Easter: The Triduum and the Fifty Days
Easter is not a day but the summit and source of the whole Christian year. It begins in the three holiest days of all — the Sacred Triduum of the Lord’s Passion, death, and Resurrection — and opens into fifty days of unbroken rejoicing, from Easter Sunday to Pentecost. Its color is white and gold; its single word is Alleluia, sung again after its long silence through Lent.
The Sacred Triduum
The three days from the evening of Holy Thursday to the evening of Easter Sunday are the heart of the entire liturgical year — a single great liturgy in three movements.
- Holy Thursday — the Mass of the Lord’s Supper, commemorating the institution of the Eucharist and the priesthood, and the washing of feet.
- Good Friday — the one day of the year with no Mass; the Church keeps the Passion of the Lord with the veneration of the Cross. A day of fasting and abstinence.
- Holy Saturday and the Easter Vigil — the “mother of all vigils,” when the new fire is lit, the Exsultet is sung, and new Christians are baptized into the Resurrection.
The fifty days of Easter
Easter Sunday begins a season, not a day. For fifty days — longer than Lent — the Church celebrates the Resurrection without interruption, through the Ascension of the Lord and culminating at Pentecost, the coming of the Holy Spirit and the birthday of the Church. To keep Easter as the world keeps it, as a single Sunday, is to miss seven weeks of joy the Church intends you to live.
The Easter duty
The precepts of the Church bind every Catholic to receive Holy Communion at least once a year, “if possible during the Easter season” (CCC 2042), and to confess grave sins beforehand. This is the “Easter duty.” If you have not yet been to confession during Lent, the weeks of Eastertide are your appointed time — prepare with an examination of conscience and return to the sacraments before the season ends.
Easter prayers and devotions
- The Regina Caeli — “Queen of Heaven, rejoice” — which replaces the Angelus throughout the Easter season.
- The Divine Mercy — the chaplet and the feast of Divine Mercy on the Second Sunday of Easter, given through Saint Faustina.
- The Alleluia — returned to the liturgy after its Lenten silence, the keynote of the whole season.
- The Pentecost novena — the original novena, prayed in the nine days between the Ascension and Pentecost, asking for the gifts of the Holy Spirit.
The whole season says one thing in many ways: Christ is risen. Carry the Alleluia into your daily prayer through all fifty days.
Frequently asked
What is the Sacred Triduum?
The three holiest days of the Church year, from the evening of Holy Thursday through Easter Sunday: Holy Thursday (the Lord's Supper), Good Friday (the Passion, the only day with no Mass), and Holy Saturday with the Easter Vigil. Together they form one continuous celebration of Christ's Passion, death, and Resurrection.
How long is the Easter season?
Fifty days — from Easter Sunday to Pentecost — making it the longest and most joyful season of the liturgical year. It includes the Ascension of the Lord and concludes with Pentecost, the coming of the Holy Spirit.
What is the Easter duty?
A precept of the Church requiring every Catholic to receive Holy Communion at least once a year, ideally during the Easter season, and to confess any grave sins beforehand (CCC 2042). For Catholics who have not been to confession during Lent, Eastertide is the time to fulfill it.
Why is there no Mass on Good Friday?
Good Friday is the one day of the year on which the Church celebrates no Mass, in mourning for the death of the Lord. Instead she keeps a solemn liturgy of the Lord's Passion, including the reading of the Passion, the great intercessions, the veneration of the Cross, and Holy Communion from hosts consecrated the evening before.
Confess. follows the liturgical season automatically — the right color, today’s Gospel, the saint of the day, and a season-aware examination of conscience — so the whole year of grace is on your phone. Free, on-device, no account.
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