Try asking someone when Easter is. Chances...

Try asking someone when Easter is. Chances are the reply will come easily, “It’s two weeks from Sunday--April 16.”

“What many U.S. Christians don’t realize is that Easter is actually a 50-day holiday, which (begins on Easter Sunday and) concludes on the eighth Sunday, the Pentecost, which literally means ‘the 50th day,’ ” says Lizette Larson-Miller, an assistant professor of theological studies at Loyola Marymount University who specializes in the history of religious practices.

Easter is the annual commemoration of the Resurrection of Jesus and each Christian’s participation in that event through baptism.

But a large part of this celebration, which lies at the heart of Christian belief, has been lost, said Larson-Miller. Over the centuries, she said, the sense of a prolonged seasonal observance with the ancient Christian feast day of Easter at its beginning has slipped from most people’s consciousness.

Unlike other Christian holidays, which have fixed dates on the Gregorian calendar, Easter is calculated by the lunar cycle like Jewish holidays. Easter falls on the first Sunday after the first full moon after the vernal equinox. Lent and the Pentecost are fixed in relationship to Easter, with Lent preceding Easter and the Pentecost following it.

“The roots of the Pentecost go back as far as three millenia to the Jewish Passover,” Larson-Miller said. “There is a 49-day agricultural period, a ‘week of weeks,’ between the second night of Passover and the Jewish festival of Shavuot.

The Christian adaptation of this period marks the coming of the Holy Spirit, the establishment of evangelization and the beginning of the growth of the church, she said.

“All the Christian denominations that share a common lectionary--an order of daily and Sunday church readings--recognize and observe it,” she noted.

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Larson-Miller, who is a member of the Worship Committee of the Los Angeles Roman Catholic Archdiocese, would like to see Easter egg hunts, festive meals and family get-togethers continue through the full season following Easter.

“The Pentecost celebration was intended to be so completely joyous,” she pointed out, “that kneeling, fasting and penance were forbidden. Early Christian writers called it a ‘50-Day Sunday’ or ‘the Great Sunday.’ ”

One reason that the Pentecost has diminished in popular perception, she speculates, is that it is not as liturgically structured as the 40 days of Lent preceding Easter, which specifically call for practices such as fasting and alms-giving.

Nowadays, there are few rituals or customs associated with the Pentecost. “Originally it is was a time for the newly baptized to reflect on what it meant to be part of a church community. They even wore their white baptismal gowns during the period,” Larson-Miller said.

Today, the seasonal feeling is preserved mostly in Sunday church readings that focus on Easter events. Easter music is sung throughout, and it is a popular time for church concerts.

On the eighth Sunday, churchgoers read the story from Acts in which tongues of fire descend on the Apostles, conferring upon them the gift of languages with which to spread the Gospel.

“But maintaining the complete Easter season really depends on each worshiper’s consciousness and on rituals in the home,” Larson-Miller said. “Each denomination has Easter blessings to recite at home.” And, she suggests, families can enjoy Easter foods, decorations and gatherings for the full 50 days.

DATES

* “The Male Journey Toward Wholeness: A Process of Healing” is the title of a weekend conference for men from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. April 8 and 9 on the Doheny Campus of Mount St. Mary’s College. Donald Bisson , a brother of the Marist Order who holds a doctorate in Jungian psychology, will lead the sessions. For registration information, phone (213) 746-0450.

* To mark the 115th anniversary of the birth of William Ellery Channing, a major figure in 19th-Century Unitarianism, a free address on his work will be delivered by Fred Brooks, president of the board of the trustees of the First Unitarian Church of Los Angeles at 11 a.m. Sunday. 2936 West 8th St. (213) 389-1356.

* Rabbi Nathan Lopes Cordozo, senior lecturer at Ohr Somayach in Jerusalem, will speak on “Torah and Modernity” at 8:30 p.m. Wednesday at Yeshiva of Los Angeles, 9760 W. Pico Blvd. Admission is free. (310) 553-4478, ext. 285.

* Nine Inland Empire churches will sponsor a conference on spiritual renewal next Friday and Saturday at Community Baptist Church of Alta Loma. Richard Foster, the author of “Celebration of Discipline” and “Prayer: Finding the Heart’s True Home,” will speak. 9090 19th St., Rancho Cucamonga. For hours and registration information, phone (909) 945-5001, ext. 336.

* The Society for Humanistic Judaism will present a talk by the movement’s head rabbi, Sherwin Wine, at 3 p.m. April 9 in the La Cienega Park meeting hall in Beverly Hills. Limited seating is available. For reservation information, phone (213) 891-4303.

* The Christian Elite Ensemble presents “It Is for Real,” a “live docudrama” on the life of Jesus at 7:30 p.m. next Friday and Saturday, at Holly Park United Methodist Church, 13000 S. Van Ness Ave., Gardena. For ticket information, phone (213) 753-2267.

MUSIC

* Immanuel Presbyterian Church presents “An Intimate Afternoon with Franz Schubert and Friends: A Salon in the Viennese Tradition With Romantic Songs, Viennese Pastries and Coffee” at 4 p.m. Sunday. $5 requested donation. 3300 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles. (213) 389-3191.

* Cantors Jeremy Lipton and Ira Bigeleisen will be the featured soloists in an evening of cantorial, Yiddish, Israeli and choral music at 7:30 p.m. Sunday at Temple Beth Am, in honor of Rose and Charles Pilch. 1039 S. La Cienega Blvd., Los Angeles. For ticket information, phone (310) 652-7353.

Southern California File welcomes submissions by fax to (213) 237-4712 or by mail c/o Religion Editor, Los Angeles Times, Times Mirror Square, Los Angeles 90053. Items must be brief and arrive at least three weeks in advance of the event announced. Please include a phone number, date, time and full address.