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From pagan festival to Christian holiday, Easter is a centuries-old spring tradition that celebrates different cultures while focusing on renewal.
For many of us in Hong Kong, Easter just means getting a four-day weekend where we can hide away in luxe surroundings for a staycation or hop a plane to some other city (where we hope we won’t run into the same people we’ve just left behind). However, for Christians everywhere, Easter isn’t just an excuse to take a break.
The history behind this particular holiday is a deep and meaningful one that centres on the resurrection of Jesus Christ after his crucifixion and death. However, while Easter is more commonly associated with Christians, it also has other origins as well.
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The History Behind Easter
You may be wondering where the name “Easter” comes from, and it may surprise you to find out that it doesn’t actually have Christian roots. The name comes from the German goddess of spring and fertility, Eostre, whose festival was celebrated around the spring equinox. In fact, many of the Easter traditions we enjoyed as kids, like Easter egg hunts and the Easter bunny, can also be traced back to this pagan festival.
Over time, Easter has become a multicultural mix of religious and secular traditions that focus on renewal and rebirth – and what better time for this to fall on than spring?
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Easter Services in Hong Kong
If you’re staying in town and feel like celebrating Easter with a little more spirituality, here’s a quick roundup of some of the lesser-known churches in Hong Kong that provide Easter services over the weekend. With most of these churches in the outlying islands, it’s also a chance to have a nice little getaway from the city to reflect on what’s coming up for the rest of the year.
St Anne’s Church
A mission church with full Easter services, St Anne’s offers a bilingual Easter vigil on Saturday, 30 March, plus three Sunday morning masses on 31 March: two in English and one in Cantonese.
St. Anne’s Church, 1 Tung Tau Wan Road, Stanley, Hong Kong
Our Lady of Lourdes Chapel
This island church offers a vigil in the evening on Saturday, 30 March, as well as a procession followed by a mass early in the morning of 31 March.
Our Lady of Lourdes Chapel, Yung Shue Wan, Lamma Island, Hong Kong
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Our Lady of Fatima Church
Our Lady of Fatima Church has been providing religious services on Cheung Chau island since the 1950s, and for Easter, it will hold morning masses, one in English and one in Cantonese, on Saturday, 30 March.
Our Lady of Fatima Church, 1 Church Road, Cheung Chau, Hong Kong
Read more: Cheng Chau Island Guide – Ferry Schedule, Things To Do & More
Epiphany Parish
Tucked away in an old building, Epiphany Parish has an Easter vigil on Saturday, 30 March and Easter mass on Sunday, 31 March. It will be holding baptisms of new members on those days, as well.
Epiphany Parish, Silver Pearl Mansion, 14 Mui Wo Ferry Pier Road, Lantau Island, Hong Kong
Read More: Your Neighbourhood Guide To Mui Wo
Our Lady of Perpetual Help
Designated a church all the way back in the 1930s, Our Lady of Perpetual Help in Tai O has an Easter vigil on the evening of 30 March, as well as a Good Friday Way of the Cross at the nearby Trappist monastery on Friday, 29 March.
Our Lady of Perpetual Help, 112 Tai Ping Street, Tai O, Lantau Island, Hong Kong
Read More: Lantau Island – A Local’s Guide to South Lantau
Main image courtesy of Wpcpey, image 1 courtesy of CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons, image 2 courtesy of Our Lady of Fatima Church, image 3 courtesy of Hong Kong Pilgrimage Services Center.
