Why Is Easter So Late This Year?
Easter 2022 will be observed on Sunday, April 17! Easter is a “movable feast” that is always held on a Sunday between March 22 and April 25. Why is Easter so late this year? Find out why the date changes every year and how this holiday relates to the first full Moon of spring.
When Is Easter 2022?
This year, Easter will be observed on Sunday, April 17. (Eastern Orthodox Easter will take place on Sunday, April 24.)
Why Is Easter So Late This Year?
Easter is a “movable feast,” so it doesn’t happen on the same date from year to year. However, it is always observed on a Sunday between March 22 and April 25.
Easter this year happens just one day after April’s full Moon (Saturday, April 16), which is the first full Moon to occur after the ecclesiastical spring equinox (March 21) and is therefore known in the Christian calendar as the “Paschal Full Moon.” To make a long story short, Easter always occurs on the first Sunday after the Paschal Full Moon, which is why Easter is so late this year. Read more about this curious connection below!
What Is the Most Common Easter Date?
Over a 500-year period (from 1600 to 2099 AD), it just so happens that Easter will have most often been celebrated on either March 31 or April 16.
Many Eastern Orthodox churches follow the Julian calendar rather than the Gregorian. In this case, the observance of Easter can occur between April 4 and May 8.
| Year | Easter Sunday (Gregorian calendar) |
Eastern Orthodox Church (Julian calendar) |
|---|---|---|
| 2022 | April 17 | April 24 |
| 2023 | April 9 | April 16 |
| 2024 | March 31 | May 5 |
| 2025 | April 20 | April 20 |
How Is The Date of Easter Determined?
Would you believe that the date of Easter is related to the full Moon?
Specifically, Easter is celebrated on the first Sunday following the full Moon that occurs on or just after the ecclesiastical spring equinox (March 21). Yes, it’s a bit confusing at first read!
Let’s break it down: The ecclesiastical spring equinox (in other words, the date observed by the Christian Church) has a set date of March 21. The first full Moon to occur after March 21 rises on Saturday, April 16, this year. Therefore, Easter will be observed on the subsequent Sunday, which is Sunday, April 17, 2022.
Note that the equinox date used by the Christian Church (the “ecclesiastical” date) is different from the astronomical date of the equinox, which can change from year to year. In 2022, the astronomical date of the equinox was Sunday, March 20.
In Christian calendars, the first full Moon of spring is called the “Paschal Full Moon” (which we’ll explain further below). So, to put it another way: Easter is observed on the Sunday after the Paschal Full Moon.
Read more about Easter and the Paschal Full Moon
What Happens When the Full Moon and Spring Equinox Occur on the Same Day?
Generally, if the full Moon occurs on the same day as the spring equinox, Easter is observed on the subsequent Sunday. However, there is a caveat:
Long ago, the Christian Church decided to simplify the process of calculating Easter’s date by always observing the spring equinox on March 21, despite the fact that the equinox date changes over time and is actually getting earlier.
This discrepancy between the astronomical equinox date and the Church’s observed equinox date can sometimes cause confusion, as it did in 2019, when the full Moon and the astronomical equinox occurred on the same day—Wednesday, March 20.
According to the formula above, this should have meant that Easter would be observed on Sunday, March 24. However, because the Church observes the equinox on March 21, the full Moon technically did not occur “on or just after” the equinox, meaning that the next full Moon would determine Easter’s date instead. Thus, in 2019, Easter was held on Sunday, April 21, after the full Moon on Friday, April 19.
What Is the Paschal Full Moon?
The word “Paschal,” which is used in the ecclesiastical (Christian church) calendar, comes from “Pascha,” a transliteration of the Aramaic word meaning “Passover.”
In reference to the full Moon, Paschal refers to the date of the full Moon determined many years ago as the 14th day of a lunar month. Ancient calculations (made in a.d. 325) did not take into account certain lunar motions.
So, the Paschal Full Moon is the 14th day of a lunar month occurring on or after March 21 according to a fixed set of ecclesiastical calendar rules, which does not always match the date of the astronomical full Moon nearest the astronomical spring equinox.
It sounds complicated, but the basic idea is to make it simpler to calculate the date for modern calendars. Rest assured, the dates for Easter are calculated long in advance. See past and future Easter dates here.
Want to read more about Easter and the Paschal Full Moon? See our article on their curious connection here.
What Is the Golden Number?
