Easter
If Christ died on a Friday and then rose late Saturday night or Sunday morning,
where are the three days He predicted He would be in the tomb?
Old Hebrew calculation of "days" differed very much from our own. "Day" for them did not necessarily mean a period of 24 hours, but any period of time when light and darkness alternated. The Book of Esther, for instance, (5.1) talks about a three day fast, which really only lasted two days by our kind of calculation. Jesus rose on the "third day" according to Jewish calculation at the time.
Reprinted from April 4, 1997
How is the day for Easter determined?
Easter is celebrated on the first Sunday after the first full moon after the vernal equinox. This date was settled upon by a series of synods and councils in the second and third centuries and enforced by Pope Saint Victor I. The first ecumenical council, the Council of Nicea, held in 325, made this the rule for the Universal Church. After they separated themselves from the See of Peter, many of the Eastern Orthodox added to the rule (first Sunday after the first full moon after the vernal equinox after the Jewish Passover). They did this to demonstrate their defiance of the pope.
Reprinted from February 28, 1997
Why can't Easter always be on a certain day, the same each year, like Christmas
on Dec. 25th?
The Second Vatican Council, at the end of the Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy, issued a declaration to the effect that the Catholic Church would be willing to consider such a change, if it met with the consent of others. (This declaration also contains material about a possible perpetual calendar, when each date would always fall on a specified day of the week) The date of Easter customarily has been linked to the Jewish Passover, which is determined by the Jewish lunar calendar (14th of Nishon). The problem is how to link this with Sunday (the day of Christ's resurrection) and with the solar calendar. So far, the declaration of the Second Vatican Council on this issue has met with little or no response.
Reprinted from February 28, 1997