What time of day is Easter. Why is Easter at a different time every year?

Easter, translated from Greek as “deliverance”, serves as a reminder that Christ, who endured all suffering for the human race, resurrected on the third day after burial. Easter in England, Russia or Italy is the main Christian holiday, which is expected annually by millions of believers around the world. On this great day for all Orthodox believers celebrate the deliverance of the son of God from torment and the gift of eternal life to people. Easter is usually celebrated on one of the Sundays in spring. Why is Easter celebrated at a different time each year?

Based on the message, the death of Jesus Christ fell on the celebration of the Jewish Passover, which used to be celebrated always after the first full moon following. that is, the Jewish Passover was always celebrated on the nearest full moon after this date, so the day of the celebration of Passover could shift. In the 4th century, they tried to choose a common date that would preserve the peculiarities of calculating the Jewish Passover of the time of Jesus. Thus, the "mobile" date of the great was established and now everyone knows why Easter is celebrated at different times.

Main Easter Traditions

House cleaning

It is believed that all housework must be done three days before the holiday. Knowing why Easter is celebrated at different times, the date of its occurrence is easy to calculate. On Thursday, before the long-awaited day, believers wash windows and floors to let more light into the house on the Great Holiday. In Rus', there were many traditions associated with Maundy Thursday. Christians cleaned the house, the yard from dirt and debris, fumigated the room, garden and pets with juniper, trying to scare away illness and misfortune. Then people bathed in a bath, and the girls combed their braids under the apple trees so that their hair grew thicker. To this day, it is believed that nothing can be done on Friday, even washing.

Easter table

Happy Easter brought us a lot beautiful traditions which are loved by Orthodox Christians today. The main dishes that are on the table are Easter cakes and colored eggs. Few people bake Easter cakes today, because they are easy to buy in the store. It has also become customary to paint eggs with purchased stickers. Many have already forgotten where exactly the tradition of giving came from. This custom came to us from St. Mary Magdalene, who, after the ascension of Christ, presented the emperor Tiberius with a red egg, a symbol of the life-giving death of Jesus, before starting her sermon. Just as a clean egg emerges from under a hard shell, so Jesus rose from the tomb for eternal life.

Why is Easter celebrated at different times? The question is not the most important for Christians. For many today, this is an occasion to gather as a family at the festive table, break eggs, give Easter cakes, greeting each other with traditional phrases: “Christ is risen!” - "Truly risen!".

Usually Easter is celebrated in the spring on one of the Sundays. Why is this every year great holiday can be celebrated at different times?

Jewish and Christian Passover

Initially, the celebration of the Christian Easter was closely connected with the date of the celebration of the Jewish Passover. It was celebrated not according to the solar calendar, but according to the lunar Jewish one.

The essence of the Passover is that it is dedicated to the miraculous liberation of the Jews from Egyptian slave fetters. This event took place in the middle of the 13th century BC. It is described in the second book of the Bible - Exodus.

The book says that the Lord warned the Israelites about the coming salvation and announced to them that in the coming night every Egyptian family would lose their firstborn, since only such a punishment would force the Egyptians to free the Jews from slavery. And so that this punishment did not affect the Jews themselves, it was necessary to anoint the doors of their houses with the blood of a lamb (lamb) slaughtered the day before. His blood will save the Jewish firstborn from death and free them from slavery. And so it happened. Since then, Easter has been celebrated every year, and the Easter lamb is slaughtered to commemorate this event.

This lamb is a type of Jesus Christ, who was the Savior of the world, crucified on the cross for the sins of mankind. The Gospel says: “Christ is the Lamb of God, Who takes away the sin of the world, His precious Blood, shed at Calvary, cleanses us from all sin. And his crucifixion directly on the day of the Jewish Passover is by no means accidental.

It happened on the day of the full moon, after spring equinox, on the 14th of Nisan according to the Jewish calendar. And Jesus resurrected on the third day after the crucifixion, which we call the resurrection. That is why the dates of the celebration of Jewish and Christian Easter are so interconnected.

first three centuries Christian history There were two dates for the celebration of Easter. Some celebrated it on Nisan 14 along with the Jews - as a symbol of the memory of Christ's crucifixion and his death, while others, who turned out to be the majority - on the very first Sunday after Nisan 14, as a symbol of Christ's resurrection from the dead.

