Note from Kim: This is an updated edition of my annual Octave of Easter post!

Happy Easter! Today, we celebrate the Risen Lord, and we rejoice that his suffering ended in triumph. Alleluia!

While most of our neighbors return to life as usual on Monday morning, the Easter season is only beginning for Catholics. Our celebration of the Resurrection lasts from Easter Sunday to Pentecost Sunday (which is May 19 this year). That’s right: it lasts for 50 days! As we end our Lenten sacrifices, we begin a new season of hope and joy.

I’ll be posting some ideas over the next few weeks for enjoying this season with your family. In this post, let’s focus on what’s coming up this week: the Octave of Easter and Divine Mercy Sunday.

The Octave of Easter

The Octave of Easter is the 8-day period from Easter Sunday to the end of the day on the Sunday following Easter. So it’s the period from the First Sunday to the Second Sunday of the Easter Season.

Interesting fact: The Friday in the Octave of Easter (so this year, Friday, April 5) is not a day of abstinence as it is on most Fridays in the Catholic calendar. Why? Canon Law Made Easy offers a clear, concise explanation. In short, the Friday in the Easter Octave is a solemnity, and when a solemnity falls on a Friday, the requirements for abstinence are relaxed given the joyful and celebratory spirit of solemnities. (When I first returned to the Church – for many years really – I did not understand why a “solemnity” was associated with celebration. I later learned that “sollemnitas” in Latin can be translated to “celebration” or “festival.” This explanation has satisfied me to date!)

Octave Traditions and Customs

In celebration of the Octave, it’s traditional this week for Christians to greet each other with the joyous “Christ is risen!” and “Alleluia!” You can end your mealtime and bedtime prayers with these phrases this week.

During the Octave of Easter, my family usually includes the newly baptized in our family prayers, with special attention to those new Catholics in our parish.

Here’s a wonderful craft you might start this week. Inspired by the Way of the Cross, Katie from Look to Him and Be Radiant put together this Way of Light activity that you can work on as a family during during the season of Easter:

Divine Mercy Sunday

In 2000, when he was canonizing Saint Faustina Kowalska, Saint Pope John Paul II declared that the Second Sunday of Easter would also be known as The Feast of the Divine Mercy, in honor of Saint Faustina’s visions of and conversations with Jesus, the King of Mercy. So, this year, Divine Mercy Sunday is on April 7.

Saint Faustina saw Jesus clothed in white with red and blue rays emanating from his heart; Jesus instructed her to have his image made into a painting. This is the original painting by Polish painter Eugeniusz Kazimorowki, commissioned by Sister Faustina herself, but it has been copied in many different forms by other artists.

Here are some ideas for celebrating Divine Mercy with your family:

Divine Mercy Yummies. Divine Mercy is a Feast Day, so enjoy a bit of feasting! Check out this Divine Mercy cheesecake and these cute Divine Mercy Sundaes!

Video: Here is an animated video that introduces children to St. Faustina, emphasizing the devotion to the Divine Mercy.

Works of Mercy. In honor of Divine Mercy Sunday, families might practice the works of mercy together.

• See my two-part Works of Mercy for families; I offer tons of suggestions for activities and resources, including books and games.

Divine Mercy Chaplet. A chaplet can be prayed on a rosary, but it’s only one decade and it’s prayed with special prayers. Perhaps you can introduce the Divine Mercy Chaplet to your children this week.

• Divine Mercy for Little Ones by Kimberly Fries explains the story of the Divine Mercy and includes the chaplet.
• Making Music, Praying Twice has this wonderful lacing craft to help kids understand the chaplet (see week 4).

I also try to get outdoors with my kids during the Octave after a relatively busy Holy Week. It’s wonderful to enjoy the signs of the Divine in Creation as the spring emerges around us. The wildflowers will be blooming in our local nature preserve. Signs of hope and God’s creativity!

God be with you!

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