Easter Sunday is celebrated on the first Sunday after the ecclesiastical full moon that occurs on or soonest after 21 March, but calculations vary. Show This date is observed by Western Christianity - Roman Catholic, Anglican Communion, Protestant Churches, etc. The Orthodox Easter Sunday often occurs at a later date than the Easter date, so many Orthodox Christians in the United States celebrate Jesus� resurrection on Easter Sunday. As well as being one of the most significant observances in the Christian calendar, Easter brings an eagerly-awaited long weekend for many in the UK. Its date, and those of the accompanying bank holidays, are therefore always worth keeping in the diary. However, it’s possible to get caught out because its position in the calendar changes each year – here’s when Easter falls in 2023, and how its date is calculated. Easter Sunday falls on 9 April in 2023, just over a week earlier than this year, when it’s on 17 April. Unlike in 2022, when Easter is arriving towards the end of the school holidays, next year’s celebrations should come about midway through the break. It means that Good Friday will be on Friday 7 April, marking a bank holiday across the UK. Easter Monday will then be on Monday 10 April, which will complete a four-day weekend for people in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. It’s not actually a nationwide bank holiday in Scotland, although various councils do claim it as one, such as Edinburgh, Falkirk and Dundee. This year, Easter Sunday falls on 17 April (Photo: Bettmann Archive/Getty Images)Why does the date of Easter change every year?The date of Easter changes each year because it is based on the lunar cycle. Easter Sunday always falls on the Sunday after the first full moon following the Spring equinox in March. We now use the solar, Gregorian calendar rather than a lunar one, which means the full moon occurs on different dates each year, and therefore so does Easter. Dr Greg Brown, astronomer at the Royal Observatory Greenwich, said Easter is based on a combination of the seven-day week and the cycle of the phases of the Moon. “The March equinox is the date when the sun crosses from the southern hemisphere of the sky to the northern hemisphere marking the beginning of spring. “The day and night of the equinox are of approximately equal length. As neither the calendar year (365 days) nor the cycle of the phases of the Moon (29.5 days) divide evenly by the seven-day week, the date of Easter Sunday can move irregularly by up to a month, from between late March and late April.” More from NewsHow was the Easter date decided?The decision on how and when Easter should fall each year was made by the Council of Nicaea in 325 AD, the first major church council. As the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus happened after Passover, some early Christians decided to celebrate it then – on the 14th of the month of Nisan (from the Assyrian and Hebrew calendars). This correlates with March or April in the Gregorian calendar (named after Pope Gregory XIII), which is what we use today. Other early Christians preferred to celebrate on a Sunday because it is thought Jesus’s tomb was found on this day, according to Brent Landau, a lecturer in religious studies at the University of Texas. The Council of Nicaea was asked to resolve this. It decided Easter should be after the first full moon following the March equinox. Why do different churches celebrate Easter on different dates?It’s down to using different calendars. Eastern Churches (Greek and Slavic) and Oriental Churches (Syrian, Armenian, Coptic Egyptian and Ethiopian) continued using the Julian Calendar, named after Julius Caesar, even after Europe adopted the Gregorian Calendar in 1582. “This is why even now Easter is calculated differently by the Eastern and Oriental Orthodox Churches to the Catholic and other western Churches,” said theology and religion Professor Emma Loosely, from the University of Exeter. “Easter is only ever celebrated by all Christians on the relatively rare occasions when the two calendars align,” she added. Easter last took place on the same day last year for both Christian Churches in 2017, but this will not happen again until 2034.
 Easter
Easter is the most important date on the Christian Calendar, even more important in the minds of most believers than Christmas Day. Numerous states observe a public holiday on Good Friday – which is the Friday immediately preceding Easter Sunday.
According to the Biblical record, it is the day on which Jesus Christ arose from the grave, proving His claims and accomplishing His mission. Without Easter, Christians would have no living Savior and Christianity would become little more than a moral philosophy. Easter is a specifically Christian holiday, although many do not celebrate it in a religious manner. Many in the US may take part in Easter celebrations as a fun way to welcome spring weather. Easter Sunday is not an official holiday in the US, but it is very widely celebrated nonetheless. The date of Easter is established in a very complex way. It is based on the ecclesiastical Vernal Equinox, always 21 March, which may or may not correspond to the actual astronomical Vernal Equinox any particular year. Easter is the first Sunday following the first full moon following 21 March. If 21 March is a full-moon day and a Sunday, then Easter is on the next Sunday. Also note that those in Eastern Orthodox traditions will celebrate Easter Sunday based on the Julian instead of the Gregorian Calendar, which may or may not affect the date. Easter Sunday can fall anywhere from 22 March to 25 April. Many other dates for Christian holidays are based on the movable date of Easter. Palm Sunday, Good Friday, and all Holy Week are just before Easter. Lent begins 40 days before Easter. Ascension Day is 40 days after Easter, and Pentecost comes 50 days after Easter Sunday. It is customary for many in the US to attend special church services on Easter Sunday, even if they don’t usually go to church week to week. Many will dress in white attire and try to look their very best. The sermon will be something on the Resurrection of Christ as recorded in the Four Gospels in the Bible. They may also attend passion plays where the life, death, and resurrection of Christ is reenacted on stage. Some of these passion plays are quite large, elaborate, and held out of doors in open-air theaters. Most children will be out of school for Spring or Easter break this time of year, and many adults get the day off work if they usually work Sundays. People spend time together at home as a family, painting eggs, eating a lot of chocolate and sweets, and enjoying family meals together. Many go on picnics, for a walk in the park, visit a nature reserve, or otherwise get outside to enjoy the spring weather on or around Eastertime. Many towns and big cities in the US hold large Easter parades, some of which are nationally televised. And it is common for children to go on Easter egg hunts, searching for dyed hard-boiled eggs in the yard or for treats hidden inside of plastic pull-apart eggs. Previous Years
What are Easter dates 2023 in UK?In 2023, Easter Sunday falls on April 9, 2023, just over a week earlier than in 2022, when it fell on April 17.
What are Easter dates for 2024?Easter for the year 2024 is celebrated/ observed on Sunday, March 31st.
Why does the date of Easter change?Did you know that Easter is the only holiday whose date fluctuates from year to year? Easter always falls on the first Sunday after the Paschal Full Moon, the first full moon after the vernal equinox. Making the earliest day available to observe Easter, March 22, and the latest day, April 25.
What is the date of Esther on this 2022?Easter 2022 will be observed on Sunday, April 17! Easter is a “movable feast” that is always held on a Sunday between March 22 and April 25. Why is Easter so late this year?
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