The final decision on the date of the celebration of Easter was made in 325 at the first Ecumenical Council. It was decided: "... to celebrate Easter, after the Jewish Easter, on the first Sunday after the full moon, which will be on the very day of the vernal equinox or immediately after it, but not earlier than the vernal equinox."

Julian and Gregorian calendar

Thus, starting from the year 325, Christians around the world began to celebrate Easter and other Christian holidays one day.

However, after the split of the Christian Church in 1054, the so-called Roman Catholic Church appeared. At first, the calendar of holidays remained the same, but then in 1582, Pope Gregory the 13th introduced the Gregorian calendar, and hence the new chronology. This calendar was considered more accurate in terms of astronomy, because now it is accepted in most countries of the world.

A Russian Orthodox Church and to this day uses the old Julian calendar (which is still popularly called Orthodox), since Jesus Christ lived at the time when the Julian calendar was in effect.

Based on this calendar, the Passover described in the Gospel chronologically comes immediately after the Jewish Passover. In the Gregorian calendar, it is believed that Catholic Easter can not only coincide with Jewish, but also be somewhat earlier than it.

Thus, sometimes Orthodox Easter coincides with Catholic, and sometimes there is a fairly large discrepancy in numbers.

It is also worth noting that the Gregorian calendar is certainly more accurate, but for centuries the Holy Fire in Bethlehem has been descending on the day of Easter according to the Julian (Orthodox) calendar.

For the Orthodox of the whole world, the bright holiday of Christ's resurrection, Easter 2018, will soon come. Next year this event falls on April 8th. Orthodox Christians will be able to purify themselves spiritually, feel divine blessings, and rejoice for several days that Jesus saved all of humanity by sacrificing himself, opening the way to the Kingdom of Heaven for people.

What is Easter

Now Easter is celebrated as the resurrection of Jesus Christ, but the holiday itself came from another event. Even before the birth of the Savior, the ancient Jews celebrated this day in honor of the memory of the exodus of the Israelites from Egypt. There, these people were like a slave force, they did all the difficult, dirty work. The prophet Moses brought out the people for whom the new life in which they were freed from the Egyptians. The word "passover" in Hebrew means "exodus".

What date is Easter in 2018

Many are already wondering when Easter will be in 2018. The Orthodox will celebrate it on April 8. Every year the date of the holiday changes, as a rule, it falls on April or May. For different Christian religions, the date of this great day may differ, although the holiday is the same. So, Catholics will celebrate Easter in 2018 a week earlier, and the Jewish people will celebrate from March 30 to April 7.

Holy Resurrection of Christ among the Orthodox

Easter 2018 is the main religious holiday for the Orthodox, it follows the Jewish Passover. It is believed that on this day many years ago Jesus was resurrected after his crucifixion. This event is a kind of statement that all righteous people will be resurrected after their death. Jesus, as it were, opened the way for all people to the Kingdom of Heaven, atoned for all human sins.

For the Orthodox, the festive service begins on Saturday before midnight and ends on Sunday morning. At the end of the ceremony on Easter night, parishioners break their fast with Easter cake, eggs, and curd Easter. Easter 2018 lasts seven days, which are called bright week. The next 40 days before the Ascension of the Lord are considered Easter, special. On the holiday, it is customary to treat yourself to colored eggs, Easter cakes, cottage cheese Easter, and meat delicacies.

The date of Easter for Catholics

Catholic Easter in 2018 will come on April 1st. The principles of celebration among believers of this religion coincide with Orthodox Christians, only small nuances differ. Catholic rituals for Easter

During the festive service required attribute is fire, it is distributed to all parishioners. From him a candle is lit, called Paschal. Fire is a symbol of the light of God, so people bring it home, set fire to lamps, strive to keep it until next year.
At the end of the service, a religious procession with prayers and songs follows. All words are solemn, the priests praise Jesus.
A treat with colored eggs.
Catholics in many countries believe that eggs bring easter bunnies or rabbits. This is not true, but the animal is another symbol of the holiday. Houses are decorated with his figurines, cookies and other sweets of this form are made.
The festive meal brings together the whole Catholic family, a lot of different dishes, among which there will definitely be eggs, pastries and meat. Everyone congratulates each other on happy holiday and have fun, but the Catholics do not have the custom of christening (“Christ is Risen!”).

