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About Easter
Easter is an ancient festival celebrating life after death
and Spring after Winter. Easter Season last for 50 days from
Easter Day, ending on the Pentecost. Traditional Easter
celebration colours are white, representing the angels, and
gold for triumph. The Western Christian Church calculate the
date of Easter which varies each year, which falls between
March 23 - April 17th. Other branches of Christianity vary,
the Orthodox church celebrate their Easter around May.
The best place to witness the faith and celebration of Easter
is in the Holy Land of Jerusalem, one of the world's
oldest cities (some 4,000 years) and the most holy site in
the world. On Easter Day, Christians of all ethnicity gather
in Jerusalem's Old City to follow in the footsteps
of Christ.
Holy Week in Jerusalem
The week is known as Holy Week and begins on Sunday
with a gathering on the Mount of Olives to re-enact
Christ's entry into Jerusalem, where he predicted his own
fate to his followers. Monday of Holy Week is the time to
visit the Dome of the Rock,
the Muslim sacred site and the Jews Wailing
Wall. Wednesday is a day to visit the Coenaculum,
the place of Christ's Last Supper, where he administered
the first holy communion to his disciples.
Good Friday is a day of epic celebration, with huge
crowds gathering along the Ecce Homo archway, once
gateway to the Roman Fortress of Antonia, where Pontius
Pilate turned over Jesus to the fickle mob who had turned
against him and placed a crown of thorns on his head, mocking
him as the "King of the Jews". On the Via Dolorosa
street, Jesus carried his own crucifix, and now followers
carrying modern day crosses, who stop at 14 "Stations
of the Cross" commemorating incidents along the way,
the last 5 of which are inside the Church of the Holy Sepulcher,
reputedly the site where Jesus was crucified, buried and resurrected.
It is here on Saturday of Holy Week, in a traditional dating
back some 800 years, that a Muslim family unlock the church,
and on this day only, the Sepulcher, thought to be the Tomb
of Jesus is accessible to the public. Holy fire lights the
candles, here and across the Christian world, symbolizing
the resurrection of Christ. |
