Do Catholics Celebrate Easter?

Yes. Catholics celebrate Easter as the greatest feast of the year. The Catechism of the Catholic Church calls it the Feast of feasts and the Solemnity of solemnities. The church also requires each of the faithful, after First Communion, to receive holy communion at least once a year, and the canon says that precept is fulfilled during the Easter season unless there is a just cause to fulfill it at another time.

Key Points

• Catechism 1169 (1) says Easter is not simply one feast among others, but the “Feast of feasts,” the “Solemnity of solemnities.”
• Catechism 1168 (1) says the liturgical year begins with the Easter Triduum as its source of light.
• Catechism 1170 (1) says the Council of Nicaea in 325 agreed that Easter is the Sunday following the first full moon after the vernal equinox.
• Canon 920 §1 (2) obliges each of the faithful, after initiation into the Eucharist, to receive holy communion at least once a year. Section 2 says this precept must be fulfilled during the Easter season unless it is fulfilled for a just cause at another time.
• Catechism 1171 (1) also names the incarnation cycle: Annunciation, Christmas, and Epiphany. Those feasts commemorate the beginning of salvation. Easter remains the center.
• 1 Corinthians 15:3–41 Corinthians 15:3–4 · King James Version^15:3 For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; ^15:4 And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures:1 Corinthians 15:3–4 · King James VersionOpen source (3) says Christ died for our sins, was buried, and rose again the third day. Luke 24:6Luke 24:6 · King James VersionHe is not here, but is risen: remember how he spake unto you when he was yet in Galilee,Luke 24:6 · King James VersionOpen source (4) says, “He is not here, but is risen.”

Why Easter Is the Feast of Feasts

The Catechism’s section on when the liturgy is celebrated ranks the days. Paragraph 1163, quoting the Second Vatican Council, says that once each week, on the Lord’s Day, the church keeps the memory of the Lord’s resurrection, and once every year she celebrates it together with his Passion, at Easter, “that most solemn of all feasts.”

Paragraph 1169 then gives the title people ask about:

Therefore Easter is not simply one feast among others, but the “Feast of feasts,” the “Solemnity of solemnities,” just as the Eucharist is the “Sacrament of sacraments” (the Great Sacrament). St. Athanasius calls Easter “the Great Sunday” and the Eastern Churches call Holy Week “the Great Week.”

The same paragraph says the mystery of the Resurrection, in which Christ crushed death, fills the church’s time until all is subjected to him. Christmas is not dismissed. Paragraph 1171 says the incarnation feasts communicate the first fruits of the Paschal mystery. The Catechism’s order is that Easter is the feast the year turns on.

The Resurrection of Jesus is the event the feast marks. When Is Eastern Orthodox Christmas? is the calendar difference for the Nativity, and it quotes the same catechism paragraph on the Easter date.

The Easter Duty

People search for “Easter duty” because the church ties a yearly communion to this season. Canon 920 (2) says:

After being initiated into the Most Holy Eucharist, each of the faithful is obliged to receive holy communion at least once a year.

Section 2 says this precept must be fulfilled during the Easter season unless it is fulfilled for a just cause at another time during the year. The canon does not print a clothing color, a required greeting, or an age of 65. The page quoted here does not say what Catholics say instead of “Happy Easter,” and it does not exempt people over 65 from Sunday Mass. Those claims are not in these two documents.

What Easter Means in the Bible

The feast is the church’s year. The event is the resurrection the New Testament announces.

1 Corinthians 15:3–41 Corinthians 15:3–4 · King James Version^15:3 For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; ^15:4 And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures:1 Corinthians 15:3–4 · King James VersionOpen source (3) is Paul’s summary: Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures, he was buried, and he rose again the third day. Luke 24:6Luke 24:6 · King James VersionHe is not here, but is risen: remember how he spake unto you when he was yet in Galilee,Luke 24:6 · King James VersionOpen source (4) is the word at the tomb: he is not here, but is risen. John 20:1John 20:1 · King James VersionThe first day of the week cometh Mary Magdalene early, when it was yet dark, unto the sepulchre, and seeth the stone taken away from the sepulchre.John 20:1 · King James VersionOpen source (5) says Mary Magdalene came to the sepulchre early, when it was yet dark, on the first day of the week. The Gospels do not use the English word Easter. They narrate the third day.

Catechism 1170 (1) says that at Nicaea in 325 the churches agreed Easter, the Christian Passover, should be celebrated on the Sunday following the first full moon after the vernal equinox. The same paragraph says the Gregorian reform of 1582 caused a discrepancy of several days with the Eastern calendar. The Orthodox dating of that discrepancy is on When Is Eastern Orthodox Christmas?.

Other Feasts Catholics Keep

Catechism 1171 (1) names Annunciation, Christmas, and Epiphany as the cycle around the incarnation. Paragraph 1163 names the Lord’s Day, every Sunday, as the weekly memory of the resurrection. Easter is yearly and, in this text, the most solemn feast. Christmas remains the feast of the birth. The Catechism does not say Christmas is unimportant. It says Easter is not one feast among others.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do Catholics Believe in Easter?

The question people type is often “believe,” and the practice is “celebrate.” The Catechism treats Easter as the church’s greatest feast because it celebrates the Resurrection. Belief in the resurrection is the faith that feast observes. Luke 24:6Luke 24:6 · King James VersionHe is not here, but is risen: remember how he spake unto you when he was yet in Galilee,Luke 24:6 · King James VersionOpen source (4) is the announcement. The Catechism’s name for the day is the Feast of feasts.

Are Catholics Over 65 Required to Attend Sunday Mass?

Canon 920, quoted above, is about yearly communion in the Easter season. It does not mention age 65. This page does not add an exemption the canon does not print.

What Color Do Catholics Wear on Easter?

The Catechism paragraphs and Canon 920 do not name a color of clothing.

Do We Sleep After Death or Go to Heaven?

These paragraphs are about the feast of the Resurrection, not a map of the hour after death. 1 Corinthians 15:3–41 Corinthians 15:3–4 · King James Version^15:3 For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; ^15:4 And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures:1 Corinthians 15:3–4 · King James VersionOpen source (3) says Christ was buried and rose the third day. The church’s hope, in the feast itself, is that resurrection.