In 2016 the Holy Synod of the Catholic Hierarchy of Greece issued an announcement to explain to Catholics in Greece why there is such a big difference between the dates of Easter that year (Orthodox - May 1 and Catholics - March 27). I thought it was a very good and simple and accurate explanation on their part, so I translated it. It is also offered as a rebuke to Orthodox Christians, who pride themselves in keeping the traditions of the Church, but fail in accurately determining the date of Easter. We must acknowledge our errors and fix them. We should not place the outdated calendar of a pagan king (Julian Calendar by Julius Caesar), and the outdated calculations of a pagan astronomer (Metonic cycle by Meton the Athenian) above the truth. And despite knowing it is wrong, the Catholic Church in Greece has adopted the Orthodox reckoning out of concerns for the local community.
Many have been asking us lately why there is so much of difference in the celebration of Easter this year between Christians in the East and the West.
Without wanting to get involved in the detailed calculations of astronomy, which are for experts, we will answer in a few words stating the two main reasons that create this difference:
The canon of the First Ecumenical Synod of Nicaea, to celebrate Easter, is common to East and West. The way of its application is different!
Easter, according to the First Ecumenical Synod, must be celebrated on the Sunday after the first full moon of Spring, that is, the first full moon after the vernal equinox, which occurs on March 21 of each year.
The West and most Christians around the world, applying both the spirit and the letter of the canon of Nicaea, celebrated Easter this year on March 27, because the first full moon of Spring took place on Wednesday, March 23.
The East, following the Julian (Old) Calendar for the celebration of Easter, 13 days different from the Gregorian, considered the full moon of March 23 as the last full moon of Winter, since it coincided between March 21 and April 3, the day which Spring begins according to the Julian Calendar. So she had to find the "first" full moon of Spring according to her own (wrong) calculations. This full moon was on April 22, Friday. And yet Easter was not celebrated on April 24, because there is another miscalculation:
The West calculates the "age" of the Moon accurately and acknowledges the full moon on the day and time it occurs.
The East, following the "Metonic cycle" (named after Meton the Athenian, an astronomer of the 5th century BC) to calculate the Moon, makes an error of about five days (that is, today is a full moon, we see the full moon, and yet! The sunrise tells us that this full moon will take place after five days!). So if the full moon takes place on the first days of the week, then, adding all five days, we are still before Sunday, and Easter is celebrated on the Sunday after the full moon. But if the full moon occurs on the last days of the week, (as this year, when the full moon is on Friday, April 22) then, according to these miscalculations, adding five days, it is considered to take place after Sunday (April 24), and so Easter is celebrated the following Sunday (May 1), not with a full moon, but when the moon has passed in the last quarter!
This also happens every time we have a week difference for the celebration of Easter.
The East properly celebrates Easter, according to the letter and spirit of the First Ecumenical Synod of Nicaea, only when it celebrates with the West.
The date of the celebration of Easter is not a doctrine of faith. It is the result of mathematical calculations that have to do with the movement of the Moon around the Earth and the Earth around the Sun.
That is why the Catholic Church in Greece, both for practical reasons, to facilitate its faithful (mixed families, public holidays, etc.), and for ecumenical reasons, for more than forty years and knowing the miscalculations, celebrates Easter with the Orthodox Church.
Without wanting to get involved in the detailed calculations of astronomy, which are for experts, we will answer in a few words stating the two main reasons that create this difference:
The canon of the First Ecumenical Synod of Nicaea, to celebrate Easter, is common to East and West. The way of its application is different!
Easter, according to the First Ecumenical Synod, must be celebrated on the Sunday after the first full moon of Spring, that is, the first full moon after the vernal equinox, which occurs on March 21 of each year.
The West and most Christians around the world, applying both the spirit and the letter of the canon of Nicaea, celebrated Easter this year on March 27, because the first full moon of Spring took place on Wednesday, March 23.
The East, following the Julian (Old) Calendar for the celebration of Easter, 13 days different from the Gregorian, considered the full moon of March 23 as the last full moon of Winter, since it coincided between March 21 and April 3, the day which Spring begins according to the Julian Calendar. So she had to find the "first" full moon of Spring according to her own (wrong) calculations. This full moon was on April 22, Friday. And yet Easter was not celebrated on April 24, because there is another miscalculation:
The West calculates the "age" of the Moon accurately and acknowledges the full moon on the day and time it occurs.
The East, following the "Metonic cycle" (named after Meton the Athenian, an astronomer of the 5th century BC) to calculate the Moon, makes an error of about five days (that is, today is a full moon, we see the full moon, and yet! The sunrise tells us that this full moon will take place after five days!). So if the full moon takes place on the first days of the week, then, adding all five days, we are still before Sunday, and Easter is celebrated on the Sunday after the full moon. But if the full moon occurs on the last days of the week, (as this year, when the full moon is on Friday, April 22) then, according to these miscalculations, adding five days, it is considered to take place after Sunday (April 24), and so Easter is celebrated the following Sunday (May 1), not with a full moon, but when the moon has passed in the last quarter!
This also happens every time we have a week difference for the celebration of Easter.
The East properly celebrates Easter, according to the letter and spirit of the First Ecumenical Synod of Nicaea, only when it celebrates with the West.
The date of the celebration of Easter is not a doctrine of faith. It is the result of mathematical calculations that have to do with the movement of the Moon around the Earth and the Earth around the Sun.
That is why the Catholic Church in Greece, both for practical reasons, to facilitate its faithful (mixed families, public holidays, etc.), and for ecumenical reasons, for more than forty years and knowing the miscalculations, celebrates Easter with the Orthodox Church.
