How Is Easter Determined

1. How Is Easter Determined In Australia
2. How Is Easter Determined For Eastern Orthodox
3. How Is Easter Determined In The Orthodox Church

From 326 A.D., the Easter Sunday Date for any given year is NOT determined by the March Equinox date for that year. March 20 (not March 21) is the most common Gregorian Equinox date from 1583 to 4099 A.D.

Understand the history. Easter has always been celebrated near the date of the Jewish Passover, but the exact method of determining the date on which to celebrate Easter has changed slightly over the centuries.

• 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]
• 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 Easter holiday dates change each year, so it is important to keep track.

While the dates for Christmas and Valentine’s Day are fixed and therefore easy to remember, Easter and the bank holidays which go with it can fall anytime between March 22 and April 25.

When is Easter 2018 and how is the date decided?

This year Easter takes place from Good Friday on March 30 until Easter Monday on April 2 - making Easter Sunday fall on April 1, which is also April Fool's day.

The death of Jesus occurred around the Jewish Passover, which is traditionally held on first full moon following the vernal equinox.

As the full moon can vary in each time zone, the Church said that they would use the 14th day of the lunar month instead – the Paschal Full Moon – and host Easter Day on the following Sunday.

Once the date of the moon is known, Easter Day and the Easter holidays can be determined.

Christians celebrate Easter on a Sunday as it was the day Jesus rose from the dead, following being crucified on a Friday two days before.

Centuries ago in 325, it was determined by a council of Christian bishops that Easter Day would always be on a Sunday to commemorate the happy occasion.

How Is Easter Determined In Australia

Why does the date of Easter change each year?

In Western Christianity, Easter Sunday must always fall on the next full moon after Spring Equinox.

Easter can fall as early as March and as late as April or May, depending on the year and calendar used.

How Is Easter Determined For Eastern Orthodox

Christians in the east who use the Julian calendar instead of the Gregorian calendar may have a different date.

The date of Easter changes because the full moon can fall on different days in different time zones.

How Is Easter Determined In The Orthodox Church