History & Traditions of Easter

This year Easter falls early, on March 31.

Last year it rolled around on April 8. Next year? April 20.

So if you’re confused about how the dates are calculated, you’re not alone. Searches for “when is Easter” are peaking, according to Google Trends, and although the date is easy enough to find, the reason behind it is somewhat convoluted.

Behind the Dates
In 325 AD Catholic Church officials decided Easter would be celebrated on the first Sunday after the first full moon after the March equinox. Fairly straight forward.

Calculating the dates into the future, the Church relied on tables of predictions that listed full moon dates thousands of years in the future (not actual dates of full moons). These predicted dates are called Ecclesiastical Full Moons or EFMs.

And instead of using the actual March equinox, which can shift, Easter calculations always use March 21.

What does that mean? Easter falls on the first Sunday after the first EFM after March 20.

Determining a date for Easter wasn’t really that quick and easy - 1,200 years later, in the 17th Century, the Catholic Church wound up introducing a new calendar because the dates of the equinox and other astronomical events were drifting through the seasons. 

The Church cut 10 days off of the Julian Calendar, added a leap year and introduced the new and improved Gregorian calendar. In some traditions (including Orthodox Christian churches), Easter is still determined using the Julian calendar. And the dates of Easter can vary substantially between traditions.

So here we are.

According to Easter algorithm, the holiday can fall anywhere between March 22 and April 25. Barring some unforeseen advances in medicine or time travel, if you’re reading this, then you’ve already experienced the earliest Easter you will in your lifetime. In 2008 the holiday fell on March 23. It hadn’t been that early since 1913 and won’t come that early again until 2160.

At the other end of the spectrum in 2038 is the next year Easter will fall on April 25.

Want to know what date Easter will fall on in, say, 2300? Check this handy tool on the United States Naval Observatory's website. The site also has a fairly comprehensive history of the calculation of the date of Easter.

For a look at the history and traditions behind the holiday, here’s an excerpt from Holidays.net: 

Easter is the Christian holiday celebrating the resurrection of the Christian Messiah, Jesus Christ. 

The most important festival in the Christian calendar, Easter is observed by the churches of the West on the first Sunday following the full moon that occurs on or following the Spring equinox (March 21).

So Easter became a "movable" feast, which can occur as early as March 22 or as late as April 25.

(See above.)

Christian churches in the East - which were closer to the birthplace of the new religion and in which old traditions were strong - observe Easter according to the date of the Passover festival.

Since the date of Easter changes each year, so, too, do the other Lenten festivals that fix their dates according to Easter, such as Ash Wednesday, Palm Sunday and Good Friday.

Easter is at the end of the Lenten season, which covers a 46-day period that begins on Ash Wednesday and ends with Easter.

The Lenten season itself comprises 40 days, as the six Sundays in Lent aren’t actually a part of Lent. Sundays are considered a commemoration of Easter Sunday, and have always been excluded from the Lenten fast. The Lenten season is a period of penitence in preparation for the highest festival of the church year, Easter.

Holy Week, the last week of Lent, begins with the observance of Palm Sunday. It takes its name from Jesus' triumphal entry into Jerusalem where the crowds laid palms at his feet. Holy Thursday commemorates the Last Supper, which was held the evening before the Crucifixion. Friday in Holy Week is the anniversary of the Crucifixion, the day that Christ was crucified and died on the cross.

Holy week and the Lenten season end with Easter Sunday, the day of resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Story of Easter
The story of Easter is one of persecution and rebirth, making it the central experience of the Christian belief system. On the Friday before Easter, Christians believe that Jesus was executed by crucifixion. His body is believed to have been removed from the cross and buried in a guarded cave, with a large boulder blocking the entrance.

Tradition continues that the following Sunday, Jesus' gravesite was visited by faithful women – including Jesus' mother, the Virgin Mary - who discovered the cave was empty. Later that day and for several days afterward, Jesus' followers sighted him and came to believe that Jesus had been risen from the dead by God.

Today, Easter is clearly a Christian holiday, with deep liturgical and traditional significance. However, scholars actually believe that the festival has its roots in a number of pre-Christian faiths, including Pagan and Jewish.

For example, historians believe that the word Easter is derived from the Saxon name of the Pagan goddess of Spring and fertility, Eastre. The Lunar calendar month of April was dedicated to a celebration of Eastre, featuring rituals to mark the vernal equinox and welcome the fertility associated with Springtime.

Many of these Pagan traditions have been incorporated into Christianity's celebration of Easter today. The Easter bunny and Easter eggs, for instance, are both Pagan symbols of fertility.

Even the story of Jesus' resurrection is echoed in Pagan mythology. The Greek legend of Persephone, for example, tells of her return from the underworld. This myth was understood by ancient Greeks as a metaphor for the return of Spring after the darkness of Winter.

The Phrygians similarly believed that their omnipotent deity hibernated during the Winter solstice, and was awoken in the Spring by their musical festivals.

The traditions of Easter also have roots in the Jewish Springtime holiday of Passover. The name Easter is reflected in the Hebrew word for Passover, or Pesach. In Europe the word Pasch is synonymous with the name Easter.

Furthermore, Jesus' disciples were the first Christians, many of whom are thought to have been historically Jewish. Scholars believe, in fact, that the first Easter celebrations were likely understood as a new form of commemorating the coming of the Messiah, a key component of Passover liturgy.

To learn more about Easter and the holiday’s traditions and foods, click here and here. To learn more about Easter candy, click here.

Sources: Holidays.net, Savage-Guilford Patch, AA.USNO,Navy.Mil, AA.USNO,Navy.Mil 

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