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Πολλοί μας ρωτούν, το τελευταίο διάστημα, γιατί εφέτος υπάρχει τόση διαφορά στον εορτασμό του Πάσχα μεταξύ των χριστιανών Ανατολής και Δύσεως.
Χωρίς να θέλουμε να εμπλακούμε στους λεπτομερείς υπολογισμούς της αστρονομίας, που είναι για τους ειδικούς, απαντούμε με δυο λόγια αναφέροντας τις δύο βασικές αιτίες, που δημιουργούν αυτή τη διαφορά:
Ο κανόνας της A’ Οικουμενικής Συνόδου της Νίκαιας, για τον εορτασμό του Πάσχα, είναι κοινός για την Ανατολή και τη Δύση. Διαφέρει ο τρόπος της εφαρμογής του!
Το Πάσχα, σύμφωνα με την Α’ Οικουμενική Σύνοδο, πρέπει να εορτάζεται την Κυριακή μετά την πρώτη πανσέληνο της Ανοίξεως, δηλαδή την πρώτη πανσέληνο μετά την εαρινή ισημερία, που συμβαίνει στις 21 Μαρτίου κάθε έτους.
Η Δύση και ο περισσότερος χριστιανικός κόσμος σε όλη τη γη, εφαρμόζοντας τόσο το πνεύμα όσο και το γράμμα του κανόνα της Νίκαιας, γιόρτασαν εφέτος το Πάσχα στις 27 Μαρτίου, διότι η πρώτη πανσέληνος της Ανοίξεως έγινε στις 23 Μαρτίου, ημέρα Τετάρτη.
Η Ανατολή, ακολουθώντας το Ιουλιανό (Παλαιό) Ημερολόγιο για τον εορτασμό του Πάσχα, με 13 μέρες διαφορά από το Γρηγοριανό, θεώρησε την πανσέληνο της 23ης Μαρτίου ως τελευταία πανσέληνο του Χειμώνα, εφόσον συνέπεσε μεταξύ 21 ης Μαρτίου και 3ης Απριλίου, ημέρας κατά την οποία αρχίζει η Άνοιξη σύμφωνα με το Ιουλιανό Ημερολόγιο. Έπρεπε λοιπόν να βρει την «πρώτη» πανσέληνο της Ανοίξεως κατά τους δικούς της (λανθασμένους) υπολογισμούς. Η πανσέληνος αυτή ήταν στις 22 Απριλίου, ημέρα Παρασκευή. Κι όμως το Πάσχα δε εορτάσθηκε στις 24 Απριλίου, διότι υπάρχει ένας ακόμα λανθασμένος υπολογισμός:
Η Δύση υπολογίζει την «ηλικία» της Σελήνης με ακρίβεια και παραδέχεται την πανσέληνο την ημέρα και την ώρα που γίνεται.
Η Ανατολή, ακολουθώντας τον «κύκλο του Μέτωνος» (αθηναίου αστρονόμου του 5ου π.Χ. αιώνα) για τον υπολογισμό της Σελήνης, κάνει ένα λάθος περίπου πέντε ημερών (δηλαδή, είναι σήμερα πανσέληνος, βλέπουμε το φεγγάρι ολοστρόγγυλο, και όμως! Η ανατολή μας λέγει ότι η πανσέληνος αυτή θα γίνει μετά πέντε μέρες!).Έτσι αν η πανσέληνος γίνει τις πρώτες ημέρες της εβδομάδας, τότε, προσθέτοντας και τις πέντε μέρες είμαστε ακόμη πριν από την Κυριακή, και το Πάσχα εορτάζεται την Κυριακή μετά την πανσέληνο. Αν όμως η πανσέληνος γίνει τις τελευταίες ημέρες της εβδομάδας, (όπως εφέτος, που η πανσέληνος είναι την Παρασκευή 22 Απριλίου) τότε, σύμφωνα με τους λανθασμένους αυτούς υπολογισμούς, προσθέτοντας πέντε μέρες, θεωρείται ότι γίνεται μετά την Κυριακή (24 Απριλίου), κι έτσι το Πάσχα εορτάζεται την Κυριακή που ακολουθεί (1 Μαΐου), όχι με πανσέληνο, αλλά όταν η σελήνη έχει περάσει πια στο τελευταίο τέταρτο!
Αυτό συμβαίνει και κάθε φορά που έχουμε διαφορά μιας εβδομάδας για τον εορτασμό του Πάσχα.
Η Ανατολή γιορτάζει σωστά το Πάσχα, σύμφωνα με το γράμμα και το πνεύμα της Α’ Οικουμενικής Συνόδου της Νίκαιας, μόνον όταν συνεορτάζει με τη Δύση.
Η ημερομηνία του εορτασμού του Πάσχα δεν είναι δόγμα πίστεως. Είναι αποτέλεσμα μαθηματικών υπολογισμών που έχουν να κάνουν με την κίνηση της Σελήνης γύρω από τη Γη και της Γης και γύρω από τον Ήλιο.
Γι’ αυτό και η Καθολική Εκκλησία στην Ελλάδα, τόσο για λόγους πρακτικούς, για να διευκολύνει τους πιστούς της (μικτές οικογένειες, κρατικές αργίες κλπ.), όσο και οικουμενικούς, από σαράντα και πλέον χρόνια και εν γνώσει των λανθασμένων υπολογισμών, συνεορτάζει το Πάσχα με την Ορθόδοξη Εκκλησία.