The Octave of Easter is the eight-day period, or octave, that begins on Easter Sunday and ends with Second Sunday of Easter.[1] It marks the beginning of Eastertide. The first seven of these eight days are also collectively known as Easter Week.
In the Ordinary Form of the Roman Rite, Easter is one of two solemnities with octaves, the other is Christmas. The days of the octave are given the second-highest rank in the calendar (second only to the Paschal Triduum and Easter itself), ranking even above normal solemnities.[2] The paschal sequence Victimae paschali laudes may be sung before the gospel reading on each of these days.
The Gospel readings for each of middle days within the octave are taken from the various Scriptural accounts of the Resurrection of Jesus.
The Octave of Easter is celebrated with daily Mass. The Lutheran Missal states:[3]