Why we celebrate Christ`s Resurrection (Easter) when we do

This year (2017) we the Orthodox Christians celebrate Christ`s Resurrection (Easter) on the same date as all the other Nonorthodox Christians namely on 16th. April . Having this in mind we will outline the basic principles as to how this date is derived for a particular year and why it happens that the orthodox and nonorthodox celebrate mostly on different dates and it is only some years the dates coincide.

Easter is the most important Christian feast. It is a feast which is always celebrated on the same day (Sunday) but the actual date varies. Originally the Christians in Judea and converts from Judaism did celebrate Easter with the Jewish feast of Passover on 14th. day of the Jewish month Nissan which ever day of the week this feast happens to be while the res Christians from Roman and Greek background celebrated the feast of Easter on the first Sunday after that date. The celebration of Passover lasts 7 days and the Jews celebrate it in memory of exodus from the slavery in Egypt and the crossing of the Red Sea. Easter is referred to in in liturgical songs of the Orthodox Church as new Pasha because Christs Resurrection represents the passing from death into life. That is why Greeks and other orthodox use the word Pasha instead of Easter.

In order for all Christians to celebrate Christ`s Resurrection on the same day at the First council which took place in Nicaea in the year 325 it was decided that all Christians will celebrate the Resurrection of Christ on the same day and that is to be on the first Sunday after the full moon after the spring equinox and after the Jewish Passover.

At that time Roman Empire was using the so called Julian calendar but this was not mentioned by the council. The responsibility for the calculation of the correct date for Easter and passing on the information to the other churches was given to the patriarchate of Alexandria because of its long tradition of astronomical mathematical knowhow. Very soon for practical reasons in passing on this information the so called Paschal tables came into existence. These tables show the date of Easter for a lengthy period of time called the “indict” or great Paschal period which lasts 532 years. On completion of one period the tables are calculated for the next period.

In principal, the date for celebrating Easter is still calculated according to the rules laid down by the First council. However, due to many change taking place in history for example the Great schism in 1054 and the Gregorian reformation of the calendar in 16th century has caused a difference in the calculation of the date for Easter celebration between the Eastern Orthodox Church on one side and the churches in the west (Roman Catholic , Protestant, Anglican etc. ) on the other side. As a result the east and west do not celebrate Easter on the same date but sometimes it happens that they coincide.

Sometimes it happens that the churches in the west celebrate Easter before or during the Jewish Passover which is completely unacceptable in the Orthodox tradition.
Today all Orthodox Churches celebrate Easter on the same date except the Finish Orthodox Church which celebrates it at the same time as the western churches.

The following examples show these principles in practice.

Last year (2016) the Orthodox celebrated Easter on the 1st of May according to the new calendar that is 18th April according to the old calendar because this was the first Sunday after spring equinox, after the fool moon and after the Jewish Passover, while the nonorthodox celebrated it on 27th of March according to the new calendar.

This was before the Jewish Passover and five weeks before the Orthodox.

This year (2017) the date coincides because it is on 16th of April (3rd April according to the old calendar) which is the first Sunday after the full moon after spring equinox and after the Jewish Passover.

Next year (2018) the dates will not coincide and will be different.

The first time that the dates will coincide will be in 2025.

The attached table shows the dates for the celebration of Easter for both Orthodox and Nonorthodox and the years when they coincide over the period 2010 to 2020.

 Note: * dates coincide 

V. Rev. Dragan Lazic