After the disillusion of Good Friday, the followers of Jesus spent the Passover season in dejected withdrawal. Then, early on Easter Morning, Mary Magdalene came to mourn at the tomb only to find it empty and the body gone. She called to a gardener to find where its new resting place was and discovered, as the other disciples were to find later, that her Lord was risen indeed.

Easter is the greatest and the oldest of Christian festivals, the "feast of feasts" as Pope Leo the Great called it early in the fifth century. It has always been regarded as the chief and most joyous of the observances of the Church as the commemoration of the Resurrection of Christ and the restoration of life to the world which sin had ruined. Its importance is indicated in the Christian calendar by the long period of preparation of Lent and Passiontide, by the special observances of Holy Week and by the following Eastertide between Easter and Pentecost.

Yet there was a long and complex dispute in the early church about the day on which Easter should be kept. There were those who wanted to keep it always on the Lord's Day and those who wished to keep it on the day in the lunar month, the third day after the fourteenth Nisan, whatever the day of the week, which represented its historical connection with the Jewish Passover. The Western Church, and especially the Church of Rome, supported the former view and many Eastern Churches the latter. Finally by a decree of the Council of Nicea in AD 325 the Western outlook prevailed; and since then Easter Day has been the Sunday nearest to the calculated anniversary of the actual Resurrection, this being determined by the Paschal moon, the first full moon that occurs on or after the spring equinox (March 21). The earliest date, therefore, for Easter Day is March 21 and the latest April 25.

In the early Church, Easter was the great day for baptism since it was believed that the plunging of the believer beneath baptismal water and his/her rising again from it re-enacted for him the death and Resurrection of Christ. Easter became the festival of both the Resurrection of Christ and sacrament of Christian baptism.

In Rome thousands of people were sometimes baptized at Easter. For months and even for years previously they had been candidates under instruction and on probation. During the last weeks of Lent they had been engaged in repeated "scrutinies", exorcisms, fastings and prayers. Then, at the Easter midnight Vigil, they presented themselves to receive the sacrament of "illumination" in the baptistry, the magnificent structure that had been built in the Lateran Palace and had in its center a large circular reservoir or font. There the twelve Old Testament prophecies of baptism were read, psalms and litanies were sung, the paschal candle was lit, and finally the catechumens descended by three steps into the font, where they were baptized by the bishop and immediately confirmed by the laying on of hands.

By now the dawn of Easter Day was approaching and the bishop and deacons led the newly-baptized, barefooted, carrying candles and robed in white chrisoms, into the great church where they joined the whole congregation of the faithful in the celebration of the Easter Mass. As the day was breaking, the congregation greeted each other with the salutation, "Christ is risen!", in the way observed in the Eastern Church to this day. In the present Roman rite the Easter Mass at midnight preserves many features of the old vigil. It has no introit, creed or Agnus Dei because it goes back to the time before these were introduced into the Mass. The paschal candle is solemnly lit as it was when the "great light" was illuminated. The twelve prophecies are read, and the service ends with the Easter Alleluia which brought the vigil to an end and ushered in the day of rejoicing.

The eating of eggs at Easter is a very old custom that has survived into the present, and in the Middle Ages the day was sometimes called Egg Sunday. Pace, paste, pascal, paschal or pasque eggs, hardboiled and colored, were taken to church to be blessed by the clergy and were given away as gifts.

The connection of eggs with Easter is also derived from the pagan spring festival. They symbolize new life and so the Resurrection as well.

5:30pm

12noon: Mass of the Pre-sanctified 

1pm: The Way of the Cross

2pm: The Good Friday Liturgy

5:30pm

8:00 and 10:00am and 5:15pm

Tuesday, April 10: William Law, Priest, 1761. Philippians 3:7-14, Psalm 1, Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21.

Wednesday, April 11: George Augustus Selwyn, Bishop of New Zealand and of Lichfield, 1878. Ephesians 2:11-18, Psalm 96:1-7, Matthew 10:7-16.

