Alleluia! Christ is risen! Happy Easter!  

I have no special events or calendar observances to tell you about. There are never any calendar observances during this first week of Easter since we are focusing on the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ.  More in the note below:

A Liturgical Note for You:

We are now in the Great 50 Days of Easter. The Easter season of the church is always 50 days. It begins with The Sunday of the Resurrection and continues until the Day of Pentecost. Pentecost is the final day of the Easter season, not the beginning of a new season. Pentecost is the last day of the Easter festival, “uniting the events of the Resurrection and the empowerment of the Church” (p.99 of Preaching the Revised Common Lectionary published by Abingdon Press.) There is no such thing as the season of Pentecost.

The week we are in now is called the Octave of Easter (the eight days from The Sunday of the Resurrection until the Second Sunday of Easter). During these eight days, we feast and celebrate our risen Lord with particular joy and vigour from Sunday to Sunday  Who needs to diet anyway?! The Octave of Easter takes precedence over all other days. This means that there are no other calendar observances throughout this time as we focus on the glory and redemption of the resurrection. If you have any worship services throughout the week, in addition to next Sunday, the “Alleluia” may be doubled at the Sending of the Church. There is then a single “Alleluia” at the dismissal from then until the Day of Pentecost when it is doubled once again. 

So, on that note, let’s have a grand Octave of Easter sending, shall we?

Let us go forth into the world, rejoicing in the power of the Spirit. Alleluia, alleluia!

Thanks be to God. Alleluia, alleluia!

Yours in Christ,

Susan