Easter & it's custom

        In the Christian faith Easter is celebrated to commemorate the Resurrection of Christ. Thus it is the most sacred of all holy days. Unknown to most people, it is also the the name of an ancient anglo Saxon festival, Eastre. Eastre is the pagan goddess of spring and offspring. How this pagan festival came to be supplanted by a solemn Christian holiday attests to the ingenuity of second century Christian missionaries.

    These missionaries traveled among the Teutonic tribes north of Rome. Whenever possible, they transfromed local pagan customs to harmonize with Christian doctrine. On a practical basis, this prevented local converts from being persecuted by the pagan traditionalists. Since the Eastre festival to celebrate spring coincided with the time of the Christian observance of the resurrection of Christ, this crossover was achieved smoothly. Some doubt remained as to the exact day of the celebration.

    That was put to rest by the Emperor Constantine. In AD 325, the Emperor convented a council and it was decreed: Easter would be celebrated on the first Sunday after the first full moon after the vernal equinox. Easter is therefore bound never to fall before March 22 or after April 25.