Why is easter not on the same date

Early Christians wanted Easter to coincide with Passover, because Christ's death and resurrection happened after the Jewish holiday, writes Christian minister Mary Fairchild on LearnReligions.

Because the Jewish calendar is tied to solar and lunar cycles, the dates of Passover and Easter fluctuate each year. Country Life. Design Ideas. Home Maintenance. Country Living Shop. Shopping Guides. United States. Type keyword s to search.

And, since the Jewish holiday calendar is based on solar and lunar cycles, each feast day is movable, with dates shifting from year to year. Prior to A. At the Council of Nicaea in A. The date of the Paschal Full Moon is determined from historical tables. The date of Easter no longer directly corresponds to lunar events. As astronomers were able to approximate the dates of all full moons in future years, the Western Church used these calculations to establish a table of Ecclesiastical Full Moon dates.

These dates determine the Holy Days on the Ecclesiastical calendar. Although modified slightly from its original form, by A. Thus, according to the Ecclesiastical tables, the Paschal Full Moon is the first Ecclesiastical Full Moon date after March 20 which happened to be the vernal equinox date in A. The Paschal Full Moon can vary as much as two days from the date of the actual full moon, with dates ranging from March 21 to April This was partly why the dates were seldom the same.

Easter and its related holidays do not fall on a fixed date in either the Gregorian or Julian calendars, making them movable holidays. The dates, instead, are based on a lunar calendar very similar to the Hebrew Calendar. Easter can come as early as March 22, and as late as April 25 in the Gregorian calendar. What does the word Easter mean? It could be from the name of the fertility goddess Eostre.

When was Easter first celebrated? The celebrations were held around the Jewish Passover each year, a date that was dependent on the vernal equinox.

What are Good Friday and Maundy Thursday? Good Friday commemorates the day on which Jesus was crucified. Easter then falls on the Sunday immediately following it. Or at least, it's supposed to. This year is a clerical loophole because we had the Paschal moon on March If we were to follow the rules, Easter Sunday should have fallen on March 24 — but it didn't. Here's where it gets complicated. The ancient calendars work on the assumption that the equinox is always on March 21, but in reality, it can be on March 19, 20, or The Ecclesiastical calculations usually work, but in certain years, like , and , they don't.

Rather, we have to look at the next full moon, which is on April 19, and we celebrate Easter the following Sunday — April For the years, like this one, where the lunar calendar isn't sufficient, there are mathematical methods for working out the date of Easter.

Here's one that can determine any Easter date between the years and