Easter or Resurrection Day? The origins of the holiday’s English name April 3, 2026By Monsignor Charles E. Pope OSV News Filed Under: Commentary, Easter Whatever we call it, Easter is plainly the solemn feast celebrating the resurrection of Christ. It is fine to say Happy Easter. The origin of the word “Easter” is complex. In the Greek language of the Gospels, the word “pascha” was used for the Hebrew word “pesach,” meaning Passover. Latin, too, took up this word, pascha. Christ is our Passover Lamb. The resurrection of Christ is depicted in a mural in the sanctuary of Holy Family Church in the West Bank city of Ramallah. (OSV News photo/Debbie Hill) Most of the European languages derived from Latin use the words derived from pascha such as Italian, pasqua; Spanish, pascua; and French, paques. However, English drew from a different source. According to St. Bede (d. 735), the word Easter comes from the word “Eoster,” the Teutonic goddess of the rising light of day — that is, spring and of dawn. The Old German plural for dawn, or East, is “ostern,” and it also influenced the English word for Easter. As the English language developed, Easter came to denote that Sunday morning in spring when Christ, our true Light, rose. Whatever pagan roots the word had (all our words have many different origins), the word Easter in present times clearly refers to the day of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. People are free to say, “Happy Resurrection Day,” as some do, but they ought to avoid a harsh stance that holds that others who do not say this mean something less proper. We do not. If they are too insistent or inflexible about their preference they can come off as annoying and their practice could become a countersign, showing a lack of charity in the very act of exchanging Easter greetings. The fact is, the Church, when she is strong, is often able to take non-Christian practices (as long as they are not intrinsically evil) and often “baptize” them by giving them Christian meaning. That clearly is the case with the name we most commonly use for Easter. Read More Easter Radio Interview: A conversation with local converts The Little Girl at the Cross: Our Faith Is Always New At Easter Mass, Pope Leo proclaims Resurrection conquers ‘the power of death’ An Easter Reflection: Winning with Joy Pope: Don’t be paralyzed by mistrust, fear; be catalyzed by Christ to build peace At Colosseum, pope carries the cross, leading thousands in Good Friday prayer for suffering world Copyright © 2026 OSV News Print
