Woodeaves

Why does Easter change every year?

Easter is a “movable feast,” so it doesn’t happen on the same date from year to year. In the Gregorian calendar, it is always observed on a Sunday between March 22 and April 25. However, in the Eastern Orthodox Church, the observance of Easter can occur between April 4 and May 8.

The simple standard definition of Easter is that it is the first Sunday after the full Moon that occurs on or after the spring equinox.

Christmas is always December 25th. So why does the date of Easter change? It is all down to the orbit of the moon. The moon has a different calendar year to the earth. While the Earth takes 364.25 days to orbit the sun, the moon takes 29.5 days to orbit the earth’. Easter is based on the lunar cycles of the Jewish calendar.

Easter is always on the first Sunday after the first full moon that follows the spring equinox. The spring equinox is always on 21 March.

In England before the Synod of Whitby in the year 664, there were two dates for the celebration of Easter. The Celtic/Irish monks (from Lindisfarne in the north argued that their way of calculating Easter started with John the Evangelist. But Roman monks (southern England) claimed their calculations had begun with St Peter.

Northumbrian King Oswy – who followed the Irish tradition – celebrated Easter at different times from his Kentish wife, who followed the Roman tradition. To put it in simple words, that was awkward. So in 664, a meeting of monks and clergy was organised in Whitby Abbey (north Yorkshire) to sort the matter out. King Oswy had the final say and decided the Roman tradition should be adopted in the whole of England.

Contributed By Brother George Gordon, Woodeaves Community