Wednesday, April 1, 2015

Easter is not Pagan

Remember - if anybody tries to tell you that Easter is derived from Ishtar, remind them that Easter is an English word, and that the feast predates the English language.
The Latin name is Pascha - and the name in most European Languages is derived from that.
Pascha, like our Ukrainian Пасха, is derived from the Greek Πάσχα, which is derived from the Aramaic Pasḥā, which is derived from the Hebrew Pᵉsāḥ - Passover.

As the Easter Proclamation of the Roman Rite says,

  • These, then, are the feasts of Passover,
    in which is slain the Lamb, the one true Lamb,
    whose Blood anoints the doorposts of believers.

Or, as our own Paschal canon of St. John Damascene says,

  • It is the Day of Resurrection! Let us be radiant, O people! Pascha! The Lord's Pascha! For Christ our God has brought us from death to life, and from earth unto heaven, as we sing triumphant hymns!

or, further on,

  • Christ appeared as a ‘male’ who opened the virgin womb. As our food he is called ‘lamb’; ‘unblemished’, as our Passover without stain; and ‘perfect’, for he is true God.
  • As a yearling lamb, for us a crown of goodness, the Blessed One, the cleansing Passover has been sacrificed for all; and from the tomb the fair Sun of justice has shone for us again.

We are approaching the Day of Resurrection, not, as some might tell you, a Christianized pagan holiday.

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