The morning times., 1896-04-05
PASCHAL MOON GOVERNS
Easter Festival and How Its Date Is
Fixed in Calendar.
NAME OF TEUTONIC ORIGIN
Movable Feast Commemorative Of the
Resurrection MOrn-Rule for
AScertaining Its Date.
NAME OF TEUToNIC ORIGIN


likewise the day when sacrificial birds
and flowers that did not spring from
mother earth are plcasingly blended as
ornamentation OF lovely bunnets. them-
selves models OF tie artificer's skin.
Easter Sunday it is when dame nature
is popularity supposed TO obtain a fresh
grip upon Tie forelocks OF time and start
In upon campaign for the rehabilitation
of her dark and dismal boughS with the
verdure OF incipient summer, the rccupera-
tion OF he debiitated and dishcartencd sod
In garden Held and meadow; and when
eggs OF varied age and condition are sold
at an eXtravagant advance IN price, and,
under artistic manipulation assume the
hues and shades OF the rainbow.
II is a day, as well, when the re-
IfgieuSe PAGES the cell OF solitude in medl-
tativc mood. and when the truly pious
take inward observations and make new
resolves in u presence brought within closer
range: again, a day when multitude
of churcE-goers spend more time before
the mirror than in the presence OF the
ark OF tic covenant.
The festival of the goddess Ostera-in
Angio-SaXon the Easter, which is OBJ
served ia Commemoration OF the resur-
rection OF tie Saviour, was aDcieGtly ceie
brated for 4 period covering eight days,
but i'm the eleventh century il was limited
70 three. and is now generally reduced to
two. The name in common use is or
Teutonic derivation. known where il orig
mated as Gstera. In tile French it is
Pague. in Scottish Pasch. in each referring
to the same event and signifying the
passover.
EASTER 4 MOVABLE FEAST.
Easter i classified as a movable feast,
and upon Us coming depend the dates OF
most OF tie rasts and feastS calendared
In that category. Ii is regulated by the
moon and The Nernal equinox.
The Council of Nice, Ecld in the year
S25, dccrecd that the feast of Easter should
he celebrate. on the Sunday folio wing the
full moon. which falls either on the 2lst
OF March tEen regarded as The day OF the
equinox, or any OF the days following
till April ). Therefore. if the fuH moon
shall fall na the 2lst of March. and should
that he Saturday, the day following will
be Easter Sunday; but if it fall on the
20th, this should not be considered the
paSchal moon, and Easter Sunday would
be postponed until the proper day following
the next fun moon, Which would come upon
the 1sth OF April.
Easter feast would in that case occur
on the 25th of April. 1t follows, there
fore. that The day cannot be observed
prior 10 Ihe 18th OF March nor after the
25th or April.
To ascertain the date of Easter in
the ~gold,l number" for that year by Il
and deduct 10 from The product. 1t is
evident that there must be remainder,
since the product of any whole number
multiplied 10y Ii exceeds 10, and that re-
mamdeT should next be divided by 30.
If you are calculating for any year in tie
eighteenth or nineteenth century. deduct
one from the remainder. but, if for any
year in the twentieth or twenty-first cen
fury. deduct two from the remainder, for
your epaCt.
Subtract the epact from "a, or, if the
epact he greater than p, subtract from
%, and the product will he the number OF
days from March 21. to the next full moon,
and thus locates the date Of Easter Sunday.
PURELY MYTHICAL MOON.
The moon which is considered in this
connection is not the Sidereai moon, but. q
purely mythical one, known as the eccle-
siasticaI moon, introduced for the purpose
OF avoiding difficulties that would interfere
with an eNac,itude of calculation at times
If dependence were placed in the Queen OF
Night
This ina ginary luminary has a course
mapped out for il which-differs just enough
from that OF the real moon TO avoid the
difficulties noted.
The name Easter. applied 10 the festival
is older than Christianity and was a feast
day among the ancient Saxons before
Ghrlst's event. nearly always celebrated
in the spring Of the year.
The ''goIden number'' for any year is
the number of that year in the ''metonic
CYCLE" as arranged by Metou, OF As
syria. and this c ycle embraces nineteen
years, the golden numbers range from one
TO ninctaca Since the introduction OF
the Greg0rian calendar, the point from
which the golden numbers are reckoned
is B. c. as in that year the new moon
fell on the lst Of January.
As. by Melons la ". the new moon ap-
peared on tLc 1st Of January every nine
teCuth year, from that time, the following
rule Will enable any one TO lind the
golden number for any year. Add one to
thenumber OF years and divide by ninetee u.
The qoutieRt gives the number of cycles,
and the remainer viii be the golden num-
Der.
For example. The present year, 1896,
with l added becomes 1897. Divided by
10. the result shows 80 cycles, or 1881
years in the aggregate, with 1e, the
Remainder. as the golden number for 1896.
This number, 16, multiplied by IL gives
4 quotient of 176. Deduct 10 and 166
remains. This divided by 80 leaves 5
rs the result and 16 as remainder not
Invisible. From this deduct / tthis be-
ing the 18th century, and 15 is shown
Bs the number to be suhiracied from the
Fpact, 24, to ascertain the aggregate of
time bet wcen the 21st of March aud the
ERte of the next full moon.
AS COMPUTED BY METoN.
Added 10 81, the nine days locate the
Paschal moon OF the 3oth OF March. Mon
DAY last, and under the rule, which is in
tallible. the Easter Sunday date is April
&. The year 1899 is the last in the
present cycle. as computed by Meton.
The effect of the Metonie system and the
arbitrary ecclesiastical decision which
placed the day in the list of movable
feasts, instead Of fixing upon some certain
Sabbath subsequent TO March 21 for its
observance, is that the 14th OF the cal
endar moon, winch had from the time ol
Moses been considered full moon,'' foI
ecclesiastical purposes. falls generally on
the 18th or 18th of the real moon. which
ts generally on the 4th or 18th day.
With this explanation of what is meant
by "fun moon" viz: that il is the 4tl
day of the calendar moon, the rule is that
Easter is always first Sunday after the
pa schal full moon. Instances of the
celebration of Easter Day on March e
are very rare. In 1761 and 1918, respec
lively, 1t fell on that date, that being upor
the advent of the full moon, and in 1S45
and again in 1856 II fell on the 23d again
on the actual date of the full moon.
The main reason which induced this
arrangement of the calendar moon was that
Easter might never fall on the same dal
IS the Jewish Passover. They nevertheless
did occur together on the 14th OF April
1903, and on the Sd of April. 1925. TIL,
same thing will happen on the 18th of ApriI
1903; April /, 1928: April II, 1927, ana
April 10, 1881 The Jewish festival usual,
occurs inPassion week. a ndnever before tn,
goth of ofMarch or after the 25th of April, new
style computation.
In 1918 Easter day WI fall on Marcl
rs, but lt will not come as early as tht