Some Interesting Facts about Easter This Year...

· This year Easter is on March 23, 2008 for Western Christianity, only one day later than the earliest it can ever be in Western churches (March 22).

· The last time Easter fell on March 23 in Western Christianity was the year 1913, 95 years ago. Therefore, only a few of us were actually alive then to celebrate Easter.

· The next time Easter will fall on March 23 in Western Christianity is 2160, 152 years from now. It's doubtful any Western Christians will still be around to celebrate Easter again on March 23.

· Even more remarkable, no one alive today has ever, or ever will celebrate Easter earlier than March 23. The last time Easter fell on March 22 was in 1818, and the next time will be in 2285.

In Western Christianity, Easter Sunday can fall anywhere between March 22 and April 25.

In Western Christianity, Easter is always celebrated on the Sunday immediately following the Paschal Full Moon date of the year.

In the year 325 AD astronomers approximated the dates of all the full moons in the year for the Western Christian churches. These were called the Ecclesiastical Full Moon dates, and they have been used ever since 326 AD to determine the date of Easter. So, the Paschal Full Moon is always the first Ecclesiastical Full Moon date after March 20 (which happened to be the vernal equinox date in 325 AD).

The Paschal Full Moon can vary as much as two days from the date of the actual full moon, with dates ranging from March 21 to April 18. As a result, Easter dates can range from March 22 through April 25 in Western Christianity.

Western churches use the Gregorian Calendar to calculate the date of Easter and Eastern Orthodox churches use the Julian Calendar. This is partly why the dates are rarely the same.
Easter and its related holidays do not fall on a fixed date in either the Gregorian or Julian calendars, making them moveable holidays. The dates, instead, are based on a lunar calendar very similar to the Hebrew Calendar.