Jewish Easter

The Jews celebrate this holiday in a special way and it falls on the 14th day of Nisan according to the Jewish lunar calendar. This celebration is dedicated to the exodus of the Jewish people from Egypt, and not to the resurrection of Jesus. The holiday is celebrated with a rich feast. On this day, it is customary to have matzah (unleavened bread) on the tables. It is believed that in Egypt the Jews ate it, and when they left it, then only she was with them from food. Some features of the celebration of Jewish Passover:

Products that are made on the basis of fermentation should absolutely not be, they are called chametz. So that there is no forbidden food left at home, and also to meet the holiday clean, before it is done spring-cleaning.
On the first evening after returning from the synagogue, festive dinner- Seder, which is attended by relatives, friends and invited poor Jews. Blessings are said around the table, stories of the exodus are told.
On the first day of Pesach, any kind of work is prohibited, the last day is considered a holiday, the rest seem to be working, but with a solemn mood.
The seventh day of Pesach is the passage of the Red Sea by the Jews, people have fun, dance and sing.

Why the feast of the Resurrection of Christ falls on different days

Easter 2018 is not celebrated on any fixed day because it depends on lunar calendar. Yes, at Orthodox holiday The Resurrection of Christ occurs on the first Sunday after the first full moon following the vernal equinox. If the equinox is always March 21, then the first full moon may come a day or a few weeks later. Besides, christian easter 2018 cannot be before or at the same time as the Jewish one. If they accidentally coincide, then the Christian is postponed a week ahead.

Orthodox and Catholic dates also often do not coincide. Initially, both Jews and Christians had Easter at the same time, but then in the second century, at the initiative of the Pope, Christians began to celebrate the holiday later. In the 16th century, Pope Gregory introduced a new special calendar that the Orthodox did not want to follow. For this reason, Catholics live according to the Gregorian calendar ( a new style), while the Orthodox adhere to the Alexandrian or Julian calendar.

Alexandrian and Gregorian Paschalia

Catholic and Orthodox Easter differ in dates due to the fact that religions live on different calendars. Sometimes the dates of the two calendars coincide. Easter this year for the Orthodox and Catholics was April 16. Here are a few holiday dates for two calendars for future years:

Preparation for the holiday

To spend a holiday without worries, having cleansed yourself, you need to properly prepare for it. To do this, you need to go through a number of steps:

Strict 48 day fast. Traditionally, Easter is preceded by a strict fast that lasts 48 days. It exists in memory of the 40-day wanderings of Jesus in the wilderness. The remaining 8 days are Lately existence of Jesus on earth. Before fasting, the Orthodox ask for blessings from the priest, confess and take communion. During all these days, you can’t speak loudly, use bad words, allow conflicts, hold a grudge or anger, envy, lie, you need to help, don’t drink or smoke, attend liturgies. Throughout the Lent, the Orthodox refuse food of animal origin, meat.
Restoring order and cleanliness in the house. Cleaning before Easter 2018 should be done from Monday holy week i.e. April 2nd. At the same time, the housewives try to do not just an ordinary cleaning, but a general one: wash everything to a shine, paint, whitewash, repair, etc. Tuesday is reserved for washing, ironing and preparing the clothes that will be used for the holiday. Most of the work accumulates on Wednesday, because on a clean Thursday the whole house should sparkle, the time comes for people to put themselves in order before the holiday.
Bakery Easter cakes. The tradition of painting eggs falls on a clean Thursday, but baking Easter cakes and making cottage cheese Easter is necessary on Friday. Housewives should not be engaged in any heavy affairs. It is believed that they should do everything for the soul: decorate the house, cook delicious dishes for the holiday. On the same day, wealthy people can share food with the poor. Many people visit the temple, remember Jesus and his sufferings. On Saturday, all cases are completed, all preparations for the festive table are completed. Everyone is waiting for the coming of Christ's resurrection.

Easter traditions

On the feast of the Resurrection of Christ, it is customary to exchange eggs and congratulate everyone on the great event. People meet, greet each other "Christ is Risen!" and “Truly He is risen!”, After which they embrace, kiss three times. Such special greetings are called "christenings". Dinner at the festive table with family and friends is an integral part of many Orthodox nations.

