Easter Monday

Interesting, I had never heard of Easter Monday until today! How many of you had or had not heard of it before.

Easter Monday is the day after Easter Sunday and is celebrated as a holiday in some largely Christian cultures, especially Roman Catholic cultures.

Formerly, the post-Easter festivities involved a week of secular celebration, but this was reduced to one day in the 19th century. Events include egg rolling competitions and, in predominantly Roman Catholic countries, dousing other people with water which, at one time, had been holy water blessed the day before at Easter Sunday Mass and carried home to bless the house and food.

Easter Monday in the Roman Catholic liturgical calendar is the second day of the octave of Easter Week.

In the Eastern Catholic Byzantine Rite and the Eastern Orthodox Church, Easter Monday is called Bright Monday.

Though not largely observed in the United States, the day remains informally observed in some areas such as the state of North Dakota, and the cities of Buffalo, New York and South Bend, Indiana. Easter Monday was a public holiday in North Carolina from 1935 to 1987. Traditionally Polish areas of the country such as Chicago observe Dyngus Day as well. Easter Monday is a public holiday, along with Good Friday in Protestant countries, such as Germany, Denmark, Sweden and certain British Commonwealth countries such as Australia. Along with Good Friday, Easter Monday is a Bank Holiday in the United Kingdom and in Canada, making a four-day weekend.