Note that this calculation relies on the ecclesiastical estimation of the vernal equinox, not the actual vernal equinox identified by the astronomical system of measurement. The actual moment of equinox can shift within 24 hours and may arrive a day before March 21. This is not taken into consideration when the date of Easter is determined, however. This is the vernal equinox in the Northern Hemisphere only. For those in the Southern Hemisphere, it is the autumnal equinox. The same date (March 21) is used in both hemispheres, though.
You can find out this information by checking a lunar calendar. These calendars track and illustrate the day-by-day phases of the moon. You can buy a lunar wall or desk calendar, or you can search for a free one online.
For example, the first full moon after the vernal equinox in 2014 came on Tuesday, April 15. [2] X Research source This means that in 2014, Easter fell on the following Sunday, April 20.
This delay is put into place to decrease the risk of Easter Sunday landing on the same day as the Jewish Passover. For instance, the first full moon after the vernal equinox in 1994 fell on Sunday, March 27. [3] X Research source Instead of Easter also falling on March 27, it fell a week later on Sunday, April 3.
Palm Sunday celebrates Christ’s entry into Jerusalem. It also marks the beginning of Holy Week.
Maundy Thursday celebrates the Last Supper of Christ. It also recognizes the “washing of feet,” a biblical event during which Jesus washed the feet of his Apostles. Many Christian denominations celebrate the maundy (washing of feet) as a church ordinance. Good Friday recognizes the day that Christ was crucified. Holy Saturday commemorates the time during which Christ’s body lay in the tomb. It is typically viewed as a day of preparation for Easter Sunday.
In other words, Ash Wednesday is 46 days before Easter each year. Ash Wednesday is a formal day of repentance in many Christian churches. It also marks the first day of Lent, a period of 40 days over which Christians are to spiritually prepare for Easter.
Ascension Day celebrates Christ’s ascension into heaven. In some Christian denominations, it is also considered the “fortieth day of Easter,” meaning that all the days in between Easter Sunday and Ascension Day are part of the broader Easter season.
Easter is a celebration of Christ’s return from the dead after His crucifixion. In the Bible, Jesus rose from the dead on the first Sunday following the Jewish Passover. Passover begins on the fifteenth day of the month of Nisan in the Hebrew calendar. This roughly corresponds to the first full moon after the March equinox, but the Hebrew calendar is not based on the cycles of the moon, so the timing is not exact. Since the date of Passover needed to be announced each year by Jewish officials, early Christian leaders simplified the date of Easter by scheduling it consistently for the Sunday after the full moon. This happened in 325 CE and was an official declaration of the Council of Nicaea. [5] X Research source The practice of using the moon and equinox as a dating system actually has ties to pagan practices, though. Religious dates were never previously established using astronomical events in the Jewish tradition from which most of Christian tradition arose. The practice of doing so was pagan in nature, but early Christians adopted it for the sake of simplifying their own dating system.
The Gregorian calendar was created when scientists discovered that the Julian calendar was too long. The dates of both calendars are similar, but slightly different. The Gregorian calendar is more accurately aligned to the equinox.
This time frame does not occur over the same set of days for both calendars, though. If you are observing the Gregorian calendar like most do, the Easter time frame in the Julian calendar would actually run from April 3 to May 10.
In 1997, the World Council of Churches discussed the possibility of replacing the current system of calculation with an equation-based method of calculation that depended more directly on astronomical events. This reform was scheduled for 2001 but was never actually adopted. In 1928, the United Kingdom actually fixed the date of Easter as the first Sunday after the second Saturday in April, but the act putting it into law was never actually implemented and the reform was never followed.
