Orthodox Easter

Posted by DJL on May 6, 2013 in Church Matters | 0 comments

When I was growing up in Lancaster, PA, my best friend, Luke was the son of a Greek Orthodox priest. Since I was the son of a Lutheran pastor, we had a look to talk about, often comparing and contrasting our different traditions.

The one difference that always stood out to me was Easter, as it was only occasionally that our Easter celebrations fell on the same day. Most years, Luke celebrated Easter – along with Orthodox Christians throughout the world – later.

I never really understood the two different calendars the eastern and western churches employed, and after reading several articles this weekend – for yesterday, May 5, was the Orthodox Easter – I’m still not sure I understand it completely. Nevertheless, I’ll share what I think I know and be grateful for the additions and corrections of others.

The main point seems to be that the eastern churches hold to the older, Julian calendar, whereas the western churches moved to the Gregorian calendar.

Both traditions date Easter in relation to a lunar, rather than solar, calendar, following Jewish tradition. Because Christ’s death and resurrection were closely associated with Passover, the church followed the Jewish calendar of dating Passover as the 14th day of the lunar month Nisan, which could fall on any day of the week. Christians then celebrated Easter on the Sunday following this day.

The Council of Nicaea (325) established the date of Easter as falling on the first Sunday after the “Paschal full moon” which followed the March equinox. But here’s where difficulties arose. The older, Julian calendar was slightly off, adding to each year 11 minutes (actually 10 minutes and 48 seconds, but who’s counting  – well, Gregory was!). The Gregorian calendar – named for the one who implemented it, Pope Gregory the 13th – adjusted this by a new and more complex way of calculating the leap year. By this time (1582), the calendar had drifted 13 days ahead of where it “should” have been, and so the Gregorian calendar subtracted those days. All of which affected how one calculates the March equinox and, consequently, Easter.

For those following the Gregorian calendar, Easter falls between March 22 and April 25 (inclusive). For those following the Julian calendar, however, Easter can fall between April 4 and May 8.

Clear? Me neither. (And I actually think it’s even more complicated than this.) But though I don’t fully understand either calendar, I do know that Orthodox Christians throughout the world celebrated Easter yesterday. And so to them, and to my childhood friend Luke – who became a Greek orthodox priest and missionary – I say, Christ is Risen! He is Risen indeed!

If you’re interested in learning more about the dating of the Orthodox Easter, check out the Orthodox Research Institute or the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America.