Catholics celebrate Easter today, and here's why the date moves

Easter is one of the most important Christian holidays, but also one of the few that comes at a different time each year.

While many holidays are tied to a specific date, Easter "travels" through the calendar, sometimes falling as early as the end of March, and sometimes as late as the end of April. Although this may seem confusing at first glance, there is a very precise system behind it that has been shaped over centuries.

The rule that determines the date of Easter was established back in the 4th century and is based on an interesting combination of astronomy and tradition.

Easter is celebrated on the first Sunday after the first full moon that occurs after the spring equinox, which means that two key elements are involved in its calculation: the Sun, which marks the beginning of spring, and the Moon, which determines its full cycle.

The spring equinox is fixed at March 21st, although in reality it can occur a day earlier or later, but for calculation purposes, this established date is used.

After it, one waits for the first full moon, and then the first Sunday that follows, which ultimately determines the exact day of celebration.

Precisely because of this method of calculation, Easter does not have a fixed date in the calendar, but can fall anytime between March 22nd and April 25th, making it one of the most interesting and specific holidays of the year.

This method of determining the date has deep historical and religious roots. Easter is connected to the event of the resurrection of Jesus Christ, which according to the Gospels, occurred after the Jewish Passover.

Passover is determined according to the lunar calendar, i.e., according to the phases of the Moon. In order to maintain a connection with this holiday, but also to bring order to the celebration, early Christians decided to combine the solar and lunar systems.

At the First Council of Nicaea, it was decided that Easter would be celebrated according to a unified rule, so that all Christians would observe this holiday on the same day. Before that, there were differences among communities.

If you have ever noticed that Catholics and Orthodox Christians often do not celebrate Easter on the same day, the reason lies in the calendars. Western churches use the Gregorian calendar, while many Eastern churches use the Julian calendar for calculating holidays.

The difference between these two calendars today is 13 days, which, along with additional rules, leads to Orthodox Easter often coming later, although it is based on the same principle, writes Putni Kofer.