Holy week

 

HISTORY OF CHRISTMAS AND EASTER     by M.S.Vincent, Bangalore.

 

All the information given are checked and counter checked through many sources including, "  many Christian Encyclopaedia "

 

1) Why is  the Resurrection day  called Easter day ?

 

St.. Bedes (672 -735 AD ) who was an English scholar and historian believed that the word  Easter probably derived from " Eastre "  or  "Eostre"  the name of Scandivian goddess of spring whose festival is celebrated in the spring season. When Christianity Spread, the old Festival names were shifted to Christian feasts.

 

2) Why Easter is not celebrated in a fixed date like Christmas ?

 

Christian Churches celebrate immovable ( dates fixed ) feasts like Christmas  and movable feasts (dates  unfixed ) like Easter. Easter is associated with Paska or  Passover of  Jews.  Easter is fixed as follows.

 

After March 21st of every year, the full Moon day is noted, the Sunday following the full moon is Easter.

 

Take  the calendar of the year 2011, note March 21st, after this date,  the Full Moon falls on  Sunday the 17th   April ,  the following Sunday  is the Easter ( 24th April 2011 )

 

 March 21st is called "  Vernal Equinox ",  in astronomy  it is an important day for astronomical calculations.  The Sun enters  on that day into the Zodiac sign " First point of  Aries." On the day of Vernal  Equinox the duration of "Day"  and "Night"  are  equal. ( Vernal = Spring,  Equinox = Equal night.)

 

3) Why the beginning of lent days is called Ash Wednesday ?

 

Lent days in total are 46 days, if Sundays are excluded, it is 40 days.These forty days represent the forty day and night Jesus spent in desert, where he was tempted by Satan. Because of the practice of placing ash on the forehead in the churches , it is called Ash Wednesday. The ash reminds "you are dust, to dust you shall go."

 

Old Saxon word Lent means  " Spring ", because these days  are always observed  in Spring , it is called Lent days.

Also it is said that the word Lent is an old English word meaning "Lengthen" , because in Spring the days begin to get longer.

 

4) Why the previous day of Ash Wednesday is called " Fat Tuesday ? "

 

The lent days are days of " fasting and Praying", people in the western countries like to enjoy the day before the fasting period, they eat fatty foods, drink and celebrate with carnivals.The joyful celebration would suddenly end at Tuesday  mid night 12,  when  Ash Wednesday starts. Because of fatty foods consumed , it is called Fatty Tuesday.

 

5) Why Thursday before Good Friday is called " Maundy Thursday ?"  

 

Maundy means command ( Mandatum)  in Latin, This refers to the commandment of Christ  given  to his disciples  during the Last Supper to " love one another" . Christ washed the feet of the disciples as an act of humility, which is done symbolically by catholic priests on Maundy Thursday.  On this day the agony of Christ in the Garden of Gethsemane is remembered.

 

John 13:34 ,  " A new command I give,  love one another as I have loved you "  this is the commandment ( Mandatum or Mandate ) given by Christ to His disciples.  From Mandatum derived Maundy.

 

 In Latin Mandatum Novum means " New Commandment " ( commonly Maundy Thursday is called  the Holy Thursday )

 

On this day four events are commemorated 1)  Foot washing by Christ  2) The institution of Holy Eucharistic at Last Supper  3)  Agony of Christ in the Garden of Gethsemane  4)  Betrayal of Christ by Judas.

 

6) Why the day of Crucifixion is called Good Friday ?

 

In English, "God be with you " had gradually became  "good bye" 

Similarly it is said  " God Friday "   had become  " Good Friday "

 

But some argue that " Good Friday " is correct because it brought the greatest good,   "  Salvation "  to  the humanity.

 

7) Why palm Sunday is observed ?

 

Palm Sunday is observed one week before Easter. Palm Sunday commemorates the triumphal entry of Jesus riding on  a donkey into Jerusalem to celebrate passover . The crowd greeted him waving palm branches.

