Why is Easter a moveable feast? We explain when it falls and what the date depends on

Easter is a moveable feast and always falls on a Sunday. Unlike Christmas, which has a fixed date on the calendar, so it can take place at any part of the week. Easter sometimes falls in March, like this year, but we usually celebrate it in April. So what does the date of these holidays depend on?

Why is Easter a moveable feast? We explain what she is addicted to

Easter is the most important Catholic holiday, more important than Christmas. Therefore, some may be surprised that its date is related to… the full moon. In the 4th century, the Council of Nicaea established that the resurrection of Jesus Christ would be celebrated a week after the spring full moon. Therefore, Easter falls between March 22 and April 25.

But why was the Catholic holiday linked to the phases of the moon? Easter celebrates the resurrection of Jesus after he was crucified. Depending on the gospel (i.e. the books that described the life of Christ in the New Testament, the Bible), the day of his death falls on the Jewish holiday of Passover or the previous day. At that time, the lunar calendar was in force in Jerusalem and the dates of holidays were set in relation to our natural satellite. The Gospels refer to this tradition. – It is to this tradition that the Gospels of Saint refer. Mark, Saint Matthew and Saint Luke, which fixes the date of Christ’s crucifixion on the day of Passover. This tradition was adopted by the Catholic Church – .

Holy Week is underway. What are the folk traditions?

Although days off are only available for Easter and Easter Monday, Catholics actually celebrate throughout Holy Week, starting with Holy Monday, which this year fell on March 25. Moreover, the Paschal Triduum begins on Thursday. Good Friday is its second day, and in Poland it is treated as a mourning day. – In the past, village residents behaved at home on this day as if after the death of a loved one – says Elżbieta Osińska-Kassa from the National Institute of Rural Culture and Heritage.

As a sign of mourning, they stopped clocks, covered mirrors and spoke in hushed voices. On this day, before sunrise, you had to wash yourself in cold, running water to prevent various skin diseases. Ablutions were accompanied by prayers to the wounds of Christ

– explained the ethnographer.

If someone did not have access to a river or stream, they could wash themselves with water from a bowl into which coins were thrown, which was supposed to ensure health and wealth all year round. Even though Good Friday was a day of mortification and silence, there were cheerful accents in some regions of the country. For example, in Greater Poland, boys hung żurek and herring to signify the end of Lent. On Good Friday you were not supposed to borrow anything, because it was believed that then luck ran away from the house. On this day, weather forecasts and harvests were also predicted.