When is Passover and why the date is always changing?
Need to know the date of Easter? Over the next decade, Easter Sunday will be in the following days: -
April 4, 2010
April 24, 2011
April 8, 2012
March 31, 2013
April 20, 2014
April 5, 2015
March 27, 2016
April 16, 2017
April 1, 2018
April 21, 2019
April 12, 2020
Unlike other holidays, Easter falls on a different date each year. This is determined by a traditiion to be the “first Sunday after the full moon after the vernal equinox.”
But why is this? The answer is that the date of Easter, adopted by most Western churches, both Catholic and Protestant has a way of roots in the mists of time – and was taken from a pagan festival that was held for many centuries before the birth of Christ.
The date of Easter is actually determined by observing the natural cycles of sun and moon. The astronomers of antiquity, the recognition of the regular movements of these heavenly bodies and their effect on the seasons, incorporating these influences into a formula for fixing the date of the pagan spring festival of fertility. This important celebration was a holiday that are more or less universal throughout the ancient world. The date of this event was of great importance to agricultural societies, as it determines the start of the spring planting season.
There are actually two days of the equinox on the solar year. Both spring and autumn equinoxes are the same length of days and nights (Equinox means equal night in Latin). The two equinoxes fall exactly halfway between the shortest day of the year in winter (winter solstice) and the longest day in the middle of summer (summer solstice).
The spring equinox falls on March 20/21 each year, according to the standard (Gregorian) calendar, which in turn is based on the annual solar cycle. The Romans, along with other ancient races, which defines the start of his year as the date of the spring (vernal) equinox. However, they use a lunar calendar of 28 days, based on the phases of the moon, for appointments. The first day was established to coincide with the first full moon, which was therefore a fixed date on your calendar. As the average duration of a month in this (dom base) calendar is the lunar month of 28 days, the two calendars are not in sync. Therefore the different date of Easter in our current schedule, which may amount to a maximum of 28 days after the date of the vernal equinox on March 20-21.
Thus we see that the elements of the Sun and the Moon (Sol y Luna in Latin) are woven tightly together in the old tradition. This was emphasized by the mythology that the sun and moon were often represented in the pantheon of the gods. The Equinox, itself, was determined by the passage implies that the sun god and the role of balancing the influence of the Moon was recognized for his honor at its most complete. Lunar cycle of 28 days is believed to regulate the female menstrual cycle and therefore had a strong link to fertility. Sunday was the obvious choice for the feast day because Sunday was always the day of the Sun in ancient times. Spring is the time of rebirth and regeneration after the period of winter, was a happy and hopeful, so a celebration of fertility in honor of their gods in hopes of good harvests and abundant fertility of livestock in the coming months was the most suitable for people living in harmony with the earth in primitive agricultural communities.