 

During Passover feast,  Israelites used to share brittle flat bread called unleavened  bread ( Matza ) which is made from flour mixed  with water, (without fermentation.) Christ shared Matza with His disciples during the Last Supper.

 

8) What is Passover festival ?

 

It is Paska or Pascha festival which the Jews celebrate commemorating the fleeing of them  from Egypt in 1300 BC ( approximately ). 

Jesus being a Jew,  went to Jerusalem to celebrate Passover ( Paska ) and had the " Last Supper "  with His disciples.

 

This Passover festival starts in Spring  on the full Moon  day after 21st of March (Vernal Equinox)  , Jesus was Crucified during  this  Passover celebration and subsequently resurrected on the third day, hence the Easter is fixed after 21st  March after the Full Moon. 

 

 In the King James version of Bible ( 1611 AD ),  the word Pascha is translated as " Passover. "

In 1818 AD  the Easter was on  22nd March ,  next it will be in the year  2285 on 22nd March. The 22nd March is the earliest date for Easter. There can not be Easter before it.

 

The Easter Sunday will fall on any Sunday starting from 22nd March to 25 April.

 

9) Can you give future Easter dates ?

 

2010 Ash Wed Feb  17             Easter  April   4

2011                  Mar    9                           April   24

2012                   Feb 22                           April   8

2013                   Feb  13                          March  31

2014                   Mar    5                          April    20 

2015                   Feb  18                          April   5

2016                   Feb  10                          March 27

2017                   Mar    1                          April   16

2018                   Feb  14                          April  1

2019                   Mar   6                           April  21

2020                   Feb  26                          April 12  

 

2025                  Mar   5                            April  20

 

2030                  Mar   6                            April  21 

 

 Note : from  Ash Wednesday to Easter count 46  days.                 

 

There can not be Easter before 22nd March and  after 25th April in  any year. " March and April  " is spring season. Easter is also called Spring  Festival.  In 1943, the Easter fell  on 25th April, again in 2038,  

 

10 ) When was  this  formula  determined  ?

 

In the beginning, the festival of resurrection was celebrated in different dates by different denominations of Christianity.

 

 In 325 AD about 300 Bishops of various Christian Churches assembled at Nicaea ( now in Turkey ) to formulate uniform Christian  doctrine. This council was convened by Roman emperor Constantine. In this council of Nicaea, it was decided to celebrate Easter on a common day by all the churches.

 

The Council decided , " the feast of resurrection should be celebrated on the first Sunday after ( not on ) the first full moon after March  21". ( Ref : Book : Religious Holidays and Calendars. Page 78)

 

11) It is said that the Easter is  after the 21st of March on  the following Sunday after the Full Moon . If the Full Moon falls on 21st  March itself and it happens to be a Sunday, when will be the Easter ?

 

Easter will never be on 21st March, it will  be  only after it, in the above case,  the Easter will be celebrated on the following Sunday the 28th March. In the the Council of Nicaea , it is clearly declared that the feast of Resurrection should be celebrated after the 21st  March.

 

( I checked the entire  Ecclesiastical Calendar, in no year the Easter was celebrated on 21st of March. From the year 325 A D, the Easter is celebrated  uniformly by all the Churches.) 

Note: In astronomy, full Moon days are calculated by using " Metonic Cycle ", hence fixing future Easter dates are very easy.

( I studied Astronomy as one of my subjects in  my Mathematics degree in late fifties, which  had helped me to " check and counter check " some of the calendarical  and astronomical calculations connected with Easter.)

 

 

12) Why not the Easter be made an immovable feast like Christmas ?

There was a proposal for it, in 1963 , the Second Vatican Council agreed to make Easter an immovable festival provided a consensus is reached among the Christians Churches. The second Sunday in April has been suggested. It remains a proposal till to-day ( 2011)

13) Why Eater is said to a very important festival ?

