The most important passage in this treatise bearing upon the history of Easter is the remark that many Gallic bishops about 570 commenced their celebration of the festival on the 25th March as an immovable feast. This is also confirmed by Bede,[119] who had a distinctly clearer insight into the nature of the question, and thus expresses himself concerning the dispute about Easter. “Originally the Apostles kept Easter on the full moon in March, on whatever day it fell. After their death different customs prevailed in different provinces. The Gauls kept the festival on the 25th of March. In Italy, some fasted twenty days, others seven, but the Easterns remained faithful to the custom of the Apostles.” To remedy this state of things, Pope Victor put himself in communication with Theophilus of Cæsarea, who held a Synod which decided that the Resurrection should be commemorated on a Sunday, so fixing the day of the week on which it was to be kept.
5. The Liturgical Celebration of Holy Week and Easter
The Christian passover, as originally limited to Holy Week and Easter Week, was consecrated in the first place to the remembrances of Christ’s passion, death, and resurrection, and to this the religious ceremonies, in so far as they differed from the ordinary services, owed their special character. But, in the second place, it is to be observed that so long as the Catechumenate remained in existence, and even to some extent afterwards, Easter was the only season regularly appointed for baptism. At Easter, the labours of the Catechists came to an end, the course of preparation was finished, the Catechumens received the sacraments of baptism, confirmation, and the Holy Eucharist. To this fact, in the second place, the Easter services owe much of their special character, and even now, long after the practice of the Church has changed, rites connected with the administration of baptism are to be found in the ritual of the Easter festival. Thus, the consecration of the font on Holy Saturday, first of all, and then the consecration of the Holy Oils on Maundy Thursday, must be owing to the fact that they were required for the administration of Baptism and Confirmation. On this ground, as well as because of the importance of the feast in itself, it is obvious that Easter, from the liturgical point of view, is conspicuous among all the other festivals, and that a number of rites are then performed which are not repeated in the course of the whole year.[120]
To these rites belong the reading of the Passion on Palm Sunday, and on the Tuesday and Wednesday in Holy Week, the procession on Palm Sunday, the Consecration of the Holy Oils on Maundy Thursday, the missa præsanctificatorum on Good Friday. More than the others, Holy Saturday is conspicuous for a number of rites peculiar to itself, viz.:—
1. The blessing of the fire from which the other lights in the Church are lit, and the blessing of the five grains of incense for the pascal candle: both ceremonies being performed outside before the door of the Church.
2. The procession thence into the Church.
3. The blessing of the pascal candle by the singing of the Exsultet or præconium paschale.
4. The reading of the prophecies from the Old Testament.
5. The blessing of the baptismal font, in which the pascal candle is employed.
6. The baptism of catechumens, if there are any.