Readers often ask us about the Golden Number, which was traditionally used in calculations for determining the date of Easter.
The Golden Number is a value used to show the dates of new Moons for each year, following a 19-year cycle.
The Moon repeats the dates of its phases approximately every 19 years (the Metonic cycle), and the Golden Number represents a year in that cycle. The year of the cycle can then be used to determine the date of Easter.
To Calculate the Golden Number:
Add 1 to any given year and divide the result by 19, ensuring that you calculate to the nearest whole number; the remainder is the Golden Number. If there is no remainder, the Golden Number is 19.
For example, to calculate the Golden Number for 2022, we take 2022 and add 1, resulting in 2023, then divide it evenly by 19, giving us 106 with a remainder of 9. Therefore, the Golden Number for 2022 is 9, meaning 2022 is the 9th year of the Metonic cycle.
What Is Easter?
Easter is the most important feast day in the Christian calendar.
Regularly observed from the earliest days of the Church, Easter celebrates Christ’s resurrection from the dead, following crucifixion. It marks the end of Holy Week, the end of Lent, and the last day of the Easter Triduum (starting from the evening of Maundy Thursday, through Good Friday, Holy Saturday, and Easter Sunday), as well as the beginning of the Easter season of the liturgical year.
The resurrection represents the triumph of good over evil, sin, death, and the physical body.
Where Did the Word “Easter” Come From?
Easter, also called Pascha or Resurrection Sunday, is a festival and holiday commemorating the resurrection of Jesus from the dead.
Let’s start with Pascha (Latin) which comes directly from Pesach, the Hebrew word for Passover. Going back to the Hebrew Bible and the story of the first Passover, Moses tells the Israelites to slaughter a passover lamb and paint its blood on their door. The Lord protected the Israelites from death by passing over their doors and would not “allow the destroyer to enter your houses to strike you down” (Ex. 12:23).
In the New Testament (1 Corinthians 5:7), Paul connects the resurrected Christ to Passover. He refers to Jesus as the paschal lamb who has been sacrificed for his people’s salvation. Jesus celebrated the Last Supper with his disciples during Passover, so it makes sense that the Feast of the Resurrection is connected with the Jewish holiday. Today, Christians celebrate the “Paschal mystery.”
So, where did the word “Easter” come from? The exact origin of the word “Easter” is unclear. It’s not as simple as saying it has religious origins or pagan origins.
Some historians suggest that it came from the phrase hebdomada alba, Latin for “white week,” used to describe the white garments new Christians wore when they were baptized during Holy Week. In Old German, the word became esostarum and, eventually, Easter.
The Venerable Bede, a seventh-century Anglo-Saxon historian also known as Saint Bede, writes that the word Easter comes from the Anglo-Saxon dawn goddess of fertility Eostre, also the goddess of the dawn, who originated in what is now Scandinavia. Over time, early Christians started referring to the Feast of the Resurrection by the name of the month in which it was celebrated—Eosturmonath (what we now call April).
Alternatively, Easter may have from an old German word for “east,” which in turn is derived from a Latin word for “dawn.” In the past, the word easter could mean “to turn toward the east” or “rising” and didn’t necessarily have any implied religious meaning. (Note: It was the Germans who invented the “Easter Bunny” who visited “good” children’s homes, much like they invented Santa Claus.)
Bottom line, no one truly knows the etymological origins of the word, “Easter.” It is one of the oldest Old English words.
In the end, it is unimportant whether Easter comes from the goddess of the dawn or the Latin word for dawn. In whatever language, Easter today is a Christian holiday to celebrate Christ’s resurrection—and the reminder that death brings life.
Our Favorite Easter Recipes
Traditional Easter dishes include seasonal produce as well as symbols of spring such as lamb, ham, eggs, asparagus, spring peas, hot cross buns and sweet breads, and a carrot cake.
We have all the traditional Easter recipes and more! Check out our Favorite Easter Recipes.
Greek Easter Bread. Photo by Pasta/Shutterstock.
Happy Easter!
From all the Editors here at The Old Farmer’s Almanac, we wish you a Happy Easter and a joyous spring season!
Easter Recipes
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I have read the explanation of how the date of Easter is determined involving dates of spring equinox and full moons which accounts for the changing date for Easter. What I do not understand is if Christians can agree that Jesus Christ was born on December 25th which never changes then why is there a "formula" which gives us a date for Easter that always varies from year to year? That doesn't make sense to me.
