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2007-03-21 01:39:45 · 19 answers · asked by Rob T 1 in Society & Culture ➔ Holidays ➔ Easter
Easter is alway the Sunday following the first full moon after the first day of spring.
2007-03-21 01:42:29 · answer #1 · answered by swishyvt 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
The answer is too long and complicated to give on this forum, but the website below goes into a lot of detail. An attempt at a short answer is to say that the official Vernal Equinox is always 21st March and Easter Sunday is the first Sunday after the 'official' full moon on or after the official Vernal Equinox. It should also be noted that the 'official' full moon may differ from the real full moon by one or two days. The reason for its complication is because it's linked to (an inaccurate version of) the Hebrew calendar. Jesus was crucified immediately before the Jewish Passover, which is a celebration of the Exodus from Egypt under Moses. Celebration of Passover started on the 14th or 15th day of the (spring) month of Nisan. Jewish months start when the moon is new, therefore the 14th or 15th day of the month must be immediately after a full moon. This was the reason for the decision to make Easter Sunday the first Sunday after the first full moon after vernal equinox. (It's all tied-up with the Golden Number, and you can read about this on the website).
2007-03-21 01:57:38 · answer #2 · answered by uknative 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Easter, in the west, falls on the first Sunday after the full moon (the paschal moon) that occurs upon or next after the vernal equinox (taken as March 21). If the paschal moon, which is calculated from a system of golden numbers and epacts and does not necessarily coincide with the astronomical full moon, occurs on a Sunday, Easter day is the succeeding Sunday. Easter, therefore, can fall between March 22 and April 25.
2007-03-21 01:43:54 · answer #3 · answered by jtaylor1993 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Easter and the holidays that are related to it are 'moveable' feasts, in that they do not fall on a fixed date in the Gregorian or Julian calendars (which follow the motion of the sun and the seasons). Instead, they are based on a lunar calendar.
Computus (Latin for computation) is the calculation of the date of Easter in the Christian calendar. The name has been used for this procedure since the early Middle Ages, as it was one of the most important computations of the age.
The canonical rule is that Easter Day is the first Sunday after the 14th day of the lunar month (the nominal full moon) that falls on or after 21 March (nominally the day of the vernal equinox). For determining the feast, Christian churches settled on a method to define a reckoned "ecclesiastical" full moon, rather than observations of the true Moon as the Jews did.
2007-03-21 01:42:44 · answer #4 · answered by greymatter 6 · 4⤊ 0⤋
The lunar calendar and the solar calendar in accordance with the movement of the cosmic bodies have only one astronomical basis in India since time immemorial. The medieval Persians copied it from India in the 5th century A.D. but put into practice only in part, as the sun is not visible in the deserts as compared to the moon in clear night sky. The lunar calendar was picked up by the Arabians from Persia and is being followed till date.
The Greeks and the Romans have been following the Indian system by imitation with out understanding the Indian astronomical mathematics.
As a result, during the time of Julius Caesar, Augustus Caesar and Pope Gregory many a times the western calendar system has been corrected. That is why we are told that Christ is born in 4 B.C. which sounds like an anachronism, a fallacy. So also the Ester which is calculated on basis of solar calendar but has a system originally under the lunar calendar. Hence, the confusion.
2007-03-24 18:31:57 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
It has a lot to do with our calendar. Easter was celebrated in Rome and Alexandria on the first Sunday after the first full moon after the spring equinox, and the Roman Church claimed for this observance the authority of Sts. Peter and Paul.
It's alway's been in and around the feast of the Jewish observance of Passover, which is also a moveable feast, according to the lunar Jewish calendar. You can read about it more at:
http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/05224d.htm under the heading The Feast in the second paragraph.
2007-03-21 01:48:15 · answer #6 · answered by Tapestry6 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Because Passover varies from year to year. Easter is the first Sunday following the first full moon following Passover. Easter is late this year because passover is late. The Jewish calender has only 28 days in each month, which causes Passover to vary.
2007-03-21 04:29:12 · answer #7 · answered by Preacher 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Easter is the first Sunday after the first full moon following the vernal equinox (first day of spring) so depending on how the full moon falls, it can be roughly a four week window.
2007-03-21 01:43:32 · answer #8 · answered by Mark B 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Easter is always 40 days after Lent. Lent always begins on a Wednesday.
BTW...Lent begins the day after Mardi Gras. Mardi Gras is always on a Tuesday (Mardi = Tuesday, Gras = Fat...ergo, Fat Tuesday). This was started by the French. The nobles wealthy would toss coins and baubles to the peasants below in preparation for Lent, when they would live without such extravagances for 40 days.
OK, i just answered, "what is Mardi Gras...oops"
2007-03-21 01:54:51 · answer #9 · answered by fake 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Because it is a 'Moveable Feast' based on the Lunar Calendar. not the motion of the sun which we all know and love. Follow the link for a detailed explaination
2007-03-21 01:44:33 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