Why is easter no longer the 3rd sunday in April ?

About.com Christianity Why Does the Date for Easter Change Every Year? From Mary Fairchild, Your Guide to Christianity. FREE Newsletter. Sign Up Now! Find Answers to Your Questions About Easter Why does the date for Easter change every year? Have you ever wondered why Easter Sunday can fall anywhere between March 22 and April 25? And why do Eastern Orthodox churches celebrate Easter on a different day than Western churches? These are all good questions with answers that require a bit of explanation. In Western Christianity, Easter is always celebrated on the Sunday immediately following the Paschal Full Moon date of the year. I had previously, and somewhat erroneously stated, "Easter is always celebrated on the Sunday immediately following the first full moon after the vernal (spring) equinox." This statement was true in 325 AD, when it was established by the Council of Nicea. However, the course of history has modified the meaning of this instruction, and therefore, a clearer, more accurate explanation is necessary today. There are, in fact, as many misunderstanding about the calculation of Easter dates, as there are reasons for confusion about Easter dates. What follows is an attempt to clear up at least some of the confusion. In actuality, the date of the Paschal Full Moon is determined from historical tables, and has no correspondence to lunar events. In the year 325 AD astronomers approximated the dates of all the full moons in the year for the Western Christian churches. These were called the Ecclesiastical Full Moon dates, and they have been used ever since 326 AD to determine the date of Easter. So, the Paschal Full Moon is always the first Ecclesiastical Full Moon date after March 20 (which happened to be the vernal equinox date in 325 AD). 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 18. As a result, Easter dates can range from March 22 through April 25 in Western Christianity. Western churches use the Gregorian Calendar to calculate the date of Easter and Eastern Orthodox churches use the Julian Calendar. This is partly why the dates are rarely the same. Easter and its related holidays do not fall on a fixed date in either the Gregorian or Julian calendars, making them moveable holidays. The dates, instead, are based on a lunar calendar very similar to the Hebrew Calendar. The Eastern Orthodox Church not only maintains the date of Easter based on the Julian Calendar which was in use during the First Ecumenical Council of Nicea in 325 AD, but also according to the actual, astronomical full moon and the actual vernal equinox as observed along the meridian of Jerusalem. This complicates the matter, due to the inaccuracy of the Julian calendar, and the 13 days that have accrued since 325 AD. This means, in order to stay in line with the originally established (325 AD) vernal equinox, Orthodox Easter cannot be celebrated before April 3 (present day Gregorian calendar), which was March 21 in 325 AD. Additionally, in keeping with the rule established by the First Ecumenical Council of Nicea, the Eastern Orthodox Church adhered to the tradition that Easter must always fall after the Jewish Passover, since the death, burial and Resurrection of Christ happened after the celebration of Passover. Eventually the Orthodox Church came up with an alternative to calculating Easter based on Passover, and developed a 19-year cycle, as opposed to the Western Church 84-year cycle. Since the days of early church history, determining the precise date of Easter has been a matter for continued argument. For one, the followers of Christ neglected to record the exact date of Jesus' resurrection. From then on the matter grew increasingly complex. For more about Easter dates, check out the following sources: • Christian History article by Farrell Brown • Easter Dating • The Astronomy of Easter • The Calendar of the Orthodox Church More: • Easter Calendar 2008 • 2008 Easter Trivia • What is Easter? • What is Good Friday? • What is Palm Sunday? • What is Ash Wednesday This About.com page has been optimized for print. To view this page in its original form, please visit: http://christianity.about.com/od/faqhelpdesk/qt/whyeasterchange.htm ©2007 About.com, Inc., a part of The New York Times Company. All rights reserved.

When has Easter ever been an absolute, my youngest daughter was born on Easter Sunday and that year it was the 1st Sunday in April.

Easter falls on the first Sunday after the first full moon after the first day of spring.

Easter is never on a specific date, like Christmas, or even on a repeating date (3rd Sunday) like Thanksgiving. Easter is different every year. On the western calendar, Easter falls on the first Sunday following the first full moon that occurs on or after the day of the vernal equinox; The equinox is today, March 20 - so it's the first Sunday after the next full moon.

It never was the 3rd Sunday in April although it may fall there. The date of Easter varies from year to year. But it falls on the first Sunday after the first full moon (the Paschal Full Moon) that is on or after the vernal Equinox. That is the day when the day and night are equal. (Or nearly equal) That is usually either on March 20th or March 21st. Otherwise known as the first day of Spring. The earliest Easter can possibly be is March 22nd. So this is very early. Easter has not been on March 23rd since, I believe, 1913.

It never was an absolute. My confirmation class had to lern to calculate. Here is the method from an online source. Easter Sunday is the Sunday following the Paschal Full Moon (PFM) date for the year. (Paschal is pronounced "PAS-KUL", not "pas-chal"). See Christian Prayer Books for proof of this concise definition. In June 325 A.D. astronomers approximated astronomical full moon dates for the Christian church, calling them Ecclesiastical Full Moon (EFM) dates. From 326 A.D. the PFM date has always been the EFM date after March 20 (which was the equinox date in 325 A.D.) From 1583, each PFM date differs from an Astronomical Full Moon (AFM) date usually by no more than 1 date, and never by more than 3 dates. (Each AFM is a two-dates event due to world time zones. Each PFM is a one-date event world-wide). More on the history and how the Orthodox church calculates on the website.