8:00am Holy Eucharist

9:00am NO Adult Education

10:00am Holy Eucharist

10:00am Holy Trinity Bookstore Open

5:15pm Holy Eucharist

6:00pm NO EYC

PARISH OFFICE CLOSED

9:30am Yoga, Musikgarten Room

5:15pm Holy Eucharist and Healing

5:15pm Yoga, Musikgarten Room

7:00am HE and Women’s Breakfast

9:00am CDO, St. Francis

9:30am Yoga, Musikgarten Room

10:00am CDO Chapel, Nave

10:00am Holy Trinity Bookstore Open

7:00pm Cub Scouts, St. Francis Hall

7:00am HE and Men’s Breakfast

8:00am Bible Study Fellowship, Nave & Ed. Wing

9:00am Musikgarten Class, (birth 15mos)

9:45am Musikgarten Class, (1-2 years)

10:00am Holy Trinity Bookstore Open

10:30am Musikgarten Class, (2-3 years)

11:15am Musikgarten Class, (3-5 years)

12noon Women's Bible Study, Parish Hall

4:15pm Study Time for Kids, Game Room

5:00pm Junior Choristers, Choir Room

5:30pm Supper, Parish Hall

6:00pm Bethel Bible Study, Room 1

6:00pm Kingdom Kids, Room 17

6:00pm Kids Plus, Game Room

6:00pm Girls of Grace, Room 9

6:00pm Boys’ Bible Study, Room 7

6:00pm EYC, Youth House

6:00pm Study of the Psalms, Room 2

6:00pm Scrapbooking, Parish Hall

7:30pm Adult Choristers, Choir Room

9:00am CDO, St. Francis

9:30am Yoga, Musikgarten Room

10:00am Holy Trinity Bookstore Open

11:00am Holy Eucharist and Healing

6:00pm Great Dates, Parlor

Vina Rahlfs

David Overton

Marilyn Allen

Neal Allen

Laura Scott

Those having an anniversary: Sue and Fisher Adams, Jane and Andrew Swartz.

(Please call Cindy in the Parish Office to place a name on the Prayer List. Deadline is Friday at 2:30pm.)

For Those in the Military: Bo, Eli, Nick, James, Kimberly, Chris, Mike, Rosemary, Justin, Lisa, Craig, Jody, Andrew, David, Steven, Jordan, Sean, Michael, Patrick, Etienne, Annie, Casey, Nick and his Platoon, the 293rd, and Victor.

If you know of anyone in the Armed Forces, please feel free to call the Parish Office and place his or her name on the Prayer List.

Please call the Parish Office at 683-4207, and let us know when someone from Holy Trinity is in the hospital or rehab center. We don't want to miss anyone. Thanks!

Crossways Bible Study: led by Fr. Allen Whitman in the Parish Hall. NO CLASS ON EASTER SUNDAY

Women's Bible Study: led by Paula Howbert in the Parish Hall. 12noon. Brown bag lunch.

Bethel Bible Study: facilitated by Fred Newman and Karen Mason in Room 1. Through Life's Windows—Topics on Faith: led by Fr. Mark and Fr. Andy in Room 2.

Scrapbooking: facilitated by Vangie Peek in the Parish Hall.

Rector's Bible Study: Thursdays at 9:45am in Room 1. The topic of study is the gospel of John. NO CLASSES DURING THE MONTH OF APRIL.

Wednesday, April 11: Game: Who Are You?

Sunday, April 15: Senior Sunday rehearsal - 11am.

6:00pm - EYC at the movies, TBA.

Please join us for our Senior Celebration Lunch on the Youth House Lawn
April 22 following the 10:00am service. We will have BBQ again this year.
Come celebrate our Seniors and eat with your parish family.

VBS 2007 Welcome to Holy-Wood June 11-15!

April 8-Easter Sunday/Dedee Boring

April 15- Wheatley Gates

April 22- Libby Lea

April 29- Kendall Clark

No Sunday School on Easter Sunday.

Every Wednesday, Bob Hilton comes to Holy Trinity to pick up food in the grocery cart in the Parish Hall to give to the poor who attend Comunidad Alabare. Please remember to bring food, especially canned or dry goods. Remember, need knows no season. Thank you!

We are in the process of stocking supplies and materials for Nancy's Place so we can start all of our FUN classes!!! Bring your "treasures" to the Parish Office (collection box is in the Xerox room) or call 686-9545 for personalized pickup service.

Collection will be during the month of April...what are you waiting for? Start cleaning! Thanks! Love, Cindy Olive