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by John Fotopoulos,
There is a common misperception among Orthodox Christians that the
reason why Orthodox Easter (i.e. Pascha) often occurs so much later than
Western Christian Easter is because the Orthodox Church abides by the
rules for calculating the date of Pascha issued by the 1st
Ecumenical Council at Nicaea in 325 AD and thus the Orthodox must wait
for Passover to be celebrated by the Jewish community before Pascha can
occur.
Despite this view being held by so many Orthodox Christians as
well as being promoted in popular essays written by some Orthodox
priests, it is not accurate. The reason why Orthodox Pascha frequently
occurs so much later than Easter celebrated by Roman Catholics and
Protestants has nothing to do with the Orthodox Church following the
Paschal formula of Nicaea and the Western Churches not doing so, nor is
it because the Orthodox must wait for Jewish Passover to be celebrated.
Rather, Orthodox Pascha frequently occurs later than Western Easter
because the Orthodox Church uses inaccurate scientific calculations that
rely on the inaccurate Julian Calendar to determine the date of Pascha
for each year. Some background information is in order to help explain
precisely what the problems are.
Historically, Jesus’ death and resurrection occurred in association
with Jewish Passover, although the synoptic gospels (Mk, Matt, Lk) and
the Gospel of John contain differences regarding the precise day of
Passover at that time. Because of these differences, early Christian
churches developed different practices regarding when they were to
celebrate Christian Pascha and how the date of Pascha was to be
determined. Some ancient Churches celebrated Pascha on the Sunday
immediately following Jewish Passover while others emphasized Jesus’
suffering and death on Pascha and thus celebrated the feast on the same
day as Jewish Passover, regardless of what day of the week Passover
occurred. Christian communities that adhered to either one of these
Paschal traditions often relied on their local Jewish communities’
calculations of Passover in order to determine the date of their
respective Christian Pascha. Passover is itself a lunar festival marking
the beginning of the new year and is to occur annually on the vernal
full moon—a date that came to be designated in the Jewish Calendar as
the 14th of Nisan (Exod 12:1-6). Ancient Jewish communities
faced many challenges in regulating their year by a lunar calendar.
Because the Jewish lunar calendar frequently fell out of step with the
seasons of a solar year, Jews added an additional month to their
calendar every two or three years to correct Passover from occurring out
of season. A late decision to add a month to the Jewish calendar and/or
difficulties communicating meant that not all Jewish communities were
always aware of the extra month. This resulted in some Jewish
communities celebrating Passover in different months, while other Jewish
communities ended up mistakenly celebrating Passover twice in the same
year.
Because of Christian dependence on unreliable Jewish calculations of
the vernal full moon for Passover and because of the varying Christian
traditions for the date of Pascha’s celebration, the Roman Emperor
Constantine convened the 1st Ecumenical Council at Nicaea
which attempted to resolve these issues and promote Christian unity by
issuing a formula for the calculation of Pascha. The Council at Nicaea
determined that Pascha would occur on:
the first Sunday | after the first full moon | after the vernal equinox
This Nicene formula solved several practical issues. First, the
Church determined that Pascha would not be celebrated on the same day as
the vernal full moon which itself is to mark the festival of Jewish
Passover. By resolving to celebrate Pascha on the first Sunday after the
vernal full moon, Christian Pascha would forever be associated with
Jewish Passover without being identified with it, thus maintaining the
historical associations of Jesus’ death and resurrection with Passover.
