Why not 'le jour de la Paques'?

Question

I'm really confused. I was marked wrong on a test when I put 'le jour de la Paques' for 'Easter Day'. The correct answer is supposedly 'le jour de Paques'. Which is it?

Accepted Answer

verBonjour Just For Fun,
Maarten's link is very good although it is a tricky area. After a bit of research, it seems to be as below:
Jewish religion: la pâque / Pâque (feminine singular)
Christian religion: 
- religious celebration = La Pâque (Eastern Church - Greece/Russia etc) - Pâques (feminine plural - other faiths)
 Joyeuses Pâques ! / Bonnes Pâques ! = Happy Easter!
- 'Pâques' = masculine singular (despite the -s ; was definitely plural a long long time ago)

le dimanche de Pâques = Easter Sunday
les vacances de Pâques = Easter holidays
à Pâques prochain = next Easter

I hope this is helpful.
Bonne journée !

Answer

Hi Just For Fun,I suspect the answer is that Pâques is not just one day but several within the Fête de Pâques.Jim

Answer

Saint days are “ Le jour de la fête de Saint(e) ...”, referred to as “Le jour de la ...” as per the lesson.

Pâques is often referred to without an article, as is Noël, and refers to the Passover period, as Jim indicates. Le jour de Pâques is used to refer to Easter Sunday; le dimanche de Pâques, le vendredi de Pâques etc are also used.

However, the language, masculine and feminine gender, singular and plural, seems like it could get quite complicated, looking at the Académie dictionary. I think it is easiest just to accept the answer here !

https://www.dictionnaire-academie.fr/article/A9P0427?history=0