Easter Monday

Easter Monday in the Western Christian liturgical calendar is the second day of Eastertide and analogously in the Byzantine Rite is the second day of Bright Week.

Easter Monday is the day after Easter Sunday and is a holiday in some countries.

Eastern Christianity

• In the Eastern Orthodox Church and Byzantine Rite Catholic Churches, this day is called “Bright Monday” or “Renewal Monday”. The services, as in the rest of Bright Week, are quite different from during the rest of the year and are similar to the services on Pascha (Easter Sunday) and include an outdoor procession after the Divine Liturgy.

• Wwhile this is prescribed for all days of that week, often they are only celebrated on Monday and maybe a couple of other days in parish churches, especially in non-Orthodox countries.

• Also, when the calendar date of the feast day of a major saint, e.g., St. George or the patron saint of a church or one’s name day, falls during Holy Week or on Easter Sunday, the saint’s day is celebrated on Easter Monday.

United States

• In the United States, Easter Monday is not a federal holiday, and is not largely observed. Even so, the day remains informally observed in some areas such as the state of North Dakota, and some cities in New York, Michigan, and Indiana.

• Easter Monday was a public holiday in North Carolina from 1935 to 1987. Texas and Maryland schools often have two holidays on Good Friday and Easter Monday.

• In some states and districts, public schools and universities are closed on Easter Monday, often part of spring break.

• Traditionally Polish areas of the country such as Chicago, and more recently Cleveland, observe Easter Monday as Dyngus Day.

• Dyngus Day celebrations are widespread and popular in Buffalo, New York; Wyandotte and Hamtramck in Michigan; South Bend and La Porte in Indiana; and Hanover, New Hampshire. Another important custom is the White House Easter egg roll.

Dingus Day has achieved some degree of popular culture. In the Family Guy episode entitled “Take My Wife,” Carter Pewterschmidt refers to Dingus Day.