| Next | Previous | Index | Tellout Home |
Observe Easter Customs
Page 148
The Venerable Bede
The word "Easter" comes from a number of roots. In Old English, it is known as "Eastre" or "East." The German "Ostern" probably is as close as we can get to an origin for the meaning of the season. The name "Eastre" is also that of a goddess associated with Spring, according to the writings of The Venerable Bede, (672-735 AD) a British Benedictine monk at the monastery of St. Peter and its companion monastery of St. Paul in the Kingdom of Northumbria of the Angles. The Venerable Bede was widely regarded as the greatest of all the Anglo-Saxon scholars. The Venerable Bede wrote, "The Ecclesiastical History of the English People" (completed in 731), a primary source for early English history. He also a deeply committed Christian and confessed, "I was no longer the center of my life and therefore I could see God in everything." He later also advised, "Until you are happy with who you are, you will never be happy with what you have." His words ring true even today in our secular society.✞
Polycarp's Martyrdom
John Foster in "The First Advance. Church History 1. AD 29-500" explains that the Western Church did not observe Easter customs until Polycarp, (69-c155 AD) visited Rome in c154 AD and attempted to persuade the Bishop of Rome that the observation of Easter customs had been handed down by the Apostles. In c155 AD, Polycarp died a martyr, bound and burned at the stake. When the fire failed to touch him he was stabbed until dead. "The Martyrdom of Polycarp" was a very early work describing Christian martyrdom. It was one of the works of the Apostolic Fathers who were believed to have personally known some of the Twelve Apostles. A little after Polycarp's martyrdom and perhaps because of it, we find the city of Alexandria starting to observe Easter and also in Rome on the Sunday following the Jewish Passover. Easter was observed on Sunday because that day of the week was the Resurrection Day, and it seemed wrong that the yearly festival should be on any other day. So Easter, Christianity's oldest and greatest festival, came to be fixed on the first Sunday after the spring full moon, with the previous Friday (now called Good Friday) as the fast commemorating the crucifixion.✞
Saints Days
As early as 156 AD, festivals alongside the Easter customs were added in the Christian Year as "Saint's Days." In that year, Polycarp the Bishop of Smyrna was reputed to have admitted, "Eighty-six years I have served him. How can I blaspheme my King who saved me?" His friends, writing an account of Polycarp's martyrdom, added these words about his grave, "There we shall gather, with joy and gladness, to celebrate the birthday of his martyrdom." Polycarp must have been a wonderful person!✞
"Observe Easter Customs"
by Ron Meacock © 2019
| ^Top Page | Next | Previous |