Dear sundialers, Since the request concerning the date of Easter was also of interest for me, I forwarded it to HASTRO-L and to a German specialist. The reply of the latter I have distributed already in the previous message. Here follows another reply together with the text of my request. I will also forward some more replies. My apologies for the off-topic discussion, but it seems to me of general interest.
Kind regards, Wolfgang Dick Forwarded message: > Date: Wed, 22 Apr 1998 10:41:13 -0500 > Reply-To: History of Astronomy Discussion Group <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Sender: History of Astronomy Discussion Group <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > From: Voula Saridakis <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Subject: Re: Orthodox Easter > To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > Dear All: > > During the first centuries of Christianity there was no fixed date for the > celebration of Easter. In 325 AD the First Ecumenical Council among it's > other decisions established the guidelines for calculating the date of > Easter for all Christians. The Council agreed that Easter should be > celebrated on the first Sunday after the full moon for the spring equinox > provided that the Jewish Passover had already been celebrated with the last > provision being the most important. > However these calculations were based on the Julian calendar which was > scientifically incorrect. After the Roman Catholic Church adopted the > Gregorian calendar, it dropped the practice of celebrating Easter only after > the Jewish Passover had taken place. Since 1582 the Western Churches, Roman > Catholic and Protestant Churches, have observed Easter irrespective to the > date of Passover and hence, Eastern Orthodox Christians believe the Western > churches are historically incorrect in their observance of this holiday. > Hence the Eastern Orthodox Church is the only branch of Christianity that > continues to celebrate Easter on the date that, to them, is historically > correct according to the New Testament and the decrees of the First > Ecumenical Council. > > Sincerely, > > Voula Saridakis > > > >The following request and reply comes from the Sundial Mailing List: > > > >> [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: > >> > >> > ... In my school we just has our Arab > >> > students out for very holy days, our Greek Orthodox students observe > >> > Easter April 19, and my Unitarian friends take "spring break". > >> > >> I would have expected that the Orthodox churches define Easter in the > >> same way as the Western churches, except that they use the Julian > >> calendar. It seems that would make the Orthodox Easter on average 13 > >> days later than the Western Eastern, but in any given year it would be > >> either coincident or one month later. How did it end up one week > >> later this year? Do they calculate the full moon differently as well? > >> > >> --Art Carlson-- > > > >I am also interested in this question because I have relatives and friends in > >Russia and the Ukraine, and we wondered about the different dates of Easter. > >What I learned from a large encyclopedia is that together with the Gregorian > >calendar also a new rule for calculating the date of Easter was introduced. > >However, in both Julian and Gregorian calendars the full moon is calculated > >not > >according to the real moon, but with respect to a fictitious moon. I guess > >the > >difference comes from the way the moon is defined. However, I am not an > >expert > >in this. So, does someone know how the date of Easter is calculated by the > >Orthodox churches? > > > >Wolfgang Dick, Germany > > *^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^* > > Voula Saridakis [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Department of History office: (540)231-8362 > 428 Major Williams fax: (540)231-8724 > OR > Science and Technology Studies > 124 Lane Hall > > Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University > Blacksburg, VA 24061 > USA > > *^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*
