Easter is considered one of the most important holidays for all believing Christians. On the eve, true believers maintain a strict Great Lent, which ends with the bright day of Christ's Resurrection. But, as you know, every year the Resurrection of the Savior is celebrated in a different way. Why is the date of Easter constantly changing, and how is each subsequent date of the great holiday calculated?
Why Easter is celebrated on different days every year
Easter has no annual exact date.
There are two types of religious festivals in Christian churches:
- Permanent, which are celebrated on the same day;
- Movable, the date of which is different every year.
The most important mobile holiday in Christianity is Easter. Many other rolling religious festivals are calculated based on which day is Great Sunday this year. It depends on this when, for example, the following Orthodox holidays will be celebrated:
- Ascension of the Lord;
- Days of Pentecost;
- Entry of the Lord into Jerusalem, and others.
The date of Easter is determined by complex calculations, but you do not need to do them yourself - it is already noted in the church calendar when all believing Christians will celebrate the great day of the Holy Resurrection.
Jewish Passover
In ancient times, the Christian Holy Sunday was directly associated with the celebration of the Jewish Passover.
The meaning of the Jewish Passover is different from the Christian one and is to celebrate the freedom of the Jews. The events took place in the XIII century BC. You can read about this in the Old Testament, Book of Exodus. It tells in detail about the time when the Egyptians oppressed the Jewish people, mocking them in every possible way. The Lord heard the fervent prayers of the Jews and sent Moses to help them, who was supposed to persuade the Egyptian Pharaoh to free the Jewish people. But Pharaoh refused, after which the Lord unleashed heavenly punishment on the Egyptians. The Lord said that all firstborn boys must die. But the Jews were ordered to paint marks on their homes with the blood of lambs. All the children of the Egyptians were dead, and the Jewish boys survived. After this execution, Pharaoh freed the Jewish people from slavery, and the Jews followed Moses to the holy land. Since then, every year Jews celebrate the liberation from Egypt on this day. In memory of those events, a lamb is slaughtered, national dishes are prepared. The lamb (lamb) symbolizes Jesus Christ, who became the savior of mankind, being crucified for the sins of everyone living on earth.
In the first hundred years of Christianity, believers celebrated Holy Sunday twice:
- The first half celebrated Nisan 14 according to the Hebrew calendar, together with the Jews. This day was a symbol of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ and his death.
- The second half, which turned out to be the majority, celebrated after Nisan 14 on the first Sunday, and this day symbolized the joy that Jesus Christ was resurrected.
In 325, the first Ecumenical Council decreed a unified calculation of Easter and announced how the date of Great Easter was determined. It should be celebrated after the date of Jewish Passover, on Sunday, the first after the first spring full moon. The full moon should be either on the date of the vernal equinox, or immediately after it, but not earlier.
Why Easter is celebrated at different times
The calculation of the date of Great Easter by the Catholic and Orthodox denominations is done in different ways. The Catholic Church calculates the day of the holiday according to the Gregorian calendar, and the Orthodox Church according to the Julian calendar.At first, Christianity lived according to the common Julian calendar, but in the XII century, Pope Gregory XIII introduced a new calendar - the Gregorian. Since 1582, a new chronology began, which is much more accurate in astronomical indicators than the Julian calendar.
Gradually, the Catholic and Protestant churches began to switch to the Gregorian calendar. The Orthodox Church still uses the Julian calendar, because it is believed that Jesus Christ lived and preached the teachings of God in those days when the chronology was carried out according to the Julian calendar.
On a note! The Julian calendar used by the Orthodox Church has a second name - Orthodox.
How is Orthodox Easter calculated? Calculating the holiday according to the Julian calendar, the Orthodox day of the Resurrection of Christ comes after the Jewish Sunday. If we use the Gregorian calendar, it turns out that Great Sunday for Catholics may coincide with Jewish Sunday, or the Catholic holiday may be a little earlier.
This is why Easter is celebrated at a different time every year. It can be celebrated much later than Catholic, or the dates of the holiday can be close.
Although the Gregorian calendar is considered more accurate, but for a long time in Bethlehem, the blessed fire descends on the Holy Feast on the date precisely according to the Julian chronology.
The blessed fire descends precisely on the day of Easter
How to calculate the date of Great Easter
Since the date of Bright Sunday is tied to the day of the vernal equinox, it is first determined on what date it falls. Next, you should calculate when the first full moon occurs after the vernal equinox. The great day will be celebrated on the first Sunday following the calculated full moon. What determines when the next Easter date will be? Many factors are taken into account when calculating the day of Great Sunday. What determines the date of Great Easter:
- Moon calendar;
- Solar calendar;
- Easter must be celebrated on Sunday.
On a note! How to determine the day of Great Easter if the first full moon falls on Sunday? In this case, the great holiday is postponed a week later, on the following Sunday.
But it is not necessary to calculate the date of Bright Sunday yourself. There are special church calendars with marked days when all religious holidays should be celebrated.
There is another method for calculating the date of the next Easter - mathematical. It was discovered by the German mathematician Gauss in the 19th century. He explained how Easter Day is mathematically determined.
But, regardless of the date of the great holiday, these are great believers. Long before the designated date for the celebration of Bright Easter, Christians begin to prepare for the coming of Sunday. First of all, they keep Great Lent, which ends with the feast of the Resurrection of the Savior. The last week before Great Sunday is the most responsible and difficult one. Each day of the pre-Easter week has an important, special meaning. On Sunday, Christians around the world go to churches for festive worship.
In 2018, Catholics celebrate the great holiday on April 1st. The date of Orthodox Easter will come in a week - April 8.
