Kawartha Lakes Mums: Two Easters? Which Do Kawartha Lakes Mums Celebrate?

Wednesday 9 March 2016

Two Easters? Which Do Kawartha Lakes Mums Celebrate?

Kawartha Lakes Mums Asks: Which Easter Do You Celebrate?

Did you know Easter is celebrated on two very different dates this year?
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Christian Gifts : Light Box Insert - Happy Easter

This post has a potential Easter savings tip for parents as well as an attempt to explain why there are two different dates for this moveable Christian feast.

Two Easters?

Why Two Different Easters?

While occasionally most Christian churches celebrate the resurrection of Christ on the same day, often many Christians celebrate many weeks apart.
So how did this come about?
According to Borgna Brunner's article "A Tale of Two Easters", both the Western and Orthodox calculate the date for this movable Christian Feast the same way:

"Easter is the first Sunday after the first full moon on or after the vernal equinox"

So why the difference?
Well… tis is a bit more complex.
You see, the churches base the dates for moveable feasts on different calendars: Western churches use the Gregorian calendar, the standard calendar for much of the world, and Orthodox churches use the older, Julian calendar. In addition to this, there is a difference in the interpretation of ecclesiastical moons and paschal full moons, the astronomical equinox, and the fixed equinox. While the Eastern Church sets the date of Easter according to the actual, astronomical full moon and the actual equinox as observed along the meridian of Jerusalem, site of the Crucifixion and Resurrection. The Eastern Orthodox Church also applies the formula so that Easter always falls after Passover, since the Crucifixion and Resurrection of Christ took place after he entered Jerusalem to celebrate Passover. However, the Western Church calculations sometimes place Easter weeks ahead of Passover, such as in 2016.

Trying to Resolve Easter Date Differences

In 1997, the Council of World Churches met in Aleppo, Syria, and proposed a solution thought to work for both East and West: to use the most advanced astronomically accurate calculations available, using the meridian of Jerusalem as the point of measure. However, no further progress has been made since and the problem remains. So, in 2016, most people in Kawartha Lakes will be celebrating the Resurrection of Christ on March, weeks ahead of Passover, and a few will celebrate the Resurrection of Christ after Passover on April
Which date will you celebrate?
For those who celebrate with bunnies, chocolate and eggs- a throwback to the celebration of the old English fertility goddess Eostre, retailers are welcoming you to their array of offerings based on the Western Church date.

2016 Easter Savings Tip?

Parents might contemplate introducing a shift to the Eastern Orthodox date and take advantage of "post-Easter" sales.
Related Links

More Easter Posts

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