Well, it has to do with the Equinox Moon, or Full Moon.
Easter of course is the most important feast day on the Christian calendar. Regularly observed from the earliest days of the Church, it celebrates Christ’s resurrection from the dead, following crucifixion. It marks the end of Holy Week, the end of Lent, and the last day of the Easter Triduum (starting from the evening of Maundy Thursday, through Good Friday, Holy Saturday, and Easter Sunday), as well as the beginning of the Easter season of the liturgical year.
The resurrection represents the triumph of good over evil, sin, death, and the physical body.
Easter is a “movable feast” and does not have a fixed date; however, it is always held on a Sunday between March 22 and April 25. Many Eastern Orthodox churches follow the Julian calendar rather than the Gregorian. In this case, the observance of Easter can occur between April 4 and May 8.
Specifically, Easter is celebrated on the first Sunday following the full Moon that occurs on or just after the spring equinox.
Interestingly, in 2019, the full Moon and the spring equinox fall on the SAME day—Wednesday, March 20. The full Moon—cresting at 9:43 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time—follows the spring equinox by less than four hours.
On religious calendars, the first full moon of spring is called the “Paschal Full Moon” (which we’ll explain below). Traditionally, Easter is observed on the Sunday after the Paschal Full Moon. (If the Paschal Moon occurs on a Sunday, Easter lands on the subsequent Sunday.)
EASTER COULD HAVE BEEN IN MARCH: Following these rules, the full Moon on March 20 (the first full Moon of spring) should be the “Paschal Full Moon.” So, why isn’t Easter on Sunday, March 24?
As it turns out, to make things a little simpler for the Christian Church calendars, the spring equinox was determined to always be fixed on March 21. (In reality, the equinox can happen on March 19, 20, or 21.) Given this, the first full Moon after March 21 doesn’t occur until April 19 this year. That means … Easter is being celebrated on Sunday, April 21.
For those who want to dig a little deeper:
The word “Paschal,” which refers to the ecclesiastical (Christian church) calendar, comes from “Pascha,” a transliteration of the Aramaic word meaning Passover.
We are referring to a date of the full Moon determined many years ago as the 14th day of a lunar month. Ancient calculations (made in a.d. 325) did not take into account certain lunar motions.
So, the Paschal Full Moon is the 14th day of a lunar month occurring on or next after March 21 according to a fixed set of ecclesiastical calendar rules, which does not always match the date of the astronomical full Moon nearest the astronomical spring equinox.
It sounds complicated, but the basic idea is to make it simpler for modern calendars. Rest assured, the dates for Easter are calculated long in advance.
The exact origin of the actual word “Easter” is unclear. It may have derived its name from the Anglo-Saxon dawn goddess of fertility Eostre, whose feast was celebrated each spring at about this time. Alternatively, it may have derived from words meaning “rising,” “dawn,” or “east.”
So there you go...And not one word about the Easter bunny!
The things you don't learn on Wrights Lane.
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