10/28/24
Schaff, Philip. (2014). "Chapter VII. Public Worship and Religious Customs and Ceremonies." In History of the Christian Church. (The Complete Eight Volumes in One). Volume 3, Nicene and Post-Nicene Christianity A.D. 311-600, from Constantine the Great to Gregory the Great. (pp. 2124-2268). (Original work published 1889). Amazon Kindle Edition. (Personal Library). (sections 74-101).
"§78. The Easter Cycle." (pp. 2148-2151)
Schaff identifies Easter as "the oldest and greatest annual festival of the church" (Schaff 2014, p. 2148). Not only was it the marker of resurrection, but it also corresponded to the passover and occurred at the beginning of the calendar year. We have documentation from the council of Nicea of an existing season of 40 days' fasting prior to Easter. The Ash Wednesday observance at the start of the season of fasting was fixed during the papacy of Gregory I, 590-604 (Schaff 2014, p. 2149). As a reaction to the upcoming time of fasting, a festival was typically held prior to Ash Wednesday. Schaff describes the naming of the Sundays prior to and during Lent as coming from this period, and constituting not only a number of days before Easter, but also the first word of the Introit associated with the day (Schaff 2014, p. 2150). he describes the events of the week leading up to Easter in some detail (Schaff 2014, p. 2151).
"§79. The Time of the Easter Festival." (pp. 2151-2155).
The proper dating of Easter was problematic, and became a matter of some controversy after the second century (Schaff 2014, p. 2152). In the end, the custom became observance on a Sunday, not on a fixed day of the month, such as we see for Christmas or Passover. This decision made all the other feasts (and fasts) depending on Easter movable as well. Schaff notes that Easter Sunday is determined based on "the first full moon after the vernal equinox: so that the day may fall on any Sunday between the 22d day of March and the 25th of April" (Schaff 2014, p. 2152). The dating was chosen in part to avoid cooperation with the Jewish calendar's Passover on 14 Nisan, as the Jews had urged the death of Christ (Schaff 2014, p. 215). Despite the decision of calculation of Easter at the Council of Nicea, some parts of Christianity held to the celebration on 14 Nisan regardless. Schaff describes additional challenges to the dating, some based on calendars in use which may date the equinox differently. The discrepancy continues to the present (Schaff 2014, p. 2154).
"§80. The Cycle of Pentecost." (pp. 2155-2157).
The period from Easter to Pentecost was considered as a continual festival of the resurrection. showing a sharp contrast with the period of Lenten fasting (Schaff 2014, p. 2155). Schaff observes that nominal Christians quickly made the period a time of dissipation. The Sundays in the period are given names from the traditional Introit texts (Schaff 2014, p. 2155). The fortieth day marks Jesus' ascension into heaven, and the fiftieth recognizes the giving of the Holy Spirit to the Church. Pentecost corresponds to the Jewish feast of first-fruits (Schaff 2014, p. 2156).
In the early Church, the feast of Pentecost was the last of the great festivals in the church year. For this reason, the Sundays after Pentecost until Advent were simply counted out as one season (Schaff 2014, p. 2157). Because of the movable nature of Easter, this meant there could be 22-27 Sundays before Advent.