Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1875-03-27
EVENING STAR.
sATuRDAY.........-M March -. Is7a.


ExPianatten About Easter.
among the queries recently received from
co,,tespondents Is one relating TO what is
Easter, as 10 the RsoFsh in which IN cn,,aS.
and as she reply TO that Query NAV hays
geoersl interest, we give the explanation al
more length than usual. Our corre>nnndent
says:-"I was born on Easter SUNDAY in $50
and in my childhood used to celebraie Fasts,
Sunday as my birthday, but later on found
mat the anniversary OF the dIv 81 TIE Buonfb
OF my birth came sometimes three or four
weeks distant from Easter. For instance
the Easter Sunday when / was born hap
pened on the 18th OF April, $50. but since
then Easter Sunday has happened tif my
memory serves mel as early as the sd OF
March, and in this year. ISIS. occurs on the
sSth oil March. OF course understand that
Sunday cannot always come on the same day
OF the month"; but will you kindly explain
now III Is that Easter sometimes comes aS
early as the third or fourth week in March,
ana sometimes as late as the third or fourth
week in April?"
This is quite an interesting question his
toileally, a. well as with reference 70 the
calendars. Quite early in the history OF the
CHRISTIAN Church, before the world was a.
wen Nersed IN astronomy and in the art OF
constructing calendars as it Is now, there
were serious disputes as to the proper time
for the celebration OF Easter or the Day OF
resurrection, and considerable scliSm
grew out OF the disputes referred 20. At that
Time many people, and notably the Hebrews
calculated their calendars 10y ftcpl0r months
VIZ; from new moon" until next new
tuition OF the sun, as nearly all civilized
people do now. These different methods OF
computation, resulting i'm widely ditferen;
days Tor the yearly recurrence OF the dates OF
notable events, were OF necessity followed ~
disputes aS to the precise days on which IN
nfrtTSd11eS were 10 be comTemorated. The
hrst Easter having occurred at the "full OF
the moon,' al or near the vernal equinox,
and the lunar calendar being then in vogue
IL was held that the "full of the mOoa"
near the vernal equinox must be the right
= Christians al ia
the Easter festival should be celebrated
on Sunday, IL became necessary TO reconcile
these two conflicting conditions for the full
OF the moon comes on all other days OF the
week as well as on Sunday. So in order 10
terminate the disputes and the SchiSmS that
had arisen, and TO guide those who recog-
nized the authority of the Christian Church
II was decreed by the Council of Nice held i'm
the year 325, mat Easter should thenceforth
anyways DE celebrated on the Sunday which
follows the full moon that happens upon ar
next after the vernal equinox-the vernal
equinox being fixed in the civil calendar a.
the 2lst of March. This rule is now accepted
Dy all Roman Catholic countries. as well as
by most Protestant countries as well The
rule looks plain and simple enough, yet Still
IL required laborious and complicated calcl-
lations TO work il out. and to make IL sure i'm
practice. a number of the mysterious words
IN ordinary calendars and almanacs, such as
.'Epact, ''DomlniCal Letter. and Golden
Number, are connected with these calcuIa-
lions; and what is known as the "Gregorian
calendar of Epacts,, IS one Of the tables re-
Calendar is TO find the right Sunday for the
Easter festival.
Coming back now 20 the irregularity''
which exercises our CORRESPONDENT, as to the
different months i'm which his Easter "birth-
day occurs, and bearing in mind the rule of
the Council of Nice already stated, &c will be
seen that Easter man fall on the first SUNDAY
after the 2lst of March. Ii the 2lst of March
should occur on saturday, and il should
also happen To be fall moon on that day
lhen the neNtday SUNDAY, March 23d - would
be Easter, and this is the earliest day in the
year on which Easter can ever happen. But
suppose that the vernal equinox March 2lSD
should occur on Sunday, and that the
moon should be at the full on that day, then
u'e HeTt gOUOacir1g JtW moon. and this latter
event being twenty-nine days in the future,
III must fall upon the 18th of April, which
would in the above case happen upon Mon
day, and the next Sunday would be the 18th
OF April. This aforementioned date april
25thl is therefore the ldtes date upon which
the Easter festival can occur. From this it
Will be seen that Eastern sunday. according
10 the accepted modes of computation, based
upon the civil calendar date for the vernal
equinox, and the age of the moon at the time
of the equinox, can happen upon any Of the
Gates between the I'D day of March and the
18th day of April, but no earlier than The
nrSt, and no later than the last.
Inc Jewish solemnity of the +" Passover is
" movable" anniversary Of the same kind.
determined by similar calculations. based
upon the vernal equinox and the age of the
moon, and Is very nearly coincident in time
with Easter, except that " sunday has no
relation 10 il. In both methods OF computa-
tion-by the GregOrian calendar and by the
Jewish calendar-the moon is assumed 10 be
" al tne full" on the fourteenth day after The
80 new moon. TDY,ilGOelDhig IeCfgPT.