Descent of the blessed fire

Every year, people who are in the Jerusalem Church of the Holy Sepulcher on the day before Easter can observe the miracle of the descent of the blessed fire. After the service on Great Saturday, all light sources are extinguished, an unlit lamp with oil is placed in the middle of the bed of the Life-Giving Sepulcher, and cotton wool is placed around it. This place is fenced and locked.

Then there are songs, prayers, a procession to memorable places that are associated with the life and death of Jesus Christ. After that, the Orthodox Patriarch, stripped to the vestment, enters the cave together with the lamp, where he prays. The rest are waiting for the blessed fire, with which the patriarch soon leaves the cave. This fire is distributed to all Orthodox churches in many countries.

bell ringing

To announce to everyone upcoming holiday to let you know how important it is bell ringing before Easter and during the week great importance. First, before Midnight Office, a blagovest sounds for five minutes, which warns of an upcoming event. When the procession begins, the bell ringing sounds "in full" and it stops only when the procession stops at the western doors of the temple. The Easter beginning is made there, after which people go inside the temple, and the bell ringing lasts for about 5 minutes.

Easter service and consecration of Easter dishes

The holiday begins with a solemn night service in Orthodox churches the day before. After reading the stichera in the temple, the faithful go in procession around it with the same church singing. They move towards the Savior, glorifying the miracle of the resurrection. This is followed by a festive divine service and the praise of Jesus' victory over death as a symbol of eternal life. The dishes are consecrated on Saturday, after the festive night service or morning liturgy.

Treats and meals

The Easter meal always began with traditional and symbolic dishes: consecrated eggs, Easter cake, cottage cheese Easter. After the Orthodox have eaten a little of these foods, it's time to start the rest of the dishes: meat, fish, vegetables, fruits, cereals, pastries, sweets, etc. From drinks, jelly, compotes and weak wine (cahors) were previously preferred. People at the table have fun, congratulate each other on bright holiday.

Traditional dishes

On festive table must be the main course. These include:

Kulich. If cooked properly, it can stand for several weeks without spoiling. It is customary to add candied fruits, dried fruits to give it a rich taste.
Curd Easter. Made from cottage cheese, sour cream, sugar and other ingredients. It has the shape of a truncated pyramid, symbolizing the Holy Sepulcher. Sometimes people instead of cottage cheese Easter put sweet cottage cheese with sour cream and raisins on the table.
Painted eggs. Previously, it had to be necessarily red, which symbolized the blood shed by Jesus for the people. Now the eggs are multi-colored, you can use stickers, draw on them with special paints.

"Fights" with colored eggs

Easter 2018 is not only a solemn, religious event, but also a time for entertainment. Fights with colored eggs are not a battle in the truest sense of the word. When people meet holidays, they greet according to the customary custom, and if there are eggs, then they hit the egg of another person with a blunt or sharp end: whose egg is broken, he lost. The winner takes not only his own, but also what is cracked. This game brings a lot of fun not only to children but also to adults.

Believers sacredly honor all church holidays and try to observe the customs and traditions that concern them. Among these important holidays Orthodoxy, Easter can be distinguished, which is considered almost the greatest and significant event for all Orthodox people!

Easter is celebrated, of course, in every home. The celebration takes place everywhere, in principle, the same way, and people from childhood learn the traditions and rituals that are supposed to be observed in Easter days. Only one thing not everyone knows about Easter - why is the celebration held at different times every year, what determines the date of Easter and why does it constantly change?!

Why does the date of Easter change every year?

Initially, the celebration of Easter was timed to coincide with the resurrection of Jesus Christ himself. The event became very important and significant in church calendar. In ancient times, people did not have calendars like ours and strictly calculated the day of celebration, according to the movement of the main saints - the Sun and the Moon. Today, nothing has changed in this regard, and the clergy are still guided by the satellite of our planet and the “hottest” star!

Traditionally, the day of the week on which Easter begins falls on Sunday. Only here is the month and, of course, the number can never be predicted, since they are calculated according to a certain scheme, which is known only to a certain circle of people.

How do you find out the date of Easter?

