I am sure you have always wondered why Easter Sunday falls between March 22 and April 25. And why Eastern and Western churches celebrate Easter on different days. Here is a short explanation:

Christ’s followers neglected to record when he resurrected. I mean, the exact date. The earliest believers correlated the Easter with the Jewish Passover. It is the date when Israel became free from slavery from Egypt. But the Jewish holiday calendar depends on solar and lunar cycles. That’s why the dates shift. Yet, it was in the past.


In 325 A.D. the Western Church at the Council of Nicaea standardized the system of determining the Easter’s date. They decided not to correspond the date of Easter with lunar events. Instead, they related it to the Paschal (Passover) Full Moon date which is determined: it is the first full moon after March 20 (vernal equinox). So, Easter is celebrated on the first Sunday after this full moon.

Usually, the Full Moon happens from March 21 to April 18. That’s why Easter also ranges from March 22 to April 25.

This year the full moon was on April 19, which is Friday. So, the first Sunday is April 21.

Eastern Orthodox churches use Julian Calendar and Western churches use Gregorian Calendar. That’s why the eastern Easter date is different from the Western one as well as all the other dates.



What other versions of Easter date determination do you know? Please, share with us in the comments below.

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