Celebrating Easter for the entire 50-day season

All of the Easter eggs will be found and the chocolate eaten long before the Easter season ends at Pentecost, this year on June 8.

And, Catholic theologians and liturgical experts said, Christians should make a point of celebrating the resurrection of Christ and the salvation of the world for the entire season.

“Easter is all about lingering in the great joy of the Resurrection,” said Todd Williamson, director of the Office of Divine Worship of the Archdiocese of Chicago.

The 50 days of Easter are the longest liturgical season in the calendar outside of Ordinary Time, said Brian Schmisek, provost and Cardinal George Chair of Faith and Culture at the University of St. Mary of the Lake/Mundelein Seminary.

“As people of the Resurrection we are a people of hope, and we know that this world is not all there is, and we are destined for something more,” Schmisek said. “The Easter season is to be a time of joy, and to be joyful is the mark of being a Christian. People should see the joy we have, especially in the Easter season.”

That 50-day period has its roots in the Jewish Feast of Weeks, a seven-week festival or “week of weeks” that follows Passover and ends with Shavuot, said Father Richard J. Fragomeni, professor of liturgy and preaching at Catholic Theological Union and rector of the Shrine of Our Lady of Pompeii, 1224 W. Lexington St.

While Shavuot commemorates God giving the 10 Commandments to Moses on Mount Sinai, the Christian feast of Pentecost commemorates God sending the Holy Spirit to the new Christian community, Fragomeni said.

“It’s the completion of the Resurrection ministry by the giving of the Holy Spirit to the world,” he said. “The early church fathers described these 50 days as one long continuous celebration of Easter.”

That meant that there was no fasting during Easter, he said, in marked contrast to the 40 days of Lent that precedes the feast, and even no kneeling. During the season, new Christians are welcomed into the faith with a period of “mystagogy,” or reflection on and growing understanding of the mystery of salvation.

“It’s an extended reminder that Easter is not just a one-time event,” he said. “It’s an ongoing lifelong transforming of people. These 50 days are an intense time when we celebrate that we are people of the light, that we are people of hope, especially in this jubilee year that the pope has given to us.”

“It takes a week of weeks — it takes at least a week or weeks — to unpack the profundity of what God had done in the triduum, in renewing our baptism,” Williamson agreed. “The only purpose for Lent is to prepare us to renew our baptism at the Easter Vigil or Easter Sunday morning. What difference should that make? It should make every difference. We should be living differently because of it.”

Unfortunately, modern culture pushes people to move past holidays once the first day has past, much like Advent gets pushed aside for Christmas, and the secular, cultural Christmas season is over by New Year’s Day, Fragomeni said.

“These 50 days of Easter are not like, we got Easter Sunday, and the rest of these days are kind of like, ‘Oh, well,’” Fragomeni said. “In the Catholic Church, the whole community grows with these neophytes into the meaning of Christ’s death and resurrection, and into the gift of the Holy Spirit.”

The liturgical readings for the Easter season offer lessons for new Christians and for those who have renewed their baptismal promises, with texts from the Acts of the Apostles and accounts of Jesus’ post-resurrection appearances to his disciples.

“It’s to tell us, ‘Oh, that’s what it means to be a disciple of Jesus, that’s what it means to be a communion of the baptized, that’s what it means to celebrate the Lord’s supper,’” Williamson said.

Acknowledging that parishes and individuals can find it difficult to maintain a focus on joy for 50 days, Williamson and Fragomeni offered some ideas.

First, they suggested that more parishes should consider celebrating the Pentecost vigil Mass, which is similar to the Easter vigil, if not as well known or elaborate.

“Very few parishes use it, but it’s certainly in the books,” Fragomeni said.

Parishes could make sure to keep their decorations fresh throughout the season, he said, by, for example, adding new flowers as their Easter lilies move past their prime, and keep the Easter candle in a position of prominence.

Williamson suggested that parishes consider using the sprinkling rite in place of the penitential act during the Easter season to help remind worshippers that they have renewed their baptism.

Parishes should also “keep the music flowing,” Williamson said, choosing hymns that feature Easter texts and “Alleluia.”

In terms of programing, “a parish oftentimes does a Lenten mission,” Fragomeni said. “A parish might consider flipping that and have an Easter mission during the Easter weeks.”

Similarly, Williamson said, there are parishes that do evening prayer once a week during Lent.

“Keep that going during the Easter season,” he said. “The Liturgy of the Hours during the Easter season is beautiful.”

Parishes should also keep supporting the neophytes, he said.

“The parishes could accent the presence of the neophytes. Have them wear their white garments for the second Sunday of Easter.”

Mystagogy isn’t just for neophytes, Williamson added. It can take the form of opportunities for all parishioners to deepen their understanding of the paschal mystery.

“They might have weekly gatherings to reflect on the triduum,” he said. “What happened during the triduum? What happened to the parish? What happened to me as an individual Christian? What did it mean for me this year to embrace the cross?”

The Easter season is an appropriate time for any parish events that bring people together, Schmisek said.

“It’s continuing to build community, getting to know one another, celebrating each other’s joys,” he said. “That’s why we have parishes, to strengthen each other in our Christian identity. There are just so many ways that we celebrate and build community as fellow believers, fellow Christians. … Ideally, our joy becomes infectious. People want to be around joyful people. That in itself can be a form of evangelization, That’s why we call this ‘good news.’”

Individuals can find guides to help them reflect on the Easter message, Fragomeni said, or engage in individual devotional practices such as bringing the Easter fire home in the form of a votive candle and keeping it going for the whole season.

Williamson said such practices are designed to help Christians remember the message of Easter:

“What we celebrate on Easter is that the cross never has the last word.”