Easter: A Pagan Holiday?

By Fr. William P. Saunders
Herald Columnist
(From the issue of 4/20/06)

A relative left the Catholic Church and joined some Messianic-Jewish sect and made the comment that Easter was originally a pagan holiday named after some German goddess, Eoster. We had a pretty good argument about that. Where would he get such a notion? — A reader in Ashburn
I think your relative is confused to say the least. In accord with the Gospels, Easter is unequivocally the solemn feast celebrating Christ’s resurrection. In the Church’s Western tradition Easter has been celebrated on the first Sunday following the new full moon, which occurs on or immediately after the vernal or spring equinox. This dating was established by the Council of Nicea in A.D. 325. As such, Easter may range from March 22 to April 25. (The Orthodox Churches follow a different dating system and will thereby celebrate Easter one, four or five weeks later.)
Your brother’s confusion lies in the etymology of the word itself. In the original language of the Gospels, the Greek word pascha is used for the Aramaic form of the Hebrew word pesach, which means Passover. During the first three centuries of the Church, Pasch referred specifically to the celebration of Christ's passion and death; by the end of the fourth century, it also included the Easter Vigil; and by the end of the fifth century, it referred to Easter itself. In all, the term signified Christ as the new Passover Lamb. Together, the mystery of the Last Supper, the sacrifice of Good Friday, and the resurrection of Easter form the new Passover — the new Pasch.
Latin used the Greek-Hebrew root for its word Pascha and other derivatives to signify Easter or the Easter mysteries: for instance, the Easter Vigil in Latin is Sabbato Sancto de Vigilia Paschali and in the First Preface of Easter, the priest prays, " ... Cum Pascha nostrum immolatus est Christus" ("When Christ our Pasch was sacrificed"). The Romance languages later used the Hebrew-Greek-Latin root for their words denoting Easter: Italian, Pasqua; Spanish, Pascua; and French, Paques. Even some non-Romance languages employ the Hebrew-Greek-Latin root: Scotch, Pask; Dutch, Paschen; Swedish, Pask; and the German dialect along the lower Rhine, Paisken.
However, according to St. Bede (d. 735), the great historian of the Middle Ages, the title Easter seems to have originated in English around the eighth century A.D. The word Easter is derived from the word Eoster, the name of the Teutonic goddess of the rising light of day and spring and the annual sacrifices associated with her. If this is the origin of our word Easter, then the Church "baptized" the name, using it to denote that first Easter Sunday morning when Christ, our Light, rose from the grave and when the women found the tomb empty just as dawn was breaking.
Another possibility which arises from more recent research suggests the early Church referred to Easter week as hebdomada alba ("white week"), from the white garments worn by the newly baptized. Some mistranslated the word to mean "the shining light of day" or "the shining dawn," and therefore used the Teutonic root eostarun, the Old German plural for dawn, as the basis for the German Ostern and for the English equilvalent Easter. In early English translations of the Bible made by Tyndale and Coverdale, the word Easter was substituted for the word Passover, in some verses.
Even though the etymological root of Easter may be linked to the name of a pagan goddess or pagan ceremonies, the feast which the word describes is Christian without question. Exactly why the English language did not utilize the Hebrew-Greek-Latin root is a mystery. Unlike Christmas which was set on Dec. 25 and "baptized" the former Roman pagan feast of the Sun, Easter is a unique celebration. Any confusion, therefore, rests with etymology, not theology.

Fr. Saunders is pastor of Our Lady of Hope Parish in Potomac Galls and a professor of catechetics and theology at Christendom’s Notre Dame Graduate School in Alexandria.
Please note: 100 articles of this column have been compiled in a book, Straight Answers, and another 100 articles in Straight Answers II. These books are available at local religious book stores or by calling 703/256-5994 (fax 703/256-8593) or e-mailing straightanswerswps@hotmail.com. All proceeds benefit the building fund of Our Lady of Hope Church.