Easter is the most important season in the Christian year — a time of reflection, hope, and celebration. At its heart, Easter tells the story of Jesus Christ’s suffering, death, and resurrection, and invites Christians to journey from darkness to light.
Whether you’re familiar with the tradition or exploring it for the first time, this guide offers an easy overview of what Easter is all about, why its date moves each year, and the key moments that lead up to it.
Easter is the celebration of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ, three days after his crucifixion. Christians believe the Resurrection is God’s triumph over death and the promise of new life for all. Because of its significance, Easter isn’t just a single day — it’s a whole season in the Church’s calendar made up of preparation, remembrance, and ongoing celebration.
Unlike Christmas, Easter is a ‘moveable feast’ which doesn’t fall on the same date each year. Instead, it follows a traditional formula set by the early Church to align with the Jewish feast of the Passover. The date of Easter is determined as the first Sunday after the full Moon that occurs on or after the Spring equinox, 21 March. Easter Sunday can therefore fall anywhere between 22 March and 25 April on a given year.
This year, Easter falls on Sunday 5 April. Using this date, all the other significant days in the lead up to Easter are determined (See diagram below).
The journey to Easter begins with Lent. Lent is a season of reflection, penance, and preparation, lasting for 40 days—including but not counting Sundays—before the joyous celebration of Easter. This echoes the 40 days Jesus spent fasting in the wilderness.
The season of Lent begins on Ash Wednesday, when we are marked with ash crosses on our foreheads, and invited to deepen our spiritual lives through prayer, fasting, and almsgiving.
The eve of Lent is known as Shrove Tuesday, which takes its name from the old practice of being “shriven” (seeking confession and forgiveness). Households would use up rich ingredients such as eggs and fats before the fasting and simplicity of Lent began. Pancakes became a practical and delicious way to clear the store cupboard, and over the centuries this simple act has grown into a much‑loved tradition!
Passiontide marks the final two weeks of Lent, beginning on the Fifth Sunday of Lent. This is a time when the Church turns its gaze more intensely toward Christ’s suffering and the profound mystery of His love revealed in the Passion. During this time, you may see the veiling of crosses, statues or images using purple or unbleached cloth in a deliberate act of ‘visual fasting’.
Holy Week, the culmination of our Lenten journey, takes us through the final days of Jesus’s life on earth.
We begin with Palm Sunday, marking His triumphal entry into Jerusalem. The Chrism Eucharist, traditionally held on Holy Wednesday, includes the blessing of the oils and the renewal of commitment to ministry, a sacred moment where clergy and the faithful alike recommit to their service in the Church.
The final three days before Easter are known as the Triduum (in Latin,‘three days’) which mark the culmination of our reflection as we journey with Jesus through His passion, death, and resurrection.
On Maundy Thursday, we remember the Last Supper, Jesus’s institution of the Eucharist, and His new commandment to love one another. Good Friday takes us to the foot of the cross, where we reflect on His passion and death. Finally, we celebrate His glorious resurrection in the darkness of Easter Night (Holy Saturday) and on Easter Sunday, the pinnacle of our faith.
The celebration of Easter continues well beyond Easter Day. In the Anglican tradition, the fifty days from Easter to Pentecost—known as Eastertide—form a joyful season focused on the risen Christ. During this time, the Paschal Candle remains lit, “Alleluia” returns to worship, and readings reflect Christ’s post‑resurrection appearances and the growth of the early Church.
Forty days after Easter comes Ascension Day, marking Jesus’s return to the Father and the commissioning of His followers. The nine days that follow are a period of prayerful waiting for the Holy Spirit.
The season reaches its climax with Pentecost (Whitsunday), celebrating the coming of the Spirit and the birth of the Church.
The following Sunday, Trinity Sunday, honours the mystery of God as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and leads into the long Season After Trinity—a time focused on Christian growth, discipleship, and the everyday life of faith.