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Early Easter?!??!
Posted On 03/22/2008 11:08:02 by jon2k4
Pity the poor Easter Bunny. This is the first year since 1913 that he'll be showing up so early and contending with the sloppy weather conditions.

Easter in the western world is generally celebrated in April, but there are the unusual years, like this one, when it occurs in March.

Easter is a movable feast tied to the cycles of the moon. It is celebrated on the first Sunday after the first full paschal moon, which appeared Thursday.

No one alive today will be around to see that happen again. The next time Easter Sunday will come so early in March will be 2228.

The last time it fell on a March 23 was 95 years ago.

Until 325 AD, Easter coincided with the Jewish festival of Passover. But that year, bishops at the First Council of the Christian church meeting in Nicaea decreed that the feast be celebrated on the first Sunday after the paschal or spring moon.

Tags: Easter History



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Viewing 1 - 3 out of 3 Comments

From: jon2k4
03/23/2008 01:17:17
The Paschal Full Moon roughly corresponds to the first full moon of the northern Spring. The name 'Paschal' is from "pascha" an old term for Easter. The date of Easter is determined as the first Sunday after the Paschal Full Moon. This full moon does not currently correspond directly to any astronomical event, but is a historical artifact determined from tables, and it may differ from the date of the actual full moon by up to two days. The use of tables instead of actual observations of the full moon is useful and necessary since the full moon may occur on different dates depending where one is in the world.



Historically, the Paschal Full Moon was the first full moon which occurs on or after the day of the vernal equinox. Later, the Paschal Full Moon referred to the day which was thirteen days after the Ecclesiastical new moon. The calculations to determine the date of the Paschal Full Moon are somewhat complex. For a detailed discussion, see Computus.



If the Paschal Full Moon falls on a Sunday, Easter is the following Sunday.



I had NO IDEA the church was so good with math.... either that or they're just making this up as they go along, LOL.


From: jon2k4
03/23/2008 01:05:40
Yeah but I still have no clue what a paschal moon is


From: cntbuymyluv
03/23/2008 00:30:21
Wow that was some information I didn't know about, but you know what thanks because my family and I were wondering why it's in March this year and guess who answered our little query?


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