Good question, Penny.......!
Most likely the Church hammered out, what would become the system we now know, via Councils, different calendars over the centuries {Julian, Gregorian}, the Metonic Cycle {Lunar phases recurring on the same dates every 19 years} with their related Golden Numbers, etc.
A question that has occurred to me stems from Easter this year {2022}. As you may know, the Full Moon occurs Sat., Apr. 16, 6:55 PM GMT.
All of Japan, Australia and New Zealand at that time will already be INTO Sun., Apr. 17, violating the rule, "first Sunday AFTER the first Full Moon
after the Vernal Equinox. In those places the Full Moon occurs ON {not after} that Sunday in question.
I have analogously wondered about this rule's effect on the Southern Hemisphere, but I am then reminded how dates such as Mar. 20 & 21 are highly emphasized.......i.e. European oriented. Maybe...just MAYBE...there is an analogous focus for a case like 2022, perhaps the Full Moon time being GMT, possibly GMT + 1.......I don't know.
I believe I learned once, the great mathematician Gauss came up with his own calculation in/circa 1800, which was accurate but for one aspect,
an error picked up a student of his named Peter Paul.......! :)
Again, Penny, thanks for the input. Hopefully someone with far more knowledge than yours truly will enlighten us. Happy Easter !!! :)
Jesus was Jewish, he was celebrating Passover (Pasach) when he was betrayed. Easter follows the Jewish calendar which is lunar based.
Answering your question: "why is there a "formula" which gives us a date for Easter that always varies from year to year?"
Firstly, the author has clearly provided a robust answer to this when he pointed to the fact that the early Christians did not take into consideration the changing Lunar Cycle. This is understandable as many people who do not know that the Moon cycle is never occuring at regular dates every month. With the understanding that the Moon goes through a 19 year rotation is a scientific observation that might be beyond ancient astronomical knowledge. This also was taken for granted by early christians in their calculations of the exact date to celebrate Easter every year. Nevertheless, using the Full Moon to determine the Easter feast is clearly understandable given that in ancient times, the Moon lunar cycle is usually used to remember and determine important dates, which serves correctly as the Bible says that God created the Moon, the Stars and the Sun to determine the Seasons. The famer uses this to determine crop cycle and planting and harvesting seasons as well as the beginning of the raining and dry seasons and so on. That the ancient pagan worshippers used the same observable celestial elements' life-cycle in the Heavens does not make the pagans exclusive owners of these celestial seasonal calculculations and it does not matter whatsoever if our christian celebrations occur the same days or period as did the ancient pagan feasts because it is our divine mandate to re-write the wrong and reclaim these dates forever for the glory of God and His Jesus Christ. We cannot leave these dates for the pagans because they did not create the Sun, the Moon and the Stars but God did all by Himself for us His children. Even the languages and use of naming is also cultural specificities that are not exclusive rights of the pagans. Moreover, the modernisation of scientific use of Calandering adds to all these controversies as more reliable scientific understandings creates 'paradigm shift' that corrects ancient miscalculations.
Secondly, the exact date that Jesus died and resurrected from death may not be well recorded. But we all know from the scriptures that these occured around the time of the Jewish Passover feast, which makes it easy to pinpoint the time to celebrate our christian Easter feast. Very clear! All we need to do is to know the time and track and date it by using the lunar cycle as the early christians has done and handed down to us.
On conclusion, even if we know the exact date of the month, we also need to adjust because our calander cycle also changes from year to year. For instance, some months end in 30th and others in 31st while the month of February ends in 28th or 29th, which render fixed dating of feast days/periods inaccurate over time. Did you ever consider why your exact fixed date for your birthday does not fall the same weekday you were originally born? So how does celebrating your birthday on the very date you were born represents accuracy? Is the date of the month more important than the exact week day you were born like say Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday or Sunday? That most christian denominations celebrate Sundays as the main Holy Day to gather as a congragation while the Judaism celebrate their Sabbat Day on Saturdays and not a particular date of the week as does exact dtae of our birthdays.
I calculate mine as 365 days from day I was born, be that a Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday, or Mother's Day.... 365 days from when I was born. To be more accurate, I suppose 365 days and however many hours, mins, secs, in a rotation around the sun. Or does the sun still circle the earth and can we still sail off the edge of the world? Happy Easter! To rise makes sense to me. The sun rises in the east...When Christ rose... Gotta rise early on Easter to hide the eggs...
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