The Great Fifty Days

As I sit here in my office enjoying the crisp spring air I am contemplating a box of half-eaten chocolates, a gift from my mother, sitting on my desk. For most people, Easter is over after Church on Easter Day (if they even attend Easter services at all). But the Church keeps the Paschal Feast for fifty days. These chocolates, half eaten, seem to be a symbol of our culture's idea of Easter: Not gone, but forgotten.

But we are in the midst of the feast! One of my favorite Collects for Easter is found in the book Lesser Feasts and Fasts:


God of infinity mercy, who dost renew the faith of thy people by the yearly celebration of these fifty days: Stir up in us, we pray, the gifts of thy grace, that we may more deeply know that baptism hath cleansed us, the Spirit hath quickened us, and the Blood of Christ hath redeemed us; through the same Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the same Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.


We need to remember that Lent is a forty day fast that prepares us for this fifty day feast. If it is the obligation of Christians to keep the fast, it is also our obligation to keep the feast.

Keep feasting!