Smyrna times., 1875-04-07
Explanation about Easter.

called the ''irregularity' of the occurrence !
of Easter as to the MONTH in which it comes;
and as the reply to that query may have
general interest, we give the explanation at
more lenght than usual. Our correspondent |
says: " | was born on Easter Sunday in |
1910, and in my childhood used it to cele- |
brate Easter Sunday as my birthday, but |
later on | found that the anniversary of
| the ddy Of the month of my birth came some
times three or four weeks distant from
Easter. For instance, the Easter Sunday
when | was born happened on the 10Th of
| April, 1910, but since then Easter Sunday
has happened (if my memory serves me) as
early as the 23d of March, and in this year,
| 1873 occurs on the 2Sth of March, Of
| course | understand that Sunday cannot
always come the same day of the month,
but will you kindly explain how it is that
| Easter sometimes comes as early as the third
or fourth week in March, and sometimes as
late as the third or fourth week in April p
| This is quite an interesting question his
torically, az vi as with reference to the
cali .rdals. Quite early in the history of the
| Christian Church, before the world was as
| we'll versed III 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
I-Resurrection, and a considerable schism
grew out of the disputes referred to. At
that time many people, and notably the
Hebrews, calculated their calendars by
10ar months, viz from new moon" until
next new moon,' and not according to the
annual revolution Of the sun. as nearly all
civilized people do now. These different
methods of computation, resulting III widely
different days for the yearly recurrence of
the dates of notable events, were of neces-
sity followed by disputes as to the precise
days on which anniversaries We're to be com
memorated. The first Easter having accur-
red at the "full of the moOn, at or near the
vcrnal equinox, and the lunar calendar
being then in vogue, it was held that the
full of the moon" near the vernal equinox
, must be the right time but as most Chris
tlans held also that the Easter festival
should be celebrated on Sunday, it became
necessary to reconcile these two conflicting
conditions, for the full of the moon" comes
on all other days of the week as we'll as on
= Sunday. SO in order to terminate the dis
- putrs and the schisms that had arisen, and
to guide those who recognized the authority
. of the Christian Church, it was decreed by
, the Council of Nice, held in the year 325
. that Easter should thenccforth always be
. celebrated on the Sunday which follow,
! the full moon that happens upon, or mex
:, after the vernal equinox-thc verna
equinox being fixed in the civil calender a,
:, the DIST of March. This rule is now accep
g ted by all Roman Catholic countries, and
by most Protestant countries as we'll
- The rule looks plain and simple enough
yet still it required laborous and complica
. ted calculations to work it out, and to max.
j.. it sure in practice. A number of the mys
i tcriouS words in ordinary calendars an,
- almanacS, such as "Epact, "Dominica
:. Letter" and "Golden Number are con
. nected with these calculations; and what
>, is known as the "Grcgorian Calender o
Il Epacts. is one of the tables resulting from
"a them. The principal use of this Calcnda
is to find the right Sunday for the Eastc
:, festival
f. Coming back now to the 'irrcgularity
i which exercises our correspondent, as to tn
! different months in which his Easter birth
- day occurs, and bearing in mind the rul
of the Council of Nice already stated,
:. will be seen that Easter may fall on the frs
=. Sunday after the Dist of March. If the 2ls
of March should occur on a aSaturday, and
- should also happen to be full moon on tina
/, day, then he next day Sunday, March 22d
No. would be Easter, and this is the earlicSt da
-, in the year on which Faster can ever happier
But suppose that the vernal equinox Marc
-, 2lst) should occur on Sunday, and that tn
49, moon should be at full on that day, the
Easter cannot come until the Sunday aft,
the ncrt toiio,cing full moon, and this latte
: event being twenty-nine days in future,
:, must fall upon the 10Th of April, whic
- would in the above case happen upon MOI
- day, and the next Sunday would be tn
25th of April. This last mentioned dat
(April 25th) is therefore the latest dat
upon which the Easter Festival can occu
:" From this it will be seen that Easte
:, Sunday, according to the accepted mode
~ of computation, based upon tho civil cae
= :, dar date for the vernal equinox, and til
:! age of the moon at the time of the aquino
:" can happen upon any of the dates betwee
nv the 22d day March and the 25th day
% April, but no earlier than the first, and i
VI, later than the last.
The Jewish solemnity of the passover
nc is movable anniversary of the san
q" kind, determined by similar calculation
~ based upon the vcrnal equinox and I'll
=" age of the moon, and is very nearly coinC
dent in time with Easter, except tin
SUNDAY" has no relation to it, In bot
'Xt methods of cOmputation-by the GregoriO
lin Calendar and by the Jewish Calendar-tl
1t moon is assumed to be "at the full on Il
he fourteenth day after the "new moon."
Phild. Ledger.