How does easter dates change

A leading-edge research firm focused on digital transformation. Lindsay Dodgson. Easter falls on a different date every year. This is because it is determined by the Jewish calendar, which is based on lunar cycles, and Easter should fall the Sunday after the Passover full moon. However, this year, it's even more complicated because Easter Sunday is much later than it should be.

Here's how to work out when Easter will fall every year. Sign up for Sidekick to get the best recs for smarter living. Loading Something is loading. Email address. Sign up for notifications from Insider! In the Gregorian calendar, this corresponds to April 3 to May In some years, Orthodox Easter falls on the same day as western Easter.

The next time the two Easter dates coincide will be in April There have been a number of suggested reforms for the Easter date. For example, in , the World Council of Churches proposed a reform of the Easter calculation to replace an equation-based method of calculating Easter with direct astronomical observation.

This would have solved the Easter date difference between churches that observe the Gregorian calendar and those that observe the Julian calendar. The reform was proposed to be implemented in , but it is not yet adopted.

Another example of a proposed reform occurred in the United Kingdom , where the Easter Act was established to allow the Easter date to be fixed as the first Sunday after the second Saturday in April. Of course, this also means that the beginning of Lent and Ash Wednesday occur earlier, too. The entire Lenten season comes to a close on Saturday, April 3. The varied dates from year to year can leave many people wondering why Easter changes dates instead of remaining the same. Most Christians know Ash Wednesday's date depends on Easter, but wouldn't it be much simpler and easier to remember if Jesus Christ's resurrection were celebrated on a set day, the way holidays like Christmas and Valentine's Day are observed?

Here's a look at why that's not the case. Ash Wednesday signals the period of 40 days before Easter, called Lent, when observants typically "give up" some earthly pleasure wine, chocolate as a form of penance.

But what does Ash Wednesday mean? The holiday stems from the Old Testament book of Daniel that associated fasting with ashes , according to priest and Duke Divinity School assistant professor Lauren F. Its main ritual involves a priest invoking Genesis "for you are dust, and to dust you shall return" while anointing congregants' foreheads with a mix of ash from Palm Sunday—itself derived from the story of Christ's route to Jerusalem being padded by palm fronds—and sometimes oil.

Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? Start your Independent Premium subscription today. Recommended Easter egg clampdown is wrong, says trade body. Already subscribed? Log in.