Second, by resolving that the Christian celebration of Pascha must occur
annually after the vernal equinox, the Church ensured that Pascha would
only occur once each solar year. Third, the Nicene formula itself meant
that the Church would not be reliant on Jewish calendars for the
calculation of Passover (the vernal full moon i.e. 14 Nisan), nor would
the Church be obliged to wait for Jewish communities to celebrate
Passover before celebrating Christian Pascha. Rather, the Nicene formula
ensured that the Christian calculation of Pascha would occur
independently of the Jewish reckoning of Passover by instead using the
astronomical data of the vernal equinox and the vernal full moon in
order to calculate the Sunday of Pascha. This maintained the historical
and theological associations between Jewish Passover and Christian
Pascha while allowing the Church to ascertain the vernal full moon
(i.e., what should be 14 Nisan and hence Passover) without Jewish
calendrical problems. Because Alexandria, Egypt was known as a premier
center of astronomy in the ancient world, the Church of Alexandria came
to assume responsibility for making the scientific calculations used to
determine the date of Pascha. Although today many traditionalist
Orthodox assert that it is only permissible to use the Julian Calendar
to determine Paschal dates by employing the ancient Alexandrian
scientific calculations, this is to ignore that the Alexandrians
Christians used their own Egyptian calendrical dates to calculate Pascha
which were then translated into Julian Calendar dates for other parts
of the empire. Moreover, although the Council of Nicaea issued a clear
formula for the calculation of Pascha, it did not precisely regulate the
technical details, methods, or calendar by which the vernal equinox and
the vernal full moon should be determined. Rather, Alexandria assumed
greater responsibility for making Paschal calculations because the
Church expected that the best scientific means available would be used
to determine Paschal dates.
Although the Orthodox Church and the Western Churches both continue
to follow the formula of Nicaea for the determination of Pascha/Easter,
the differences in their respective dates of celebration stem largely
from the use of different calendars (Julian vs. Gregorian) and different
methods of scientific calculation so as to ascertain the vernal equinox
and the vernal full moon. The Orthodox Church employs a complex
mathematical formula for the calculation of Pascha that uses the more
inaccurate Julian Calendar (currently 13 days behind the Gregorian
Calendar) and a “fixed” Julian Calendar date of March 21st (Gregorian April 3rd)
as the date of the vernal equinox, as well as a mathematically
calculated approximation of the vernal full moon based on a 19-year
lunar cycle (the Metonic Cycle). In other words, the vernal equinox used
by the Orthodox Church for its calculation of Pascha is not the actual
astronomical vernal equinox, nor is the vernal full moon that Pascha
must follow (according to Nicaea) the actual, astronomical vernal full
moon. Simply stated, the best available calendar and best available
science are no longer being utilized for the calculation of Pascha which
results in Orthodox celebrations of Pascha that are frequently out of
sync with the astronomical phenomena of the vernal equinox and the
vernal full moon and thus often occur later in the spring. However, the
Western Churches use the Gregorian calendar (a much more accurate
calendar—although not perfect) and a more generally accurate scientific
calculation of the vernal equinox and the vernal full moon which results
in a calculation of Easter that better corresponds with the actual
astronomical phenomena and that is typically more accurate.
In this year of 2016, for example, Western Easter and Orthodox Pascha
have very different dates of celebration. Western Easter was calculated
to fall on March 27th, whereas Orthodox Pascha was calculated to fall on May 1st (Julian Calendar April 18th).
However, a quick look at the actual astronomical data quickly
demonstrates the problems with the current Orthodox calculation of
Pascha. According to the U.S. Naval Observatory, the 2016 vernal equinox
occurred on March 20th at 4:30 a.m. Coordinated Universal
Time (UTC). It is important to remember that the date and time of the
vernal equinox depend on the meridian used for calculation (the position
on earth used as the reference point). Therefore, it is generally
agreed that Jerusalem should be used as the meridian since it is the
historical location of Jesus’ death and resurrection. Thus, the 2016
vernal equinox occurred in Jerusalem on March 20th at 6:30
a.m. (UTC+2). Moreover, according to the U.S. Naval Observatory, the
first full moon after the vernal equinox in 2016 occurred on March 23rd at 12:01 p.m. (UTC), and in Jerusalem at 14:01 p.m. (UTC+2). Since the vernal full moon that occurred on March 23rd,
2016 in Jerusalem at 14:01 p.m. was a Wednesday, this means that Pascha
should have been celebrated on the first Sunday afterward, that is, on
Sunday, March 27th, precisely the date when Easter was celebrated this year by the Western Churches.