Because it brought Salvation to the humanity, In Catholic Ecclesiastical Calendar ( Church events Calendar ) many feasts are fixed keeping Easter as the centre.

          46 days before Easter is " Ash Wednesday "

          40 days after Easter is " The feast of Ascension "

          50 days after Easter is " Pentecost"

          60 days after Easter is " Corpus Christi "   Etc.  

 

In the Second Vatican Council ( 1963 ) it was proposed to celebrate Easter on 2nd Sunday of April every year provided a consensus  is reached among the Christian churches. Till to-day ( 2011 ) it remains  a proposal.

  

14) When Jews are celebrating Easter ?

 

Jews are not Christians, they do not celebrate Easter, they Celebrate Passover or Pascha or Paska , which they are celebrating from 1300 BC,  ever since they fled from Egypt under the guidance and leadership of Moses.

 

For Jews, Christ is not the expected Messiah ( Messiah, derived from Hebrew meaning " the anointed one " )

They  are expecting the Messia., their religion is Judaism.
It was the first ancient religion that believed in one God ( monotheism) 

Polytheism  believes in many gods. (  Hinduism is said to be Polytheistic )
Aestheticism believes in no creator or God ( Jainism ),
Agnosticism doubts the existence of  God ( Buddhism ).

Christianity ( except Jehovah Witness) believes in the " doctrine of holy trinity " which advocates that God exists in three forms. ( Father, son and Holy Spirit ).

Note: 1) Theos = God ( Greek ), Theism = belief in the existence of God. ( Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Judaism , Sikhism , etc )
.2) Atheos = without God ( Greek ), Atheism = no belief in the existence of God ) ( Jainism ) 3) Agnostic = One who believes that it is impossible to know whether there is God or not. ( Buddhism )

15) When did Christ born ? 

In fact there is no authentic record for it. During the first 300 years, Christ's birthday was celebrated in different dates.

In the year 349 Pope Jullius I made 25th Dec as Christ's birthday.That year was made 1 AD.( Anno Domini = in the year of Lord ) .

Logically between 1 AD and 1 BC, there should be Zero year,  Zero year was left out unknowingly causing confusion in astronomical calculations

Eg :   +3, +2,+1, 0, -1,-2,-3
( In  astronomical calculations ,   zero year can not be ignored, it is taken into account by using a formula. )

16) Is the terms, " BC and AD " are used in all the countries ?

It was used in English language by all. But in modern days, some of the academicians are using the abbreviations BCE ( Before Common Era ) and ADC ( After Common Era ).

17) Is 25th Dec an accepted date of all the denominations ?

 Eastern and Russian Orthodox Churches celebrate Christmas on 7th January.

18) What historians say about Christ's birth year ?

They fix it 4 BC or before it. According to bible, after king Herod died an angel appeared in the dream of Joseph in Egypt and said , " Get up, take the child and mother and go to the land of Israel, for those who were trying to take the child's life are dead ."  (Mathew 2-19)

According to historians , King Herod died in 4 BC. So Christ should have born in 4 BC or before it.

19) Have all the countries agreed 25th Dec as Christ's birthday ?

Countries like Belarus, Egypt, Georgia, Meldovia etc celebrate Christmas on 7th Dec.

Countries like Armenia ( not America ) celebrate on 6th Dec.

20) At what age Jesus was crucified ?

According to the  Bible , Jesus was born during the tenure of king Herod ( ruled : 37 BC - 4 BC )

Jesus was born during the  'Census of Rome'  which is believed to be taken place in 6 BC. 

According to historians, Jesus was born between 6 BC and 4 BC.

Jesus  was sentenced to crucifixion by Roman Prefect  Pontius  Pilate, who was in power between  26 AD  and 36 AD.
Considering all these factors, the historian conclude -
Life of Jesus,  33 to 36 years.
Ministry,  1 to 3 years

( all are approximate calculations only.)

===================Prepared referring books from  libraries of Berkley and Stanford Universities, US in 2008.