Prior to A.D. 325, Easter was variously celebrated on different days of the week, including Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. In that year, the Council of Nicaea was convened by emperor Constantine. It issued the Easter Rule which states that Easter shall be celebrated on the first Sunday that occurs after the first full moon on or after the vernal equinox.

However, a caveat must be introduced here. The full moon in the rule is the ecclesiastical full moon, which is defined as the fourteenth day of a tabular lunation, where day 1 corresponds to the ecclesiastical New Moon. It does not always occur on the same date as the astronomical full moon.

The ecclesiastical vernal equinox is always on March 21. Therefore, Easter must be celebrated on a Sunday between the dates of March 22 and April 25.

Lent is the forty-six day period just prior to Easter Sunday. It begins on Ash Wednesday.

Mardi Gras (French for Fat Tuesday) is a celebration, sometimes called Carnival, practiced around the world, on the Tuesday prior to Ash Wednesday.

It was designed as a way to get it all out before the sacrifices of Lent began. New Orleans is the focal point of Mardi Gras celebrations in the U.S.

The Cross is the symbol of the Crucifixion, as opposed to the Resurrection. However, at the Council of Nicaea, in A.D. 325, Constantine decreed that the Cross was the official symbol of Christianity.

The Cross is not only a symbol of Easter, but it is more widely used, especially by the Catholic Church, as a year-round symbol of their faith.

The Easter Bunny is not a modern invention. The symbol originated with the pagan festival of Eastre. The goddess, Eastre, was worshipped by the Anglo-Saxons through her earthly symbol, the rabbit.

The Germans brought the symbol of the Easter rabbit to America. It was widely ignored by other Christians until shortly after the Civil War. In fact, Easter itself was not widely celebrated in America until after that time.

As with the Easter Bunny and the holiday itself, the Easter Egg predates the Christian holiday of Easter.

The exchange of eggs in the springtime is a custom that was centuries old when Easter was first celebrated by Christians. From the earliest times, the egg was a symbol of rebirth in most cultures.

Eggs were often wrapped in gold leaf or, if you were a peasant, colored brightly by boiling them with the leaves or petals of certain flowers.

The Latin name for the Easter Lily, is Lilium longiflorum.

Along a few miles of the Pacific Coast, at the Oregon and California border, lies a unique area where the ideal combination of climate, soil, water and man has developed a product of deep meaning, beauty and tradition - the Easter Lily.

For many, the beautiful trumpet-shaped flowers symbolize purity, virtue, innocence, hope and life - the spiritual essence of Easter.