spread throughout Europe the celebration changed to honor the "Mother Church" - the spiritual power that gave them life and protected them from harm. Over time the church festival blended with the Mothering Sunday celebration . People began honoring their mothers as well as the church.\n\nIn the United States Mother's Day was first suggested in 1872 by Julia Ward Howe (who wrote the words to the Battle hymn of the Republic) as a day dedicated to peace. Ms. Howe would hold organized Mother's Day meetings in Boston, Mass ever year. \n\nIn 1907 Ana Jarvis, from Philadelphia, began a campaign to establish a national Mother's Day. Ms. Jarvis persuaded her mother's church in Grafton, West Virginia to celebrate Mother's Day on the second anniversary of her mother's death, the 2nd Sunday of May. By the next year Mother's Day was also celebrated in Philadelphia.\n\nMs. Jarvis and her supporters began to write to ministers, businessman, and politicians in their quest to establish a national Mother's Day. It was successful as by 1911 Mother's Day was celebrated in almost every state. President Woodrow Wilson, in 1914, made the official announcement proclaiming Mother's Day as a national holiday that was to be held each year on the 2nd Sunday of May. \n\nWhile many countries of the world celebrate their own Mother's Day at different times throughout the year, there are some countries such as Denmark, Finland, Italy, Turkey, Australia, and Belgium which also celebrate Mother's Day on the second Sunday of May.\n\n\nI hope this helps....\n\nDon
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Easter Sunday on the 16th April\nBlack Saturday on the 15th April\nGood Friday    on the 14th April\nMaunday Thursday on the 13th April
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Easter is a holiday celebrating the resurrection of Christ..
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April 14th is Good Friday.  I'm not sure if is a national holiday because it involves Easter and not everyone celebrates Easter.
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it was a sunday, but I don't know if it was easter
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The Date of Easter\n\nbar\n\nEaster is an annual festival observed throughout the Christian world. The date for Easter shifts every year within the Gregorian Calendar. The Gregorian Calendar is the standard international calendar for civil use. In addition, it regulates the ceremonial cycle of the Roman Catholic and Protestant churches. The current Gregorian ecclesiastical rules that determine the date of Easter trace back to 325 CE at the First Council of Nicaea convened by the Roman Emperor Constantine. At that time the Roman world used the Julian Calendar (put in place by Julius Caesar).\n\nThe Council decided to keep Easter on a Sunday, the same Sunday throughout the world. To fix incontrovertibly the date for Easter, and to make it determinable indefinitely in advance, the Council constructed special tables to compute the date. These tables were revised in the following few centuries resulting eventually in the tables constructed by the 6th century Abbot of Scythia, Dionysis Exiguus. Nonetheless, different means of calculations continued in use throughout the Christian world.\n\nIn 1582 Gregory XIII (Pope of the Roman Catholic Church) completed a reconstruction of the Julian calendar and produced new Easter tables. One major difference between the Julian and Gregorian Calendar is the "leap year rule". See our FAQ on Calendars for a description of the difference. Universal adoption of this Gregorian calendar occurred slowly. By the 1700's, though, most of western Europe had adopted the Gregorian Calendar. The Eastern Christian churches still determine the Easter dates using the older Julian Calendar method.\n\nThe usual statement, that Easter Day is the first Sunday after the full moon that occurs next after the vernal equinox, is not a precise statement of the actual ecclesiastical rules. The full moon involved is not the astronomical Full Moon but an ecclesiastical moon (determined from tables) that keeps, more or less, in step with the astronomical Moon.\n\nThe ecclesiastical rules are:\n\n    * Easter falls on the first Sunday following the first ecclesiastical full moon that occurs on or after the day of the vernal equinox;\n    * this particular ecclesiastical full moon is the 14th day of a tabular lunation (new moon); and\n    * the vernal equinox is fixed as March 21. \n\nresulting in that Easter can never occur before March 22 or later than April 25. The Gregorian dates for the ecclesiastical full moon come from the Gregorian tables. Therefore, the civil date of Easter depends upon which tables - Gregorian or pre-Gregorian - are used. The western (Roman Catholic and Protestant) Christian churches use the Gregorian tables; many eastern (Orthodox) Christian churches use the older tables based on the Julian Calendar.\n\nIn a congress held in 1923, the eastern churches adopted a modified Gregorian Calendar and decided to set the date of Easter according to the astronomical Full Moon for the meridian of Jerusalem. However, a variety of practices remain among the eastern churches.\n\nThere are three major differences between the ecclesiastical system and the astronomical system.\n\n    * The times of the ecclesiastical full moons are not necessarily identical to the times of astronomical Full Moons. The ecclesiastical tables did not account for the full complexity of the lunar motion.\n    * The vernal equinox has a precise astronomical definition determined by the actual apparent motion of the Sun as seen from the Earth. It is the precise time at which the apparent ecliptic longitude of the Sun is zero. (Yes, the Sun's ecliptic longitude, not its declination, is used for the astronomical definition.) This precise time shifts within the civil calendar very slightly from year to year. In the ecclesiastical system the vernal equinox does not shift; it is fixed at March 21 regardless of the actual motion of the Sun.\n    * The date of Easter is a specific calendar date. Easter starts when that date starts