8 Days of Alleluias: Celebrating the Easter Octave

For Catholics, the joy of Easter Sunday is so immense that it cannot be contained to a single day. In fact, the Church celebrates the Resurrection of Jesus Christ for eight full days, culminating in the feast of Divine Mercy Sunday. This eight-day period is known as the Easter Octave, and it is a time of profound grace and spiritual renewal.

Renew your Baptismal Vows

The concept of an octave has deep roots in the Jewish faith, with many feasts lasting for eight days. The early Christians carried this tradition forward, recognizing that the magnitude of Christ’s victory over sin and death deserved an extended celebration. Each day of the Easter Octave is treated as a sort of “mini-Easter,” with the Gloria sung at Mass and the Paschal Candle lit.

[Did you know the Regina Caeli prayer typically replaces the Angelus prayer during the Easter season?]

But the Easter Octave is more than just a prolonged feast. The Church teaches that during this time, the floodgates of God’s mercy are opened wide, and special graces are available to the faithful. These graces flow from Christ’s Paschal Mystery – his passion, death, resurrection, and ascension – and are poured out in abundance through the sacraments, especially the Holy Eucharist.

The final day of the Easter Octave holds a special significance for Catholics. On this day, the Church celebrates Divine Mercy Sunday, a feast instituted by Pope John Paul II in 2000. This feast is based on the revelations of St. Faustina Kowalska, a Polish nun who received visions of Jesus and messages about God’s infinite mercy.

Divine Mercy Sunday offers the faithful an extraordinary opportunity to receive a plenary indulgence, which is the complete remission of all temporal punishment due to forgiven sins. 

As we journey through the Easter Octave, let us open our hearts to receive the special graces God wants to bestow on us. Let us strive to participate more fully in the Mass, spend time in Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, pray the Rosary and Divine Mercy Chaplet, and perform works of mercy. May this octave be a time of true spiritual renewal, as we allow the light of the Risen Christ to dispel any darkness in our lives and fill us with his peace and joy.