In order to calculate when such a grand event as Easter will happen in a given year, it is necessary to find out on what day the first Sunday falls, which will become a follower of the very first full moon that occurs immediately after the spring equinox. It is on this day that the relative position of the Sun and the Moon is special and they fall into it only for easter holiday, the date of which can vary between March 22 and April 25, according to the Julian calendar. If you look at the Gregorian calendar, then this period falls exclusively on the interval from April 7 to May 8. Please note that Easter is always celebrated in spring, when all living things bloom and wake up after winter!

The Easter period was established back in 325 by the meeting of the ecumenical council in Nicaea, and before that the celebration took place on the day of the full moon in the month of March. Yes, and the interpretation of this holiday had a slightly different one, it was not connected with Jesus Christ, but with the history of the slavery of the Jewish people, or rather, liberation from it.

Is it possible to independently calculate the day of Easter?

It is quite possible for a modern person to calculate the date of the holiday on their own! In order for this difficult process to be accessible to everyone, unpretentious tables have been developed today - they are called "Easter", which, through elementary actions, allow you to perform all the calculations!

It is also easy to calculate other holidays of Orthodoxy no less important than Easter. This is Pentecost and Trinity. Although those who are more natural by nature can simply look into the astronomical calendar and decide on the date of Easter, only knowing when the full moon phase begins, counting from March 21!

When is Easter this year? And when is carnival? When does it start great post? These are the questions people ask each other year after year. Many are surprised: why some church holidays are celebrated on the same day from year to year, while others always fall on different dates? How are these dates determined? Let's figure it out.

Easter in the Old Testament

The celebration of Easter among the Jews was established by the prophet Moses in honor of the exodus of the Jews from Egypt (see Pesach). “Keep the Passover to the Lord your God, because in the month of Nisan (Aviv) the Lord your God brought you out of Egypt by night” (Deut. 16:1). In memory of the exodus on Easter, the ritual slaughter of a one-year-old male lamb, without blemish, was prescribed, it should have been baked on fire, and eaten completely, without breaking bones, with unleavened bread (unleavened, yeast-free bread) and bitter herbs in family circle during the Easter night (Ex. 12:1-28; Num. 9:1-14). After the destruction of the temple in Jerusalem, ritual slaughter became impossible, so the Jews on Pesach eat only unleavened bread - matzah.

Easter among the early Christians

In the Christian Church, Easter has been celebrated since the first centuries, but due to local traditions, calendar features and community calculations different cities The days of Easter did not coincide. Therefore, at the First Ecumenical Council in 325, it was decided to adopt a single method for the entire Christian world to determine the date of Easter. Then it was decided that Christians should not follow the custom of the Jews in determining the day of this holy celebration. At the Council it was forbidden to celebrate Easter "before the spring equinox together with the Jews."

When is Easter this year?

In 2019, Orthodox Christians will celebrate Easter on April 28. The date of the celebration of Easter is determined by a special calculation called the Orthodox Paschalia.

Paschalia is a calculation system that allows, according to special tables that determine the relationship a large number calendar and astronomical quantities, to determine the dates of the celebration of Easter and passing church holidays for any given year.

The Russian Orthodox Church uses the traditional Julian calendar, created under Julius Caesar in 45 BC, to calculate the date of the celebration of Easter and passing holidays. This calendar is often referred to as the "old style". Western Christians use the Gregorian calendar, introduced in 1582 by Pope Gregory XIII. It is commonly referred to as "new style".

According to the rules of the First Ecumenical Council (325, Nicaea), the celebration Orthodox Easter takes place on the first Sunday after the vernal full moon, which occurs after or on the day of the vernal equinox, if this Sunday falls after the day of celebration Jewish Passover; otherwise, the celebration of Orthodox Easter is transferred to the first Sunday after the day of Jewish Passover.

Thus, the day of the celebration of Easter falls within the range from March 22 to April 25 of the old style, or from April 4 to May 8 of the new style. After calculating the date of Easter, a calendar of the rest of the passing church holidays is compiled.

Church holidays

Every day calendar year is dedicated by the Church to the commemoration of one or another sacred event, the celebration of the memory of saints, or the glorification of the miraculous icons of the Most Holy Theotokos.

