Easter Monday

With Easter Sunday, the Easter Triduum, the three days from Good Friday to Easter Sunday, has come to an end. Easter Monday therefore no longer counts as part of the actual Easter Triduum but rather marks the beginning of the post-Easter period, which lasts from Easter Monday to Pentecost Sunday.

The day therefore holds a different significance in the various Christian traditions. While the Orthodox Churches of the Byzantine tradition, only take on a special role when it falls on the feast day of St. George, the Roman Rite focuses on the journey of the two disciples to Emmaus, where the risen Lord joins them until they finally recognize him as he breaks bread in Emmaus, just as he did at the Last Supper on Maundy Thursday. In the West Syrian and Armenian rites, however, Easter Monday is considered the "Day of the Deceased," on which families bring yogurt and eggs to the church, where they are used after the Eucharistic celebration as a symbolic funeral meal to remember the deceased, who have passed away in the hope that they, like Jesus, will rise from the dead.