Rachel Evans
Eastern Catholics celebrate Easter according to the dominant culture of their location: the Orthodox time in the East and the Latin time in the West. While most Eastern Catholics follow the Gregorian calendar, some countries like Ukraine still follow the Julian calendar. The Greek island of Syros is a unique example of a place where Catholics and Orthodox Christians share a common date for Easter. In the 20th and 21st centuries, there have been proposals to unify the date of Easter across different Christian denominations, but these have not been implemented. The tradition of celebrating Easter on the first Sunday following the first full moon of spring dates back to the Council of Nicaea in 325, and Eastern Catholics and Eastern Orthodox Christians share similar liturgical customs.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Date of Easter celebration | Eastern Catholics celebrate Easter at the same time as the dominant culture does. For example, they follow the Orthodox time in the East and the Latin time in the West. |
| Calendar | Most eastern Catholics follow the Gregorian calendar. However, some countries like Ukraine still use the Julian calendar. |
| Easter as a feast | Easter is the principal feast of the ecclesiastical year. |
| Preparation for Easter | Preparation for Easter begins with the season of Great Lent, which starts on Clean Monday. |
| End of Lent | The end of Lent is marked by Lazarus Saturday, but fasting continues until Easter Sunday. |
| Easter service | The Orthodox Easter service begins late on Saturday evening, following the Jewish tradition that evening is the start of liturgical holy days. |
| Easter Sunday | Easter Sunday is celebrated with a feast to mark the end of fasting. An additional service may be held later that day. |
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What You'll Learn
- Eastern Catholics follow the dominant culture's Easter celebrations
- The Orthodox Church has not adopted the Gregorian calendar
- The Jewish calendar influenced the date of Easter
- The World Council of Churches proposed a reform to the calculation of Easter
- Easter is the principal feast of the ecclesiastical year
Eastern Catholics follow the dominant culture's Easter celebrations
Eastern Catholics typically celebrate Easter at the same time as the dominant culture in their region. This means that they observe the Orthodox time in the East and the Latin time in the West.
The date of Easter is determined by the lunar calendar, with Easter falling on the first Sunday after the first full moon of spring. This tradition dates back to the Council of Nicaea in 325. As a result, Easter is a floating holiday, unlike Christmas, which is fixed on 25 December.
In the East, some countries, such as Ukraine, still use the Julian calendar, which is now 13 days behind the Gregorian calendar. The Eastern Orthodox Church has also retained the Julian calendar for its liturgical calendar, except for a few exceptions, such as Finland and Estonia. In the 20th century, many Eastern European countries adopted the Gregorian calendar under new Communist governments.
In the West, Roman Catholic countries like France and Spain quickly adopted the Gregorian calendar following its introduction in 1582. Other countries, such as England, took longer to make the switch, with England adopting the Gregorian calendar in 1752.
Despite these differences in calendars, there have been efforts to unify the date of Easter. In 1923, an Orthodox congress of Eastern Orthodox bishops agreed to adopt the Revised Julian calendar. Additionally, in 1997, the World Council of Churches proposed a reform to calculate Easter using modern scientific knowledge, taking into account the spring equinox and full moon based on the meridian of Jerusalem. While these proposals have not been implemented, they highlight the ongoing dialogue and desire for a unified celebration of Easter across different Christian traditions.
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The Orthodox Church has not adopted the Gregorian calendar
The main reason for the Orthodox Church's rejection of the Gregorian calendar was that it altered the celebration of Easter. According to the Gregorian calendar, Easter would sometimes coincide with the Jewish Passover, which is contrary to various religious decrees. The Orthodox Church continues to base its calculations for the date of Easter on the Julian Calendar, which was in use at the time of the First Ecumenical Synod. As a result, there is a 13-day difference between the two calendars, and Easter may not be celebrated before April 3 on the Gregorian calendar.
While some Orthodox Churches, such as those in Constantinople, Alexandria, Antioch, Greece, and Romania, have since adopted the Gregorian calendar, others like Jerusalem, Russia, and Serbia continue to adhere to the Julian calendar. This has resulted in a divergence in the dates on which Easter and other related holidays are celebrated by different Christian churches.
It is worth noting that Eastern Catholics typically celebrate Easter according to the dominant culture, following the Orthodox time in the East and the Latin time in the West.
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The Jewish calendar influenced the date of Easter
The date of Easter is a floating holiday, meaning it is not fixed. Instead, it is computed based on a lunisolar calendar, similar to the Hebrew calendar. The First Council of Nicaea in 325 CE established that Easter should be celebrated on the first Sunday after the first full moon following the spring equinox. This decision tied the date of Easter to the movements of the sun and moon, and it was made to standardize the date of Easter, which had been a matter of contention.
The date of Easter is influenced by the Jewish calendar because early Christians were Jewish, and the celebration of Easter entered the Christian faith during this early Jewish period. Initially, Christians relied on Jewish communities to determine when Easter would be celebrated. Both groups consulted each other to determine when the month of Nisan would fall, and set their festivals accordingly. The month of Nisan is significant as it is when Passover falls, and the Jewish exodus from Egypt, which occurred during this month, was to mark the start of a new year.