The most important day church year- the feast of the Holy Resurrection of Christ, or Easter. The next in importance are the 12 great twelfth holidays (the name itself - the twelfth - indicates their number). Then, according to the meaning, the Church singles out 5 great holidays. There are other feast days marked by the celebration of solemn divine services. stand out Sundays, which are also dedicated to the remembrance of the Resurrection of the Lord and are called "Little Easter".

The twelfth holidays are divided into non-transitory and transitory. Dates of non-transferable holidays do not change from year to year; rolling holidays each year falls on different dates and depends on what day in the current year Easter falls on. The beginning of Great Lent, the popularly beloved Pancake week, Palm Sunday, as well as the Ascension and the day of the Holy Trinity also depend on the date of Easter.

The twelfth feasts are divided into Lord's (in honor of the Lord Jesus Christ) or Mother of God (dedicated to the Mother of God). Some of the events that became the basis for the holidays are described in the Gospel, and some are established on the basis of church tradition.

The Twelfth Passing Holidays:

Light Christ's Resurrection. Easter
Entry of the Lord into Jerusalem. Palm Sunday (7 days before Easter)
Ascension of the Lord (on the 40th day after Easter)
Day of the Holy Trinity. Pentecost (50th day after Easter)

Twelfth non-passing holidays:

September 21 - Nativity of the Blessed Virgin.
September 27 - Exaltation of the Holy Cross.
December 4 - Entry into the Church of the Most Holy Theotokos.
January 7 - Christmas.
January 19 - Epiphany. Epiphany.
February 15 - Meeting of the Lord.
April 7 - Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin.
August 19 - Transfiguration of the Lord.
August 28 - Assumption of the Blessed Virgin.

great post

Easter is preceded by Great Lent - the strictest and longest of all Orthodox posts. When does Lent begin? It depends on the date on which Easter falls in the current year. Fasting always lasts 48 days: 40 days of Great Lent proper, called Forty Days, and 8 days of Holy Week, starting from Lazarus Saturday and until Holy Saturday on the eve of Easter. Therefore, the beginning of fasting is easy to determine by counting 7 weeks from the date of Easter.

The significance of Great Lent lies not only in the strict rules of abstinence from food (only eating plant foods is prescribed, fish is allowed only twice - on the Annunciation and on Palm Sunday), and avoiding various entertainments and amusements, but also in a very deep liturgical system in its content. The services of Great Lent are very special, unlike anything else. Each Sunday is dedicated to its own special theme, and together they set the believers to deep humility before God and repentance for their sins.

How is the date of Easter calculated?

In the era of the creation of Paschalia (the system for calculating the dates of Easter), people represented the passage of time differently than now. They believed that all events occur in a circle (“everything returns to normal”). And the whole variety of events is determined by the fact that there are many such “circles” (“cycles”) and they different sizes. In a circle, day is replaced by night, summer - winter, new moon - full moon.

It is difficult for a modern person to imagine this, since in his mind he builds a “straight line” historical events from the past to the future.

The simplest and most famous (and still used) circle is the day of the week circle. Sunday is followed by Monday, Monday is followed by Tuesday, and so on until the next Sunday, followed by Monday again.

The calculation of the date of Easter is based on two cycles: solar (28 years) and lunar (19 years). Each year has its own number in each of these cycles (these numbers are called "circle of the Sun" and "circle of the Moon"), and their combination is repeated only once every 532 years (this interval is called the "Great Indiction").

The "Circle of the Sun" is associated with the Julian calendar, in which 3 consecutive years are simple (365 days each), and the fourth is a leap year (366 days). To harmonize a cycle of 4 years with a 7-day weekly cycle, a cycle of 28 years (7?4) was created. After 28 years, the days of the week will fall on the same numbers of the months of the Julian calendar (in the "new" "Gregorian" calendar, everything is more complicated ...). That is, the calendar of 1983 had exactly the same form as the calendar of 2011 (1983+28=2011). For example, the 1st (14th according to the “new style”) of January 2011 is Friday; and January 1st, 1983 was also a Friday.

That is, the "circle of the Sun" helps to find out on which days of the week the corresponding numbers of the months of the year fall.

"Circle of the Moon" is meant to be harmonized lunar phases(new moons, full moons, etc.) with Julian calendar dates. It is based on the fact that solar years almost exactly equal to 235 lunar months.

