Easter season
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Formerly known as Eastertide, the Easter Season comprises seven weeks following Easter Sunday.
The new liturgical calendar of the Roman Catholic Church, which took effect in 1970 following its earlier approval by the Second Vatican Council changed the "Sundays after Easter" to "Sundays of Easter," with the first Sunday after Easter becoming the "Second Sunday of Easter" or Octave of Easter, the next Sunday the "Third Sunday of Easter," etc., with the Sunday after the Ascension being renamed the "Seventh Sunday of Easter". While Pentecost and Trinity Sunday were themselves retained, the entire weeks starting with these Sundays were no longer considered part of the Easter season, instead being reckoned as the first two weeks within the second installment of Ordinary Time. Concomitantly, red vestments, which had been authorized for the entire week of Pentecost prior to the calendar reform, were to henceforth be used on the day of Pentecost only; similarly, white vestments continued to be used on Trinity Sunday itself, but the liturgical color became green for both weeks other than the Sundays. In addition, in the United States only, the feast of Corpus Christi was moved three days forward, to the Sunday after Trinity Sunday, when it had heretofore been celebrated on the Thursday after Trinity Sunday. Traditional Catholics still follow the former Catholic liturgical calendar.
When the Anglican churches implemented their own calendar reform in 1976, they adopted the same shortened definition of the Easter season as the Roman Catholic Church had promulgated six years earlier. In the Church of England, the Easter season begins with the Easter Vigil and ends after Evening Prayer (or Night Prayer) on the Day of Pentecost. Some Anglican provinces continue to label the Sundays between Easter and the Ascension "Sundays After Easter" rather than "Sundays of Easter"; however, others, such as the Church of England and ECUSA, use the term "Sundays of Easter".
