When is a moveable feast immovable?.....When it is Easter!

[cambrensis]

We've all heard the moans and groans:"Why can't they fix the date of Easter, as they do Christmas?" Well they did - a very long time ago! Unfortunately it's yet another calendar problem! (Remember Christmas?)


Christianity is tied to the Solar Calendar. What we call the Paschal Season is tied to the Judaic "Passover" (Pesach) which, in turn, is tied to the Lunar Calendar.


So we need two small pieces of information, which will unite the two:


1) The date of the Spring Equinox - which is always March 21st and is immoveable so far as we are concerned.
2) The date of the first Full Moon after the Equinox. If the two coincide it does not count...use the next!


The Sunday after that Full Moon is Easter day. Sunset on the previous Friday marks the beginning of Pesach, and is God Friday (Good Friday


- the two words were the same in Saxon.)


In 1928, the UK Parliament passed a Bill to fix the date:- for obvious reasons it has never been implemented!


Of course, if you go shopping there are many signs of its coming....The bunnies are largely of Scandinavian origin. Ah well....

[HerMajesty]

That's well-explained, cambrensis! I didn't realize the full-moon input of it all. Thanks!

[cambrensis]

Thank you. Majesty.
As you see, there has been some interesting editing going on around here, none of it of my doing I assure you! We all know why, though...and I am not surprised. You'd think that, as this happens fairly frequently with one or two people, that they'd have enough brain to catch on!

Aaaah! A also mentioned that the date difference between the Orthodox and the Roman Churches is because the orthodox group uses the Julian Calendar ecclesiastically which makes a difference of 13 days to the equinox; consequently there may well be a different Full Moon. From time to time the two Easters do coincide; I believe the next will be in the 2030s, however. This means that Whitsun, etc., will be different dates from ours.

When a young man, I made the mistake of thinking that this would apply to all Orthodox dates and flew off to one of the Greek islands on August 15th. For those who do not know, this is the Feast of the Assumption of the BVM and a Holiday(Holy day) of Obligation. I landed in Greece to find there was a coach to take me to the main town, where I was to stay...but no other transport. Off I went, and then discoered that the coach was to stop at the town boundary. It was Assumption in Greece too, (and always is!). There were no taxis and no other transport, not even a donkey!

I had to walk into town for about two miles carrying two large suitcases under a blazing Greek sun. Having arrived at the address - a block placed up the hillside and there were concrete steps up to the entrance. I staggered inside to find there was now a flight of stairs upward to the floors...3 flights later, heart pounding, I collapsed face down on to a bed!! So let that be a lesson! never travel to Greece to arrive on August 15th!!

[HerMajesty]

​It is suspiciously, and pleasantly, shorter...………...well, it was until we just commented! lol

[cambrensis]

Indeed! I was surprised that my reply was left as it contained a quote! However, that's now dealt with so I repeated the remainder of that post and added a little! Lol!