An equinox is the moment when the Sun, in its apparent motion, crosses the "celestial equator". At this time, the length of the day is equal to the length of the night, and the Sun rises exactly in the East and sets exactly in the West.

A solar year (otherwise called a "tropical year") is the interval between two successive spring equinoxes. Its duration is 365 days 5 hours 48 minutes 46 seconds (365.2422 days). In the Julian calendar, for convenience and simplicity, the length of the year is taken to be 365 days 6 hours (365.25 days). In about 128 years, the spring equinox is shifted by one day (in the 15th century " new era"The equinox was March 12-13, and in the 20th - March 7-8).

The lunar month (otherwise called "synodic") is the interval between two new moons. Its average duration is 29 days 12 hours 44 minutes 3 seconds (29.53059 days).

That is why it turns out that 19 solar years (19365.2422 = 6939.6018 days) is approximately 235 lunar months(23529.53059=6939.6887 days).

After 19 years, the lunar phases (full moons, for example) will fall on the same numbers of the Julian calendar (this is not observed for long periods of time - an error of one day accumulates for approximately 310 years). It's about, of course, about average values. The actual dates of the lunar phases, due to the complexity of the movement of the moon, may deviate from the average values. For example, the real full moon in Moscow in April 1990 was on the 10th (“new style”) at 06:19, and in 2009 (19 years after 1990) - on April 9 ( "new style") at 17:55.

Based on the tables obtained, it is possible to determine the date of Easter for any year.

Hieromonk Job (Gumerov) gives a not so clear, but more mathematically simple method of calculating the date of Orthodox Easter: "Of all practical ways Calculus is recognized as the simplest method proposed by the largest German mathematician Karl Gauss (1777 - 1855). Divide the number of the year by 19 and call the remainder "a"; the remainder of the division of the number of the year by 4 will be denoted by the letter “b”, and through “c” the remainder of the division of the number of the year by 7. Divide the value 19 x a + 15 by 30 and call the remainder the letter “d”. The remainder of the division by 7 of the value 2 x b + 4 x c + 6 x d + 6 is denoted by the letter "e". The number 22 + d + e will be the day of Easter for March, and the number d + e - 9 for April. For example, let's take 1996. From dividing it by 19 there will be a remainder of 1 (a). When divided by 4, the remainder will be zero (b). Dividing the number of the year by 7, we get the remainder 1 (s). If we continue the calculations, we get: d \u003d 4, and e \u003d 6. Therefore, 4 + 6 - 9 \u003d April 1 (Julian calendar - old style - approx. editions)».

When is Easter for Catholics?

In 1583, in the Roman Catholic Church, Pope Gregory XIII introduced a new Paschal, called the Gregorian. As a result of the change in Paschalia, the whole calendar has changed. As a result of the transition to more precise astronomical dates, Catholic Easter is often celebrated earlier than Jewish or on the same day, and in some years ahead of Orthodox Easter by more than a month.

The discrepancy between the dates of Orthodox Easter and Catholic Easter is caused by the difference in the date of church full moons, and the difference between solar calendars - 13 days in the 21st century. Western Easter in 45% of cases is a week earlier than Orthodox, in 30% of cases it coincides, 5% is a difference of 4 weeks, and 20% is a difference of 5 weeks (more than the lunar cycle). There is no difference in 2-3 weeks.

1. G \u003d (Y mod 19) + 1 (G is the so-called "golden number in the metonic" cycle - the 19-year cycle of full moons)
2. C \u003d (Y / 100) + 1 (if Y is not a multiple of 100, then C is the century number)
3. X = 3*C/4 - 12
4. Z = (8*C + 5)/25 - 5 (synchronization with the lunar orbit, the year is not a multiple of the lunar month)
5. D \u003d 5 * Y / 4 - X - 10 (in March, the day? D mod 7 will be Sunday)
6. E \u003d (10 * G + 20 + Z - X) mod 30 (epakta - indicates the day of the full moon)
7. IF (E = 24) OR (E = 25 AND G > 11) THEN increase E by 1
8. N = 44 - E ( March nth- day of the calendar full moon)
9. IF N 10. N = N + 7 - (D + N) mod 7
11. IF N > 31 THEN the date of Easter (N ? 31) April ELSE the date of Easter N March

Photo - photobank Lori