Easter Holiday

Easter (Greek: Πάσχα, Pascha) is the most important religious feast (festa religiosa) in the Christian liturgical year. Christians believe that Jesus was resurrected from the dead three days after his crucifixion, and celebrate this resurrection on Easter Day or Easter Sunday[ (also Resurrection Day or Resurrection Sunday), two days after Good Friday (Sexta-Feira Santa). The chronology of his death and resurrection is variously estimated between the years 26 and 36 A.D.

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Easter also refers to the season of the church year called Eastertide or the Easter Season. Traditionally the Easter Season lasted for the forty days from Easter Day until Ascension Day but now officially lasts for the fifty days until Pentecost. The first week of the Easter Season is known as Easter Week or the Octave of Easter. Easter also marks the end of Lent, a season of prayer (orações) and penance (penitência).

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Easter is a moveable feast, meaning it is not fixed in relation to the civil calendar. Easter falls at some point between late March and late April each year (early April to early May in Eastern Christianity), following the cycle of the moon. After several centuries of disagreement, all churches accepted the computation of the Alexandrian Church (now the Coptic Church) that Easter is the first Sunday after the Paschal Full Moon, which is the first moon whose 14th day (the ecclesiastic "full moon") is on or after March 21 (the ecclesiastic "vernal equinox").
Easter is linked to the Jewish Passover not only for much of its symbolism but also for its position in the calendar.

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Many cultural elements, such as the Easter Bunny, have become part of the holiday's modern celebrations, and those aspects are often celebrated by many Christians and non-Christians alike.

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Lights, candles (velas) and bonfires (fogueiras) mark celebrations in many countries. Roman Catholics often put the candles in the church out on Good Friday (Sexta-Feira Santa) and light them again with the Pascal Candle or Easter Candle, on Easter Day.

Eggs are a symbol of the new life that returns to nature at Easter Time. The custom of exchanging eggs began long before Easter was celebrated. It was a custom of the Egyptians and the Persians. They exchanged eggs decorated in Spring colors. They believed Earth hatched from an egg which contributed to this custom. Early Christians used red colored eggs to symbolize the Resurrection. In England they began writing messages and dates on their eggs and exchanging them with friends and loved ones. In the 1800's, candied eggs were made. They were open on one end and a scene was put inside. They were used as table centerpieces.

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Rabbits symbolized new life and rebirth in ancient Egypt. They considered it a symbol of the moon as the moon determines the date of Easter. The Easter Bunny's visit is based upon a German Legend. The legend goes that a poor woman decorated eggs for her children to find during a famine. At the moment they found them, they looked up to see a big bunny hopping away.