This
article was first written in 1994 and then appeared in the Word Magazine in
2000.
It should
be noted that the article objectively examines the origin, history and methods
for dating Pascha. In stating facts about methodology, it is not the author’s
intent to propose a revision to the current dating methods. In fact, the author
closes his article with a reaffirmation of the current Orthodox Unity in
celebrating our most important Holy Day. The last paragraph clearly echoes the
sentiment of the First Ecumenical Council that the dating of Pashca should be
done, "With one accord and in the same manner".
Question
I’ve
heard that the reason the Orthodox usually celebrate the Resurrection later
than Protestants and Roman Catholics is because we wait until after the Jewish
Passover. This year the Jews observed Passover on March 27. Western Christians
celebrated Pascha after that, on April 3, so why did we wait until May 1?
In brief
Pascha in the Old and New Testaments
The Old
Testament specifies that the Passover/Pascha is to be observed on the 14 th day
of the first month (alternately known as Abib or Nisan; see Deuteronomy
16.1-7). Being a fixed day on the old Hebrew calendar, it could fall on any day
of the week.
According
to the Gospel of John, Pascha just happened to fall on a Saturday the year that
Jesus was crucified. It is important to note that Christ died on the Cross at
the very hour the paschal lambs were being slaughtered for the Feast; thus
Christ is our Pascha, our Passover Lamb, sacrificed for us. Strictly speaking,
then, we must distinguish between the Feast of Pascha (on Holy Friday) and the
Feast of the Resurrection (on Sunday); the two are inseparable though distinct.
The date of Pascha in the Early Church
The early
Church in the East continued to observe Pascha on the eve of the 14 th of
Nisan, according the Jewish Calendar, with the Resurrection on the third day,
that is on the 15 th. That meant that the Resurrection could fall on any day of
the week. In Rome and Alexandria, however, the early Christians always kept the
Resurrection on a Sunday.
A Problem Situation
In the
second century, St. Polycarp, Bishop of Smyrna in Asia Minor, journeyed to Rome
to confer with Pope Anicetus regarding the disagreement over the proper date
for the celebration of Pascha. Neither was able to convince the other, and they
decided that the two practices could coexist.
The
situation was actually messier yet. There existed in practice, because of the
way the Hebrew calendar worked, not two but a multitude of dates for the
celebration Pascha. Jews and others in the ancient Near East followed a lunar
calendar in which each month averaged 29½ days in length. They had twelve
months in most years, each month beginning with a new moon. This made the year
too short, so an extra, thirteenth month was inserted every two or three years
to keep the months in step with the seasons (which depend on the sun rather
than the moon).
There
were no printed calendars at that time, and no one ever knew exactly how many
days there would be in a given month or year. The beginning of a new month was
declared when the first sliver of a new moon was sighted in the sky. Of course,
observation of the new moon depended on location and weather conditions, thus
people in different places often did not start a new month at the same time.
Since Pascha was observed on the 14 th of the month—and that depended on local
sighting of the new moon—there was no way for Christians (or Jews, for that
matter) to plan a united observance of Pascha.
In the
fourth century the Emperor Constantine espoused Christianity and made it not
only legal but the favored religion of the Empire. The Church suddenly started
growing by leaps and bounds, and he gave public buildings for the Church’s use,
but he was perturbed to find out about the different practices regarding the
date of Pascha.
The council of Nicæa
Constantine
convened the First Ecumenical Council in the city of Nicæa in 325 to unify the
date of the observance throughout the newly Christian Empire. Unanimously, the
bishops gathered at the Council decided to keep the feast on a Sunday. They
wanted to retain the symbolism of the Resurrection falling on the day which is
both the first day of the week and the eighth day, the Day of the Lord. They
agreed that the most important thing was for the Church to demonstrate her
unity by celebrating together, whenever she chose to celebrate, without regard
to the Jews’ plans. The bishops saw the Christian observance of the Pascha of
the Lord on Holy Friday as connected to and in continuity with the Passover of
the Old Testament, and they understood that the Resurrection, by definition,
follows the Passover. After all, the Church saw herself as the true heir of the
Old Testament. She was comprised of both Jews and gentiles, all those who
responded to the God of the Old Testament when He came in the flesh.
Following
the Council, Constantine sent a letter to all the bishops who were absent to
report to them the decisions of the council. The following excerpt of that
letter explains some crucial points:
When the
question relative to the sacred festival of Pascha arose, it was universally
thought that all should keep the feast on one day; for what could be more
beautiful and more desirable than to see this festival, through which we
receive the hope of immortality, celebrated by all with one accord and in the
same manner? It was declared to be particularly unworthy for this, the holiest
of festivals, to follow the calculation of the Jews…
The Nicene Formula
The
fathers gathered at the First Ecumenical Council decided that the Hebrew
calendar had to go. They had to be able to plan ahead and not have to depend on
when the local Jewish Rabbi would spot the new moon. They adopted, therefore, a
solar calendar based upon the best scientific and astronomical data of the
time. In fact they adopted the civil calendar of the Roman Empire which had
been promulgated under Julius Cæsar (hence the name Julian Calendar), as
refined under Augustus Cæsar.
The
Council decreed that the Resurrection would be observed on the first Sunday
after the first full moon on or after the vernal equinox (March 21).
Furthermore, since the best scientific observatories were located in Alexandria
at that time, the Council assigned the bishop of Alexandria the responsibility
of sending out a letter to all the Church, year by year, announcing in advance
when the Resurrection would be celebrated that year. This way, the whole of
Christendom was sure to celebrate together a glorious Pascha/Resurrection.
The Current Situation
After a
while, it got tedious to send out letters year by year. Instead of making fresh
astronomical observations, people just started calculating when the full moon
would occur for many years into the future. This actually worked out rather
well for a while; small errors in the calculation only showed up when
extrapolating for hundreds or thousands of years out. In fact the ancients were
aware of the imprecision, but they devised a nineteen-year cycle based on the
Julian Calendar which they considered sufficiently accurate for their purposes,
over the time period of 50-100 years with which they were concerned.
Unfortunately,
we have been using the 19-year cycle in calculating the date of the
Resurrection ever since the fourth century without actually checking to see
what the sun and moon are doing. In fact, besides the imprecision of the
19-year cycle, the Julian calendar itself is off by one day in every 133 years.
In 1582, therefore, under Pope Gregory of Rome, the Julian Calendar was revised
to minimize this error. His “Gregorian” calendar is now the standard civil
calendar throughout the world, and this is the reason why those who follow the
Julian Calendar are thirteen days behind. Thus the first day of spring, a key
element in calculating the date of Pascha, falls on April 3 instead of March
21.
The
Orthodox Church held an important council in 1923. The Churches that were
represented at the council, including Constantinople, Alexandria and Antioch,
decided to adopt the Gregorian Calendar for all fixed feasts and to continue to
use the Julian Calendar for the date of the Resurrection. Let us pray that, one
day soon, we can rediscover the goal of the First Ecumenical Council, that the
whole Orthodox Church might adopt the most precise calendar available, and—much
more important—that we might demonstrate our unity by celebrating all our
feasts together, “with one accord and in the same manner.”
Carrying
a Cross around the church at Holy Friday matins we sing:
Let us not keep festival as the Jews: for
Christ our God and Passover is sacrificed for us. But let us cleanse ourselves
from all defilement and with sincerity entreat Him: Arise, O Lord, and save us
in thy love for mankind!
CONVERSATION