Saturday, April 8, 2023

How Is The Annual Date For Easter Determined?

Does Easter this year seem early, late or about the right time?

To us, it seems to be at about the right time -- somewhere between the seventh and 17th of April.
So, how is the date for Easter determined?
Easter is calculated via the Easter dating method devised by Pope Gregory XIII and his astronomers and mathematicians.
According to the Gregorian calendar Easter is always one of the 35 dates between March 22 and April 25. 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 March 21 (nominally the day of the vernal equinox). So, this year Easter comes almost a few weeks after the beginning of spring.
Next year Easter will fall on March 31, which might seem a bit early for some. After all, when most of us think Easter we think April -- the later, the better.
One would expect that it would be a reasonably mild Easter this year even though the week leading up to Easter has been a bit turbulent. It's expected to be seasonal tomorrow and sunny. We'll see.
But we actually remember balmy Easters in March and chilly Easters in late April. And there have even been years when it has snowed on Easter Sunday.
Why is the date of Christmas fixed while the date of Easter changes each year? 
That's a question for another time.

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