Date of Easter Formula

  • Thread starter Thread starter JMJ_coder
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
Digitonomy said:
Here is a link to the document:

Inter gravissimas

The calendar is now perfect, according to Gregory. I think he was being a bit optimistic, but they really did an excellent job - definitely good enough for government work.
Click to expand...
I think that might be the “adjustment” I was talking about earlier. I couldn’t remember the dates, but did remember that Ben Franklin, in his autobiography gives 2 dates for his birthday because he was born before England made the adjustment. I think England was late to make the switch for political reasons (just a vague memory on that, but it does make sense).
 
FrDavid96 said:
No. Vatican II did not change it. The Council left the matter open, and said something about allowing for the possibility of it being changed, but this never happened.

What did happen is that sometime in the mid 1700s, the calendar was adjusted by a few days (about 11) because it was discovered that the calculations were off–it had to do with making century years (1700, 1800, 1900, 2100) NOT leap years, but millenial years (2000, 3000) yes leap years. That’s why there is 14 day difference between the Catholic and Orthodox calendars–the Orthodox didn’t make the adjustment. That makes their March 21 different than ours, and from what I understand, they go by “March 21” rather than the actual astronomical vernal equinox. That’s why Orthodox Easter is usually later, rarely the same, but never earlier.
Click to expand...
The Gregorian calendar - named for Pope Gregory - was adopted by catholic Europe in the 16th century and by Britain in the 18th and Russia in the 20th. Centennial years divisible by 400 are leap years and otherwise not. Thus 2000 was a leap year, 1900 was not and 3000 will NOT, 3200 will be.

Some Orthodox church have adopted what they call the 'Revised Julian Calendar" which is essentially the Gregorian Calendar (they are different about one day every 800 years or so) but they then get to say with a straight face they have not adopted the Gregorian Calendar. 😛 Sort of a sad commentary. Naturally more conservative Orthodox churches have not changed and the issue is disturbingly virulent among them.
 
FrDavid96 said:
I think that might be the “adjustment” I was talking about earlier. I couldn’t remember the dates, but did remember that Ben Franklin, in his autobiography gives 2 dates for his birthday because he was born before England made the adjustment. I think England was late to make the switch for political reasons (just a vague memory on that, but it does make sense).
Click to expand...
England and the American colonies switched in 1752, according to Wikipedia.

The point I was making was that the new calendar isn’t perfect - it’s just that it now takes a few thousand years, instead of a few decades, to add an erroneous day.
 
FrDavid96 said:
In general, they follow the same date as the Latin Church.
Click to expand...
Some UGCC parishes in the US (I’m not sure about elsewhere in the West) follow the “old” (i.e. Julian) calendar, including the reckoning of Easter.
FrDavid96 said:
However, there is provision to follow the Orthodox calculation in certain circumstances–say, for example if the E Catholics are in an isolated area which is heavily Orthodox, they may follow the Orthodox calendar for Easter. This is very rare though. In W Europe, the Americas, Australia, etc. they (ie Catholics) all follow the western date. I’m not sure exactly what happens in heavily Orthodox countries like Russia, but the Catholics are at least permitted to follow the Orthodox–whether they do or not, I can’t say exactly.
Click to expand...
In Cyprus and Greece, e.g., the various ECCs (and even the RCC) follow the Orthodox reckoning for Easter. I believe this is also true in Egypt, and I suspect also in Russia and Belarus. I’m not sure how the UGCC handles it in Ukraine.
 
Erich said:
My ex-sister-in-law is Greek Orthodox. If I remember correctly, she once said they use the same “first Sunday after the first full moon after the vernal equinox” formula, with the added proviso that Easter has to be after Passover.
Click to expand...
Yes, that’s correct, and it essentially accounts for the variation in dates.
 
malphono said:
Yes, that’s correct, and it essentially accounts for the variation in dates.
Click to expand...
One really must consider the Council of Nice’s issues concerning the use of passover - or other Jewish matter - to understand that the Orthodox really don’t demand strict interpretations of the canons unless they favor the Latins
 
malphono said:
Some UGCC parishes in the US (I’m not sure about elsewhere in the West) follow the “old” (i.e. Julian) calendar, including the reckoning of Easter.

In Cyprus and Greece, e.g., the various ECCs (and even the RCC) follow the Orthodox reckoning for Easter. I believe this is also true in Egypt, and I suspect also in Russia and Belarus. I’m not sure how the UGCC handles it in Ukraine.
Click to expand...
My Russian Byzantine Catholic parish and the Russian Orthodox (OCA) parish I attend both are on the Revised Julian Calendar. We are basically New Calendar except we reckon Pascha by the Old Calendar. This is the case as far as I can tell for the local Greek Orthodox Cathedral as well.
 
SMHW said:
Isn’t it also the case that the calculation is based on the pascal full moon rather than the astronomical full moon? As I understand it, the pascal full moon may be as many as two days different from the astronomical full moon.
Click to expand...
Yes, it’s actually not, in the end, based on astronomy, pure and simple (and complex). Easter can’t be before March 22, regardless of when the actual, astronomical vernal equinox is.
 
FrDavid96 said:
In general, they follow the same date as the Latin Church.

However, there is provision to follow the Orthodox calculation in certain circumstances–say, for example if the E Catholics are in an isolated area which is heavily Orthodox, they may follow the Orthodox calendar for Easter. This is very rare though. In W Europe, the Americas, Australia, etc. they (ie Catholics) all follow the western date. I’m not sure exactly what happens in heavily Orthodox countries like Russia, but the Catholics are at least permitted to follow the Orthodox–whether they do or not, I can’t say exactly.
Click to expand...
Orthodox often use the Julian calendar for determining their religious festival dates, while Catholics use the Gregorian calendar (as reformed in the late 16th century, though different countries adopted that change over various periods in subsequent centuries).
 
Erich said:
My ex-sister-in-law is Greek Orthodox. If I remember correctly, she once said they use the same “first Sunday after the first full moon after the vernal equinox” formula, with the added proviso that Easter has to be after Passover.
Click to expand...
That’s also what my Ukrainian Orthodox aunt told me.

Christmas is two weeks after ours due to the non-adoption of the Gregorian calendar.
 
Erich said:
My ex-sister-in-law is Greek Orthodox. If I remember correctly, she once said they use the same “first Sunday after the first full moon after the vernal equinox” formula, with the added proviso that Easter has to be after Passover.
Click to expand...
I was told this too. I looked back at a few years when we had the same Easter and it was after Passover. Other years Passover started in between the two Easters. So it seems to work.
 
I remember reading years ago that Pope Paul VI once proposed that all Christians celebrate Easter on the second Sunday of April. This common sense suggestion went nowhere.

However, the fact that the Orthodox Churches still use the Julian calendar when determining the date for Easter does make it easier for Catholics and Orthodox Christians to share the holy sites in Jerusalem, since they usually celebrate Easter a week apart.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top