Why is orthodox easter late this year

Unfortunately, the Council of Nicaea made few decisions that were of practical use as guidelines for the calculation of Easter Sunday, and it took several centuries before a common method was accepted throughout Christianity.

The main problem facing the church in its calculations was a gradually increasing gap between the true astronomical year and the Julian calendar in use at the time. The Julian calendar is a solar calendar in which the day is determined by the rotation of the earth with respect to the direction of the sun, and the year is determined by the rotation of the earth around the sun.

Not all calendars are based on the sun. For example the Muslim calendar is moon-based, whilst the Babylonians based their calendar on a combination of the sun and moon. It was quite accurate for its time, but was in fact 11 minutes and 14 seconds longer than the actual solar year. This meant that the Julian calendar year developed a gap between itself and the true astronomical calendar of one day for every years. Because of these problems the Church devised a method for the calculation of Easter that did not depend on astronomical accuracy.

The idea was that the date of Easter could be worked out without astronomical knowledge. The Church decided to define Easter with respect to an imaginary moon - known as the Ecclesiastic Moon. Also the date of the equinox was fixed at March 21st, even though it can vary slightly from this date. With this definition the date of Easter can be determined in advance without further astronomical knowledge. Even this method was not without problems, sometimes resulting in Easter being celebrated at different times in different parts of the world.

In its attempt to find a solution to these problems, in AD the church adopted another system of calculation proposed by the astronomer Victorinus, who had been commissioned by Pope Hilarius Pope from AD to reform the calendar and fix the date of Easter. Elements of his method are still in use today. Refusal of the British and Celtic Christian churches to adopt the proposed changes led to a bitter dispute between them and Rome in the 7th century.

Disagreements about the date of Easter are nothing new! The new system however, did not eliminate the ever-growing gap between the Julian calendar and the true astrological year caused by the addition of an extra 11 minutes and 14 seconds each year.

By the actual vernal equinox occurred 10 days before it appeared in the calendar! If allowed to continue for long enough, Christmas would eventually occur at the same time as the northern hemisphere Harvest Festival!

This potential calamity led Pope Gregory XIII to appointed a committee, which managed to reduce the error to 26 seconds per year or one day in about 3, years. To correct the already existing gap, Pope Gregory also issued a decree dropping 10 days from the calendar. The result was that the Julian calendar date of Thursday October 4th , was followed the next day by the Gregorian calendar date of Friday October 15th , thus removing the 10 dates, October 5th to 14th inclusive. At Easter, eggs are dyed red to represent the blood of Jesus that was shed on the cross for the redemption of all men.

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Greek News. All Archaeology Art Charity Crime. By John Smith. April 1, Related Posts. Lambs are roasted on a spit and the provision of wine is abundant. The roasted lamb is served in honor of Jesus Christ, who was sacrificed and rose again on Easter. Lamb is the most traditional Greek Easter food. Red-dyed eggs are cracked against each other and the person with the last remaining uncracked egg will have good luck. Easter Sunday is a time of festivity and people eat, chat or dance throughout the night.

On the island of Crete, many villages prepare for a bonfire effigy of Judas Iscariot, who betrayed Jesus Christ, as described in the New Testament of the Bible. In the lead up to the bonfire event, people gather sticks and branches to prepare to burn the effigy. Around the world, many Orthodox Catholic Churches, including the Greek and Russian Orthodox churches, hold Easter liturgies during the Easter period according to the Julian calendar.

Families unite and join in Orthodox Easter activities, festivities and traditions. However, it is a time for families and friends of the Orthodox Christian faith to gather together and to celebrate the Orthodox Easter period.

Easter is not a federal holiday in Jordan, although many Orthodox Christians are pushing to make it an official holiday. There have been petitions calling for the government in Jordan to make Easter an official public holiday. Jordan has a population of about six million people, and about six percent consists of Christians while about 92 percent consists of people of the Sunni Muslim faith.