However, by the 3rd century, some Christians expressed dissatisfaction with relying on Jewish communities to determine the date of Easter. This was because the Jewish communities sometimes set Passover before the Northern Hemisphere spring equinox. As a result, some Christians began to experiment with independent computations. For example, the church in Alexandria devised a computational system that became the standard.
Today, the date of Easter is still computed using a lunisolar calendar, similar to the Hebrew calendar. However, the Western and Eastern Christian churches use different calendars, resulting in different dates for Easter. In the West, the Gregorian calendar is used, while in the East, the Julian calendar remains in use. This difference in calendars means that in the East, the vernal equinox may not align with the actual equinox, resulting in a different calculation for Easter. Consequently, Easter in the East falls between April 4th and May 8th, while in the West, it falls between March 22nd and April 25th.
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The World Council of Churches proposed a reform to the calculation of Easter
The date of Easter has been a topic of discussion and disagreement since the early days of Christianity. In the 2nd century AD, the controversy centred around the best method for computing the date of Easter Sunday, with some celebrating Easter on the 14th of Nisan concurrently with the Jewish Passover. This practice, known as Quartodecimanism, led to two schisms in the Church, one headed by Blastus in Rome and the other by Polycrates in the East.
In 314, the Provincial Council of Arles in Gaul asserted that Easter should be observed on the same day worldwide, with the Bishop of Rome setting the date annually. However, in the following centuries, different regions continued to adhere to varying systems of Easter computation. The Roman missionaries, for example, encountered British Christians following a different system during the time of Pope Gregory I (590-604).
The First Council of Nicaea in 325 established two key principles: independence from the Jewish calendar and worldwide uniformity in Easter celebrations. Roman Catholics and other Western branches of Christianity have since followed the tradition of celebrating Easter on the first Sunday after the first full moon of spring, in accordance with the Council of Nicaea's rulings.
The World Council of Churches (WCC) proposed a significant reform to the calculation of Easter during a 1997 summit in Aleppo, Syria. The WCC suggested defining Easter as the first Sunday following the first astronomical full moon after the astronomical vernal equinox, as observed from Jerusalem's meridian. This proposal aimed for a unified Easter date, with the reform set to begin in 2001 when the Eastern and Western dates of Easter would coincide. Unfortunately, this proposal has not been implemented due to the reliance on the cooperation of the Eastern Orthodox Church, which would have been immediately impacted by the change.
The WCC's 1997 proposal is one of several attempts to standardise the calculation of Easter. In 1923, a Synod in Constantinople put forth a suggestion as part of the Revised Julian calendar, and the Second Vatican Council in 1963 agreed to a fixed Sunday in the Gregorian calendar if other Christian churches concurred. More recently, in 2016, the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, initiated discussions with Catholic, Coptic, and Orthodox representatives to establish a fixed date for Easter, preferably within the next 5-10 years. While these proposals have not been universally accepted, they reflect a continued effort to resolve the long-standing controversy over the correct date for Easter.
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Easter is the principal feast of the ecclesiastical year
Easter is the most important feast day in the ecclesiastical year for Catholics. Leo I calls it the "greatest feast" (festum festorum), and says that Christmas is celebrated only in preparation for Easter. It is the oldest feast of the Christian Church, as old as Christianity itself, and is the connecting link between the Old and New Testaments.
The date of Easter is determined based on lunisolar cycles. The lunar year consists of alternating 30-day and 29-day lunar months, with an embolismic month periodically added to align with the solar cycle. In each solar year, the lunar month beginning with an ecclesiastical new moon falling between 8 March and 5 April is designated as the paschal lunar month. Easter is the third Sunday in the paschal lunar month or the Sunday after the paschal lunar month's 14th day. The 14th day of the paschal lunar month is designated as the Paschal full moon, which falls between 22 March and 18 April.
The fifty days from the Sunday of the Resurrection to Pentecost Sunday are celebrated as one feast day, or one "great Sunday." These days are considered the most important of the liturgical year, as Catholics celebrate the Lord's resurrection from the dead, his Ascension to the Father, and the sending of the Holy Spirit upon the Church. The Sundays during this period are called the Second, Third, Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, and Seventh Sundays of Easter. The Octave of Easter, the first eight days of Easter, are celebrated as Solemnities of the Lord. On the fortieth day of Easter, the Ascension of the Lord is celebrated, unless it is assigned to the Seventh Sunday of Easter. The Solemnity of Pentecost, on the fiftieth day of Easter, concludes the Easter season.
Eastern Catholics typically celebrate Easter at the same time as the dominant culture. For example, those in the East celebrate at the same time as the Orthodox Church, and those in the West celebrate at the same time as the Latin Church.
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Frequently asked questions
Eastern Catholics typically celebrate Easter at the same time as the dominant culture does—the Orthodox time if they are in the East, and the Latin time if they are in the West.
The difference in Easter dates is due to the use of different calendars. The Western Church calculates the date of Easter according to the Gregorian calendar, while the Eastern Orthodox Church uses the Julian calendar.
The Gregorian calendar was adopted by the Roman Catholic Church in 1582, while most of Europe continued to use the Julian calendar. As of the 20th century, the Julian calendar is 13 days behind the Gregorian calendar. For example, March 21 on the Julian calendar is April 3 on the Gregorian calendar.
No, it depends on the region. For example, Eastern Catholics in Ukraine follow the Julian calendar, while those in the Melkite community follow the Gregorian calendar.
