One of the most common questions that brings people to the About.com Catholicism GuideSite, especially at this time of year, is "When is Easter?"
But as an e-mail from a reader reminded me, different people mean different things when they ask, "When is Easter?"
Not surprisingly, most people mean, "When is Easter this year?" or more specifically, in the case of this year, "When is Easter 2013?" But some are looking for the date of Easter in other years, either in the future or even, surprisingly often, in the past.
But even some of those who do mean "When is Easter 2013?" are looking not for the date of Easter as celebrated by Catholics and Protestants—that is, Easter as calculated according to the Gregorian calendar—but Easter as celebrated by the Eastern Orthodox, calculated according to the Julian calendar.
And some even mean "How is the date of Easter calculated?" They want to know why the date of Easter changes from year to year, and why Catholics and Protestants usually celebrate it on a different date from the Eastern Orthodox.
The good news is that I have resources here on the About.com Catholicism site to explain each of these questions. And the even better news is that I've consolidated them all in one handy document entitled (appropriately) When Is Easter?
Check it out, and bookmark it for future use. And if there's another thing you might mean by the question "When is Easter?" that I haven't addressed in When Is Easter? simply leave a comment below, and I'll update the document.
(A statue of the risen Christ at Saint Mary Oratory, Rockford, Illinois. Photo © Scott P. Richert)
Your page was very interesting and as well as
very easy to read not that i don’t know how to read
But you made it simple and straight to the
Point i like that. It wasn’t like okay you read it then
You say to yourself do I really understand what I just
Read.
Question:
Is Easter day the first day of the 50 days of Easter? Then after the 50 days of Easter, the day of pentecost happens as the Acts of the Apostle’s
and early church is formed. Why do we not celebrate the day of pentecost and the great works of our Lord through the Saints of the early church?
Thanks to you and thanks to our Lord…
God Bless…
Brother Paul Lyons
of K of C # 237
66 Columbus Avenue
Waterford, NY 12188
(518) 894-5362
Paul, perhaps I’m not understanding your question. We do celebrate Pentecost on the 50th day of Easter—the seventh Sunday after Easter Sunday.
This explanation (non-explanation) about the date of Easter 2013 is the most cryptic gibberish I’ve seen. Maybe we should just skip it this year.
M Burns, this isn’t an “explanation” about the date of Easter 2013; it’s an attempt to point people to the various answers to the question “When is Easter?”, depending on what they mean by it.
If you are looking for the date of Easter 2013, the document giving the date is linked twice in the post.