Abbots Langley Methodist Church
Magazine
April 2008

Why Does Easter Day Change ?

Easter Day is central to the church calendar and from it all other moveable dates are set. The Book of Common Prayer states that Easter Day is always on the first Sunday after the full moon which happens upon or next after the 21 st day of March. Whit Sunday follows seven weeks after Easter Day.

Easter Day this year was almost as early as it is possible to be, and the last time it fell on 23 rd March was in 1913. Actually the earliest that Easter Day can be is 22 nd March, and that last fell in 1818. At the other extreme, in 1908 Easter Day was on 19 th April and was followed by four days of heavy snow! The very latest possible date for Easter Day is 25 th April.

So now we can all work it out for ourselves if we know when the full moon is due. (There will be no prize for finding out when Easter Day will fall in 2009!)