Facets of Faith for March 22, 2008

• By LEILA PITCHFORD-ENGLISH
• 2theadvocate.com staff writer
• Published: Mar 22, 2008 - Page: 1D - UPDATED: 12:05 a.m.

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In case you haven’t noticed, Easter is tomorrow.

Yes, March 23 is early for Easter.

In fact, March 22 is the earliest date that Easter can be when using the Gregorian calendar, which dates to 1582. The last time that happened was 1915. It will happen again in 2285. Easter has been on its earliest date six times, the first in 1598.

Easter has been on its second-earliest date, March 23, six times, the first in 1636. It will be on March 23 this year and in 2160.

The latest Easter can fall in the year is April 25, which happened in 1886 and 1943 and will happen again in 2038.

Early Easters left in your life?
Here are the March Easter dates for the next 100 years:

• March 25: 2035, 2046, 2103.
• March 26: 2062, 2073, 2084.
• March 27: 2016.
• March 28: 2027, 2032, 2100.
• March 29: 2043, 2054, 2065.
• March 30: 2059, 2070, 2081, 2092.
• March 31: 2013, 2024, 2086, 2097.

How are dates determined?
Early Christians celebrated the Resurrection of Jesus in their Sunday services. Around the end of the first century, an annual observance of Christ’s Death and Resurrection developed for the anniversary of the Crucifixion. This is the day of preparation for the Jewish Passover, 14 Nisan on the Jewish calendar, and could fall on any day of the week.

Early Christians used it as a fast day that ended with a Eucharist meal.

A controversy eventually developed. Some insisted the Paschal fast end on Sunday. Others observed only 14 Nisan.

In 325, the Council of Nicaea solved this by setting a feast date for the annual celebration: The Sunday following the first full moon after the vernal equinox.

The vernal equinox is the spring date that the sun is at the equator, moving from the southern into the northern hemisphere. Day and night are the same length. It happens about March 20, and Easter falls between March 22 and April 25.

Changes in calendars through the years and in different countries have made for discrepancies.

More differences arise over use of the “official” vernal equinox, which is always March 21. This has led to complicated formulas to set the date.

Even today, Western and Eastern celebrations of Easter are often on different days. The short explanation is that Eastern churches use the Julian calendar, while Western churches use the Gregorian calendar. To see the mathematical formulas used, visit the Web sites listed as sources.