Easter is one of the widely celebrated and oldest Christian celebrations of our world. People love to wait for this auspicious day once a year. So, when is Easter 2021; you might be wondering. Well, this religious holiday falls on a different date each year, that much we know. But you might be wondering when it will take place in 2021. Well, if you didn’t know already then, of course, you have missed it because this year’s Easter took place on April 4.
Unlike other Global holidays like Christmas, Valentine’s Day, and Halloween, which have a fixed date, Easter falls between March 22 and April 25 each year. So, what determines that day of Easter?
In this article, we shall discuss how you can determine Easter day. Moreover, we shall also discuss everything about the day of Easter. For example, what makes the day so special and all the other significance behind the date. So, if you are curious to know about Easter, then go through this article.
What Is Easter?
For many, Easter is one of the most special holidays of the yearly calendar. Whether you go to a church on the big day or not, there are so many different traditions to enjoy. For example, there are brightly colored easter buckets with easter eggs, chocolate bunnies, gifts for kids, delicious brunches, and wonderful dinners that mark the occasion.
Moreover, you can also dress up inside your home or go out with your friends. In fact, on this day, the whole street wears the colors and decorations of Easter. In addition, you can also celebrate the day with easter crafts with the whole family.
Therefore, we can see that Easter is all about fun and mirth. It’s a day where people unite and celebrate like never before. So, we are hoping you have enjoyed spending Easter 2021 with your friends and family. It’s also worth mentioning that people call this festival a ‘moving festival’ because there’s no fixed date for this day.
Furthermore, all the churches around the globe also celebrate the day along with Christian people. All the Christians around the globe celebrate this day of Easter to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ on the third day after his crucifixion. So, we shall also take a look at the earliest date of when people celebrated this day. According to sources, it dates back to the 2nd century.
Historical Fact
According to the Bible, the day of Easter occurs three days after Jesus’s crucifixion. Moreover, the story follows the New Testament of the Bible, where we see how the Romans crucified Jesus. Pontius Pilate, the Roman emperor, was the one who sentenced him to death. However, as we know from a reading of the Bible, that Jesus resurrected three days after, which marks the date of Easter.
It’s also worth mentioning that this date is closely associated with the Jewish Passover festival of Jewish. Therefore, this date is a festival of joy, where people love to unite and do various things to enjoy.
Different Churches Celebrate This Date On Different Days
Since Easter doesn’t have any fixed date, different churches celebrate Easter on different days. In 1582, Pope Gregory Xii replaced the Roman calendar with a more accurate version of the Gregorian calendar. Therefore, determining the date of Easter became a bit complicated for sure.
Furthermore, we know the people of the Church calculated the day of Easter using the Gregorian calendar in the UK back in 1753. However, the Catholics and the western Christians are still using the Gregorian calendar to determine the Easter Date.
Furthermore, some orthodox churches there celebrate the date on a different day because they follow the Roman calendar that Julius Caeser started. However, they calculate this day through a different moon. Since people follow the Gregorian calendar in the UK, Easter falls on a day between March 22 to April 25.
Here’s a pretty interesting trivia for you on Easter. Did you know that the Easter festival’s last time on March 22, which is the earliest possible date for the day, was back in 1818? So it won’t be until 2285 that we would see the day on the earliest possible date again.
How Do People Determine The Day Of Easter
It’s a bit tricky to know the date of Easter since there are lots of ways to determine it. In addition, different churches follow different methods, which doesn’t make it easier as well. However, we know that we had the day on April 4 this year.
So, how do we determine it? Well, it’s related to the full moon. To put it in much simpler terms, we celebrate the day on the first Sunday following the Full moon that occurs, or just after the spring equinox. It can be tricky and confusing at first, but we shall simplify it for you soon enough.
2021’s Calculations
So, let’s check out how we can calculate the day of Easter 2021 Date. We know that the day of Easter follows the full moon. Therefore, the first spring equinox of 2021 happens to be on March 20 Saturday.
So, the first full moon that rises after that date is on March 28, which is Sunday. So, therefore, we have celebrated Easter in 2021 on the subsequent Sunday, which is April 4.
In the Christian calendar, we call the first full moon of spring as Paschal Full moon. Therefore, to put it more simply, churches and all Christians observe the day of Easter on the Sunday after the Paschal Full moon.
What If Full Moon And Spring Equinox Are On The Same Day?
Generally, if we see the spring equinox falling on the same day as the full moon, we celebrate the date on the subsequent Sunday. However, there is also a story for this.
So, if you have celebrated Easter 2021 USA with your friends and family and are wondering how the date for Easter is calculated, then check this out. A long time ago, the Christian Church decided to make calculating the Easter date simple. So, they decided to observe the day on the Spring Equinox on March 21, even though, equinox date changes over time and is becoming earlier.
It’s true that this discrepancy between the equinox date according to astronomy and the equinox day when the Church observes Easter can cause a bit of confusion. For example, this happened back in 2019, when the full moon and the equinox occurred on the same day, which is March 20.
Paschal Full Moon
The word Paschal that we use in the ecclesiastical calendar comes from the word ‘Pascha,’ a transliteration of the Aramaic word, meaning Passover. This refers to the full moon as we know. Moreover, the Paschal full moon is on the 14th day of a lunar month which occurs on or after March 21.
Some Interesting Facts Of Easter 2021
We know that a lot of Christians observed Easter 2021 with a lot of positive vibes. Needless to say, but it’s a day of joy and mirth, so it makes sense to have a wonderful time. Moreover, it’s a great holiday when people unite and celebrate with their friends and family. So, let’s check out a few interesting facts about this festival that are worth knowing.
One-Third Of The World’s Population Celebrates The Day
Many people celebrated Easter 2021 profusely, but did you know that about 31% of the world’s population celebrate this day each year? Since all the Christians observe this auspicious day, the number is quite huge. Therefore, we can see how important this day is to Christians.
Official Flower Of Easter
So, if you have enjoyed Easter in 2021 with your friends and family, then you should already know that the festival has an official flower as well. So, everyone calls this flower an Easter Lily.
It has been a part of the Christian religion since its beginnings. Moreover, people also call this flower the ‘White-Robed Apostle of Hope.’ We see the mention of this flower many times in the Bible as well. For example, we have a story in the Bible that Lilies sprung from the ground where Eve shed tears of remorse when God banished Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden.
95 Countries Celebrates The Day Worldwide
Did you know that there are about 95 countries in the world that celebrate the date of Easter in some way or another? In fact, countries with a lot of Christian populations celebrate the day with their friends and family.
Furthermore, in some countries, the day after Easter, or Easter Monday, is also a holiday day. In addition, some people observe Good Friday as well, the day which honors the crucifixion of Christ.
The First Easter Was On April 5, According To Scholars
So, this is also a very cool fact on Easter. We know that Easter is a movable festival, so it might be curious to know that the first Easter Date was on April 5.
Named After A Fertility Goddess
According to many theorists and historians, Christians named the Easter after Easter or Eostre, a pagan anglo-Saxon goddess, in the hope of conversions.
Final Thoughts:
So, this was some cool information on Easter. If you celebrated Easter 2021 with friends and family, we hope you had a pretty nice time. Easter is perhaps the oldest festival of Christians, and it is celebrated on an unfixed date.
