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DETERMINING THE DATE OF ORTHODOX EASTER (PASCHA)

The following excerpts on the determination of the dating of Easter are
taken from Dr. Lewis Patsavos' article "The Calendar of the Orthodox
Church." The full text of this article is available online at:
http://www.goarch.org/access/Companion_to_Orthodox_Church/calendar


THE CALENDAR IN THE ORTHODOX CHURCH
by Lewis Patsavos, Ph.D.
Copyright 1990-1999 Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America

RELIGIOUS CALENDAR: HISTORY AND DEVELOPMENT

Within the Orthodox Church feast days and fast days are reckoned
according to two distinct calendars, the Julian Calendar and the
Gregorian Calendar. The first is attributed to the Roman Emperor Julius
Caesar, whose name it bears. It was later corrected in the sixteenth
century by Pope Gregory XIII due to the ever-increasing discrepancy
between calendar time and calculated astronomical time. Thus the
Gregorian Calendar came into being.

Old and New Calendars

Inasmuch as the Julian Calendar had been in continuous use in the
Christian East and West throughout the centuries, the subsequent
introduction of the Gregorian Calendar in the West created yet another
anomaly in the deteriorating relations between the two Churches. The
need for correction of the Julian Calendar was well understood in the
East and had even led some to devise a new calendar themselves.
Nevertheless, the Julian Calendar remained in use throughout the
Byzantine period and beyond. Despite the efforts of the emissaries of
Pope Gregory to convince the Orthodox to accept the New (Gregorian)
Calendar, the Orthodox Church rejected it. The main reason for its
rejection was that the celebration of Easter would be altered: contrary
to the injunctions of canon 7 of the Holy Apostles, the decree of the
First Ecumenical Synod, and canon 1 of Ancyra, Easter would sometimes
coincide with the Jewish Passover in the Gregorian calendar.

This is where the matter stood until the end of World War I. Until
then, all Orthodox Churches had strictly abided by the Old (Julian)
Calendar, which at present is 13 days behind the New Calendar long
since adopted by the rest of Christendom. In May of 1923, however, an
"Inter?Orthodox Congress" was convened at Constantinople by the then
Ecumenical Patriarch, Meletios IV. Not all Orthodox Churches were in
attendance. The Churches of Serbia, Romania, Greece, and Cyprus were;
the Churches of Alexandria, Antioch and Jerusalem, although invited,
were not; the Church of Bulgaria was not invited. Several issues were
under discussion at the congress, one of which was the adoption of the
New Calendar. No unanimous agreement was reached on any of the issues
discussed. Several of the Orthodox Churches, however, did eventually
agree, though not all at the same time, to adopt the New Calendar.
These were the Churches of Constantinople, Alexandria, Antioch, Greece,
Cyprus, Romania, Poland, and most recently, Bulgaria (1968); on the
other hand, the Churches of Jerusalem, Russia and Serbia, along with
the monasteries on Mt. Athos, all continue to adhere to the Old
Calendar.

ORTHODOX EASTER

The determination of the date of Easter is governed by a computation
based on the vernal equinox and the phase of the moon. According to the
ruling of the First Ecumenical Synod in 325, Easter Sunday should fall
on the Sunday which follows the first full moon after the vernal
equinox. If the full moon happens to fall on a Sunday, Easter is
observed the following Sunday. The day taken to be the invariable date
of the vernal equinox is March 21.

Herein lies the first difference in the determination of Easter between
the Orthodox Church and the other Christian Churches. 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 such, it does not take into consideration the number of days
which have since then accrued due to the progressive inaccuracy of the
Julian Calendar. Practically speaking, this means that Easter may not
be celebrated before April 3 (Gregorian), which had been March 21--the
date of the vernal equinox--at the time of the First Ecumenical Synod.
In other words, a difference of 13 days exists between the accepted
date for the vernal equinox then and now. In the West, this discrepancy
was addressed in the 16th century through the adoption of the Gregorian
Calendar, which adjusted the Julian Calendar still in use by all
Christians at that time. Western Christians, therefore, observe the
date of the vernal equinox on March 21 according to the Gregorian
Calendar.

The other difference in the determination of Easter between the
Orthodox and other Christian Churches concerns the date of Passover.
Jews originally celebrated Passover on the first full moon following
the vernal equinox. Christians, therefore, celebrated Easter on the
first Sunday after the first full moon following the vernal equinox.
After the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 A.D. and the other tragic
events which gave rise to the dispersal of the Jews, Passover sometimes
preceded the vernal equinox. This was occasioned by the dependence of
the dispersed Jews upon local pagan calendars for the calculation of
Passover. As a consequence, most Christians eventually ceased to
regulate the observance of Easter by the Jewish Passover. Their
purpose, of course, was to preserve the original practice of
celebrating Easter following the vernal equinox.

As an alternative to calculating Easter by the Passover, "paschal
(Easter) cycles" were devised. The Orthodox Church eventually adopted a
19?year cycle, the Western Church an 84-year cycle. The use of two
different "paschal cycles" inevitably gave way to differences between
the Eastern and Western Churches regarding the observance of Easter.
Varying dates for the vernal equinox increased these differences.
Consequently, it is the combination of these variables which accounts

for the different date of Orthodox Easter, whenever it varies from the
rest of Christendom.

SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER READING

J. Dowden, The Church Year and Calendar. Cambridge, 1910.

D. R. Fotheringham, The Date of Easter and Other Christan Festivals.
London, 1928.

K. T. Ware, The Orthodox Church. Penguin Books, 1982, pp. 304-310.


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And as far as I know, there has been more talk since then...

Christ is risen!
Agi