For this roundtable, Scott the Editor wants us to explain why Easter is more significant than other Christian holidays.
In Holy Orthodoxy, Easter is the most basic Christian holiday. That’s because, on Easter, we celebrate the central event in the salvation of this world: the Resurrection of Christ Jesus. And since the Resurrection is so fundamental to the Faith, we actually celebrate it each and every Sunday of the year.
You read that correctly: In Holy Orthodoxy, every single Sunday of the year is like Easter. That means we sing hymns about the resurrection each Sunday; that means each Sunday, at a certain point in the services, we listen to one of the gospel accounts of the Resurrection. If there is a major feast that also falls on a Sunday—like Christmas or Pentecost—the Easter themes in the services will be a bit muted, but, other than those few exceptions, we celebrate the Resurrection of our Lord and Master on all of the Sundays of the year.
It’s been that way from ancient times, but in modern American Christianity, Sundays are often re-branded. Sometimes that happens because folks want to emphasize a particular program within their parish; that’s how you end up hearing about things like Revival Sundays and Big Attendance Sundays and Youth Sundays. Sometimes congregations are trying to connect with the surrounding culture; that’s where you get things like Super Bowl Sunday and Patriotic Sundays and Fall Festival Sundays.
Unfortunately, all that has more to do with promotional work and marketing than it does with the Christian Faith. But in Holy Orthodoxy, we still maintain the original focus of the first day of the week; we still celebrate the Resurrection of Christ Jesus each and every Sunday.
If you would like to learn more about how that works and what that means, just send me a note or give me a call. I’d love to visit with you.
Father Aidan Wilcoxson is the pastor of St John Orthodox parish in Cedar Park (www.theforerunner.org); he can be reached at fraidan@austin.rr.com.