It was widely understood by ancient Christians that the vernal full
moon could not be determined reliably by observation since what
sometimes appears to the eye as a full moon may not, in fact, be one.
This is one of the reasons why after Nicaea different Churches in
communion with one another developed a wide variety of
scientific/mathematical calculations over the centuries to determine the
vernal full moon needed to arrive at the date of Pascha. However,
scientific methods have advanced significantly since the time of
antiquity, as has our ability to reliably know the dates of the vernal
equinox and the vernal full moon for any given year. In 1920, the
Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople raised the issue of all
Churches employing a common calendar so that Eastern and Western
Churches could celebrate major Christian feast days together throughout
each year. Moreover, in 1923 a Pan-Orthodox Congress under the
leadership of the Ecumenical Patriarchate advocated using a Revised
Julian Calendar (very similar to the Gregorian Calendar) while also
returning to the actual astronomical phenomena of the vernal equinox and
the vernal full moon for the calculation of Pascha. However, divisive
reactions against adoption of a new calendar and new Paschal
calculations resulted in a compromise that allowed autocephalous
Orthodox Churches to choose the Old Julian Calendar or the New (Revised
Julian) Calendar to regulate the ecclesiastical year, but maintained the
Old Julian Calendar and the scientific calculations based on it for the
determination of Paschal dates.
In light of the many calendrical and scientific advances today,
Orthodox Christians must ask themselves if use of the inaccurate Julian
Calendar, use of a “fixed” Julian Calendar date of March 21st (Gregorian April 3rd)
for the vernal equinox, and use of a mathematically calculated
approximation of the vernal full moon are still faithful to the spirit
of the 1st Ecumenical Council at Nicaea. Nicaea issued its
formula for the calculation of Pascha so that Christians everywhere
would celebrate the most important Christian feast together in unity as a
common witness to the world. Nicaea did not precisely regulate the
technical details, methods, or calendar by which the vernal equinox and
the vernal full moon should be determined, but expected the best
available science to be used for the calculation of Pascha. The best
available science is no longer being used for the calculation of Pascha.
During this 21st century, the Orthodox and Western
Churches will share a common celebration of Pascha only 31 times. In
subsequent centuries, the common celebration of Pascha will occur much
less frequently as errors in the Julian Calendar become more pronounced.
This will result in Orthodox Pascha occurring even later in the year
and more severely out of relationship with the vernal equinox and vernal
full moon. Unless action is taken, the year 2698 will be the final time
that Orthodox Pascha and Western Easter will occur on the same day.
There may eventually be generations of Christians who are sadly led to
believe that Orthodox and Western Christians have never celebrated
Pascha/Easter together.
A consultation on Pascha/Easter between representatives of the
Orthodox Church and Western Churches within the World Council of
Churches in 1997 resulted in an excellent statement on and thoughtful recommendations for a common celebration of Pascha,
but unfortunately these recommendations were never implemented. It is
time that Orthodox Christians again begin to discuss this important
issue of Paschal calculation and celebration while also moving past
widespread misperceptions among Orthodox Christians regarding the
reasons why Pascha frequently occurs so much later than Western Easter.
To be sure, Western Christians do utilize the formula issued by Nicaea for the calculation of Pascha, while Orthodox Christians do not
need to wait for the Jewish celebration of Passover before Orthodox
Pascha can occur. Rather, use of a more accurate calendar as well as
more accurate scientific calculations by the Orthodox Church are needed
for Orthodox Pascha to occur once again each year on the first Sunday
after the first full moon, after the vernal equinox—and again together
with our Western Christian brothers and sisters.
John Fotopoulos is an Associate Professor of New Testament in the
Department of Religious Studies at Saint Mary’s College, Notre Dame,
Indiana.
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