Why is Easter never celebrated on the same date?

Answer 1

Because the christians stole it from the pagans. It used to be a pagan festival, and the pagans worshipped all sorts of stuff - the date of Easter is set according to when the full moon appears, its something like the second Sunday after the full moon in March.

Answer 2

The date of Easter is based on the lunar cycle, not the calendar year. So it falls on the same day each year, not the same date.

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To work it out:

Easter is not fixed in relation to the civil calendar, it falls on the first Sunday after the full moon following the northern hemisphere's vernal equinox.

Answer 3

Easter can never occur before March 22 or later than April 25. The usual statement, that Easter Day is the first Sunday after the full moon that occurs next after the vernal equinox, is not a precise statement of the actual ecclesiastical rules. The full moon involved is not the astronomical Full Moon but an ecclesiastical moon (determined from tables) that keeps, more or less, in step with the astronomical Moon.

The ecclesiastical rules are:

• Easter falls on the first Sunday following the first ecclesiastical full moon that occurs on or after the day of the vernal equinox;
• this particular ecclesiastical full moon is the 14th day of a tabular lunation (new moon); and
• the vernal equinox is fixed as March 21.

Answer 4

It's based on the lunar calendar, which moves up and down the calendar within a certain window. Each year is 11 days shorter than the next and begins 11 days earlier--plus a leap year. BTW--it's always on a Sunday!

Answer 5

Easter is the Sunday closest to the first full moon following the Spring Equinox. The lunar calendar does not coincide with the solar calendar.