Easter should remind us that love has triumphed, and that we can “start again from Christ” to build a society of peace and love. “These holy days reawaken a great hope in us,” he added. “Christ was crucified, yet he rose again and conquered the world.

“Love is stronger than hate, it has triumphed and we should affiliate ourselves with this victory of love. We should therefore start again from Christ and work together with him for a world founded on peace, justice and love.”

Pope Benedict XVI said this in a commentary on the Easter triduum; the three days prior to Easter; Thursday evening, the Mass of the Lord’s Supper; Good Friday, the Way of the Cross, and Holy Saturday, the Easter vigil, when “the Church holds vigil next to the newly blessed fire and meditates on the great promise contained in the Old and New Testaments, of the conclusive liberation from the ancient slavery to sin and death.

In the darkness of the night, the Easter candle is lit from the new fire as a symbol of Christ who rises again in glory.”

I pulled this quote from Wikipedia about the event:

St. Paddy’s Day or Paddy’s Day, is an annual feast day in the Roman Catholic Church, which celebrates Saint Patrick (circa 385–461 AD,) one of the patron saints of Ireland, and is generally celebrated on March 17th.

The date of the feast is occasionally moved by church authorities when March 17 falls during Holy Week; this happened in 1940 when Saint Patrick’s Day was observed on April 3 in order to avoid it coinciding with Palm Sunday, and is happening again in 2008, being observed on March 15, (though the State holiday in Ireland is not affected.)  March 17 will not fall during Holy Week again until 2160.

I Googled for a few sources to see what’s going on around the world:

Pope Celebrates Palm Sunday Mass by Nicole Winfield via Associated Press

EWTN Global Catholic Network News

Michael Tetlow reports about Easter season via Reuters Video: