Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1892-04-14
HOW TO TELL 1T.
A simple Explanation of the Changing OF
the Easter Date.

the Easter Date.
People that fully understand the re.
ligious significance of Easter know, OF
course, something about the change
fulness of the date, but only small
percentage CT them perhaps could sat
isfactorily explain the matter. If you
should ask ten intelligent people how
far the Easter date can vary the
chances are that not one would be able
to answer you correctly without first
consulting book OF reference
The fact is that the date varies more
than a month, though many years
elapse between the widest variations
It is possible for Easter to come as
early as the 22d of March. and it may
come as late as the 25th of April. Five
years ago, In 1856. Easter fell on the
18th of April, but it will not again
come SO late as that until the youngest
reader of these lines shall be- old
enough to be a grandparent-in 1a4&
The moon's monthly journey around
the earth Is the foundation of the
eccentric Easter dates, just as the
earth's annual excursion around the
sun causes the trouble that necessitates
leap years.
Easter is simply Christian asapta-
ton of the Jewish Passover. The word
Easter dates back further than the
time of the religious observations that
now characterize it The Anglo Saxon
name of April was Eastermonath,
meaning the month of the spring norn-
ing or the sun warmth, which a<vak
ened nature from its winter torpidity.
The early Christians adopted this idea
of natures spring awakening to typefy
the resurrection CT the Saviour, Just as,
she Jews used st to commensurate.
events connected with the escape OF
their people from Egyptian bondage.
But the antipathy of the Christians
toward the Jews, in those early days
led them to make an attempt tn have
the Easter obserxanees always fall on
dates other than those that com memo
rated the Passover The system that
we now have. for &xiDg the Easter date
is due to that attempt After as much
thought and calculation as wers given
to the tinkering of the calendar a COM
plete plan was, adopted, ano here is an
attempt to make 1t intelligible in few
words:
1t was determined, in the firss place
that Easter must invariably fall on the
first Sunday after the fourteenth day
OF the moon tsaaS happens to he reign
ing at vernal equinox time. Then it
was declared chat the date of the equi-
nox should be. arbitrarily made March,
81, although. the equinox really comes
sometimes q Little earlier CT a little
later than the a1St For example, sup
pose the equinox moon is jusa fourteea,
days old on the 21st of March and thai.
this day falls. on Saturday-then the
next day. SUNDAY, would 6lI the con-
dition noted above, and consequently
be Easter
OF course, you can readily perce;E,e
thar so eaEly an Easter date can worry
rarely oeauE. The Christian Easier
was originally SOFT of thanksgiving
Observance lasting eight days. This
conformaG somewhat ts5uhe length of
time devoted by pagans 10 their spring
5estivities, and approached the dnra
ton Of hhe- Jewish paschal 10 bservances.
The eight-day period was aftesward
; cut down to three days, after that to
two, and finally it became. as wa have
it now, day commemorative OF the
Y Press.
The contrast between tie cod,