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The occasions of Easter have at all times been revered and honored by Latter-day Saints.
For instance, the phrase “Resurrection” was used 1,321 occasions on the whole conferences from the 1850s by the Nineties, although the phrase “Easter” wasn’t used in any respect in convention throughout that very same time interval, in keeping with the Corpus of Latter-day Saint Convention Talks.
Easter’s which means was important to the practices and theology of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints through the first 70 years, and the occasions represented by the Christian phrases Palm Sunday and Holy Week had been often described even when the phrases weren’t getting used.
One other instance is the time period Atonement, used on the whole conferences 281 occasions in convention talks throughout these seven a long time.
Then in 1904, a common convention speaker first talked about Easter. Elder Seymour B. Younger famous that the essential factor is the occasions of Easter, not settlement amongst Christian faiths on its date.
“Reference was made yesterday to the lifetime of our Savior, and to the commonly accepted concept that yesterday was the anniversary of the day on which he rose from the tomb,” Elder Younger stated. “Nevertheless, whether or not Easter Sunday is the right day or not, we now have no objection to it. The good underlying truth is that he rose from the lifeless, after having suffered crucifixion for the sins of the world, and that he was the Son of God.”
In reality, Elder Younger made an announcement that shall be a well-known sentiment to many Latter-day Saints at the moment, that the celebration of Easter isn’t confined to a single day. He stated the Latter-day Saints ought to “not have a Sunday faith like a Sunday coat,” to be put aside when the Sabbath handed.
“When Easter Sunday comes, or when some other Sunday comes, it’s the Lord’s day and we reverence his excessive and holy identify. We come collectively and worship him. Thus to us each Sunday, in a way, is Easter Sunday, for we worship the Lord on that day, and never solely on Sunday, however every single day within the week.”
As we speak, the church observes Easter with a particular worship schedule shared solely with Christmas — a one-hour Sacrament assembly specifically targeted on Jesus Christ.
Final 12 months, “Holy Week” was utilized in a common convention for the primary time, in keeping with the corpus, by Elder D. Todd Christofferson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and Elder W. Mark Bassett, a Normal Authority Seventy. Each famous that Palm Sunday marked the beginning of Holy Week, utilizing the time period in a selected approach.
“As we speak is Palm Sunday, the beginning of Holy Week, marking the Lord’s triumphal entry into Jerusalem, his struggling in Gethsemane and demise on the cross simply days later, and his superb Resurrection on Easter Sunday,” Elder Christofferson stated. “Allow us to resolve by no means to neglect what Christ endured to redeem us. And allow us to by no means lose the overwhelming pleasure we’ll really feel as soon as once more on Easter as we ponder his victory over the grave and the present of common resurrection.”
Elder W. Mark Bassett later famous that Palm Sunday is “the start of that holy week previous his nice Atonement, which would come with his struggling, Crucifixion and Resurrection.”
Simply 21 years earlier, in 1992, the unofficial “Encyclopedia of Mormonism,” written by Latter-day Saint students, a lot of them BYU professors, said that “Latter-day Saints conduct Easter Sunday providers however don’t comply with the spiritual observances of Ash Wednesday, Lent or Holy Week.”
That is still true of particular observances acquainted to Catholics and different Christians, however on the whole conferences starting in 2020 and in social media posts this week and on a brand new webpage, Latter-day Saint leaders now are referring to Palm Sunday and Holy Week.
Palm Sunday was talked about by two common convention audio system from the 1850s by the Nineteen Seventies, then 5 extra by 2019.
Ten audio system used the time period in conferences in 2020 and 2023.
“The sacred occasions between Palm Sunday and Easter Sunday are the story of hosanna and hallelujah,” Elder Gerrit W. Gong stated in April 2020. “Hosanna is our plea for God to save lots of. Hallelujah expresses our reward to the Lord for the hope of salvation and exaltation. In hosanna and hallelujah we acknowledge the dwelling Jesus Christ as the center of Easter and latter-day restoration.”
Easter, Palm Sunday and Holy Week are once more being referenced by church leaders this week.
The church launched a Holy Week research information as a part of a brand new webpage known as “Jesus Is risen: Celebrating Easter.”
Every day this week and subsequent, a member of the First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve Apostles is sharing a message about Jesus Christ, concluding on Easter Sunday. The primary few messages included extra references to Palm Sunday and Holy Week.
As Elder Gong famous in 2020, church President Russell M. Nelson has taught that Jesus Christ “got here to pay a debt he didn’t owe as a result of we owed a debt we couldn’t pay.”
He additionally stated that palms are a sacred image to specific pleasure for Jesus Christ, and he shared the truth that behind President Nelson’s desk hangs the unique portray of Harry Anderson’s “Christ’s Triumphal Entry Into Jerusalem.”
First Presidency, apostles releasing each day messages about Jesus Christ to have fun Easter (March 19)
Need a extra Christ-centered Easter? Church releases webpage with concepts, research information, actions (March 18)
BYU Slavery Challenge convention seeks reconciliation with examples of slavery in Utah historical past (March 14)
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