Orthodox Easter Monday in Australia
Easter Monday is the day after Easter Sunday, which celebrates Jesus’ resurrection, according to Christian belief. Many Orthodox Christian churches in Australia often observe Easter Monday at a later date than the Easter Monday date observed by many western churches. The day is also known as Bright Monday.
What do people do?
Bright Monday is a day of reflection for many Orthodox Christians in Australia. Many people reflect on the events that occurred during Holy Week and on Easter Sunday. Easter Monday is a day to finish leftover Easter meals that were not eaten the day before. Some Orthodox Christian churches in Australia have Bright Monday liturgies and some of these liturgies are held early in the morning.
The Orthodox Christian date for Easter Monday is not a federal public holiday in Australia.
Many Orthodox churches base their Easter date on the Julian calendar, which differs from the Gregorian calendar that is used by many western countries. Therefore the Orthodox Easter period often (but not always) occurs at a different date compared with the Easter date observed by many western churches, which falls after the time of the March equinox.
There are different types of Orthodox churches in Australia, including the Coptic Orthodox Church and the Greek Orthodox Church. There are many Greek Orthodox Christians in Australia. The federal government’s 2006 census recorded that there were 109,980 Greece-born people in Australia, with the largest numbers in Victoria, New South Wales, South Australia, and Queensland. The census also showed that 100,460 Greece-born Australians are of the Eastern Orthodox faith.
Easter eggs are often dyed red to symbolize the Jesus Christ’s blood. It was an important symbol connected with spring fertility rituals in many early civilizations. Another important symbol associated with Easter is the lamb. It is often depicted with a banner that bears a cross, and it is known as the Agnus Dei, meaning "Lamb of God" in Latin.
About Orthodox Easter Monday in other countriesRead more about Orthodox Easter Monday.
Orthodox Easter Monday Observances
|Weekday||Date||Year||Name||Holiday type||Where it is observed|
|Mon||Apr 16||1990||Orthodox Easter Monday||Orthodox|
|Mon||Apr 8||1991||Orthodox Easter Monday||Orthodox|
|Mon||Apr 27||1992||Orthodox Easter Monday||Orthodox|
|Mon||Apr 19||1993||Orthodox Easter Monday||Orthodox|
|Mon||May 2||1994||Orthodox Easter Monday||Orthodox|
|Mon||Apr 24||1995||Orthodox Easter Monday||Orthodox|
|Mon||Apr 15||1996||Orthodox Easter Monday||Orthodox|
|Mon||Apr 28||1997||Orthodox Easter Monday||Orthodox|
|Mon||Apr 20||1998||Orthodox Easter Monday||Orthodox|
|Mon||Apr 12||1999||Orthodox Easter Monday||Orthodox|
|Mon||May 1||2000||Orthodox Easter Monday||Orthodox|
|Mon||Apr 16||2001||Orthodox Easter Monday||Orthodox|
|Mon||May 6||2002||Orthodox Easter Monday||Orthodox|
|Mon||Apr 28||2003||Orthodox Easter Monday||Orthodox|
|Mon||Apr 12||2004||Orthodox Easter Monday||Orthodox|
|Mon||May 2||2005||Orthodox Easter Monday||Orthodox|
|Mon||Apr 24||2006||Orthodox Easter Monday||Orthodox|
|Mon||Apr 9||2007||Orthodox Easter Monday||Orthodox|
|Mon||Apr 28||2008||Orthodox Easter Monday||Orthodox|
|Mon||Apr 20||2009||Orthodox Easter Monday||Orthodox|
|Mon||Apr 5||2010||Orthodox Easter Monday||Orthodox|
|Mon||Apr 25||2011||Orthodox Easter Monday||Orthodox|
|Mon||Apr 16||2012||Orthodox Easter Monday||Orthodox|
|Mon||May 6||2013||Orthodox Easter Monday||Orthodox|
|Mon||Apr 21||2014||Orthodox Easter Monday||Orthodox|
|Mon||Apr 13||2015||Orthodox Easter Monday||Orthodox|
|Mon||May 2||2016||Orthodox Easter Monday||Orthodox|
|Mon||Apr 17||2017||Orthodox Easter Monday||Orthodox|
|Mon||Apr 9||2018||Orthodox Easter Monday||Orthodox|
|Mon||Apr 29||2019||Orthodox Easter Monday||Orthodox|
|Mon||Apr 20||2020||Orthodox Easter Monday||Orthodox|
Quick FactsMany Orthodox churches in Australia observe Easter Monday on the day after the Orthodox Easter Sunday date.
Orthodox Easter Monday 2015Monday, April 13, 2015
Orthodox Easter Monday 2016Monday, May 2, 2016
Name in other languages
|Orthodox Easter Monday||English|
- Orthodox Good Friday – Friday, April 10, 2015
- Orthodox Holy Saturday – Saturday, April 11, 2015
- Orthodox Easter – Sunday, April 12, 2015
Other holidays in April 2016 in Australia
- First day of Passover – Saturday, April 23, 2016
- ANZAC Day – Monday, April 25, 2016
- Orthodox Good Friday – Friday, April 29, 2016
- Last day of Passover – Saturday, April 30, 2016