When is Easter 2014?

When is Easter in 2014?

The dates of Easter are tied to the full Moon and the vernal equinox (not the civil calendar).

  • Christian churches that follow the Gregorian calendar, such as many Western Christian churches, celebrate Easter on the first Sunday after the paschal full Moon on or just after the vernal equinox. For simplicity, the equinox is considered March 21. The paschal full Moon always falls on the 14th day of a lunar month; because ancient calculations did not take into account certain lunar motions, this date may be slightly off from the astronomical full Moon date.
  • Certain Christian churches, such as many Eastern Orthodox churches, follow the Julian calendar, either for movable feasts or for all religious observances. Due to these different methods of calculation, various Christian denominations may celebrate the feast on different days.
  • In Christian churches that follow the Gregorian calendar for determining the date of Easter, the observance can never occur before March 22 or after April 25. In Christian churches that follow the Julian calendar for determining the date of Easter, the observance can occur between April 4 and May 8 (using Gregorian calendar dates).

Easter Dates 2014

Year Gregorian

(converted to
Gregorian date)

2012 April 8 April 15
2013 March 31 May 5
2014 April 20 April 20
2015 April 5 April 12

What is the Golden Number?

It’s a number in the 19-year cycle of the Moon. (The Moon repeats the dates of its phases approximately every 19 years.) Add 1 to any given year and divide the result by 19; the remainder is the Golden Number. If there is no remainder, the Golden Number is 19. The Golden Number is used in calculations for determining the date of Easter.

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So, if I want to function in

By Gail Berry on February 17

So, if I want to function in the American culture, including school breaks, Christian holidays, Jewish holidays, and be at an open celebration on the appropriate day and time, when is Easter?

I think everything is written

By Romanews

I think everything is written good regarding the golden number. I think the next year will be very good. For now i want just to wish a merry christmas with http://romanews.org/2013/12/natale-in-famiglia/

Easter in Ukraine is

By lydia haywood

Easter in Ukraine is celebrated on the 5th May 2013 as is in the UK. Ukrainians 1st/2nd/3rd Generation born are Greek Catholics, therefore follow the Julian calendar for both Chrsitmas and Easter. Xpucmoc Bockpec to fellow Ukrainians around the world!

I'll type it phonetically, we

By TT335i

I'll type it phonetically, we pronounce it
sreh-ken, boh-sheik.
You have to pronounce the verbs in the "short" sound, "boh" is not like "bow", not so much "oh" sound, shorter than that.
And "sheik" should have a bit of "z" sound to the "s".

Literal translation means, "Lucky Easter".
It's a term that is used like "Happy Easter" or "Merry Christmas" that people say to each other during the holiday.

BTW, in the Orthodox slavic/Russian language we don't use the word "Easter", it's more like above "boh-sheik".
Interestingly in Italian is "buona pasqua".

Here's how to say "Happy Easter" in 10 other languages:
French Joyeuses Pâques
German Frohe Ostern
Italian Buona Pasqua
Spanish ¡Felices Pascuas!
Dutch Vrolijk Pasen
Polish Szczęśliwej Wielkanocy!
Danish God påske
Portuguese Feliz Páscoa
Catalan Bona Pasqua
Romanian Paşte Fericit

Notice the German version, Frohe Ostern.
And you see where the English/American "Easter" comes from as German has a major influence on English.
And, you also see "Ostern" as related to the northern Europe Saxon goddess
Eostre (a.k.a. Eastre).

The modern world is woven
from ancient threads.
It can not exist without them.
That's why we need to know what those threads are and where they come from in order to know ourselves.

Its fun to know how

By Alfred kebba

Its fun to know how pascha(Easter) is determined.I have learnt alot.For us in Uganda we use Gregorian callendar. Thamk you!

Romanian orthodox and

By Anonymous from Romania

Romanian orthodox and Romanian greek catholic celebrate Easter on 5 may. Only roman-catholics celebrate Easter on 31 march.

Why is the calendar going

By related issue

Why is the calendar going backwards instead of forward if Easter was on April 8, 2012 than that would mean that Easter would be April 16, 2013, instead of March 31, 2013???????

I'm confused. The nominal


I'm confused. The nominal (not astronomical) Julian equinox is Julian March 21, which is Gregorian April 3. Then the full moon after that is Gregorian April 25 and the Sunday after that is April 28. Where does the extra week come from? What am I missing?

Why isn't Easter celebrated

By Fae

Why isn't Easter celebrated on the 19th day of the month of Nissan. Which would be four days after the start of Pesach?

In 2013, the 19th day of the

By Almanac Staff

In 2013, the 19th day of the month of Nissan translates in the Gregorian calendar to Saturday, March 30.

According to the Council of Nicaea (A.D. 325), Easter must occur on the first Sunday after the paschal full Moon, which is the first full Moon after the vernal equinox. The full Moon and equinox dates are calculated, not actual. The vernal equinox for the purpose of calculating the date of Easter is always set to March 21. The paschal full Moon is also a tabulated date; it may not match the exact date of the astronomical full Moon--a difference of a day or so.

On occasion, such as happened in 2008, Pesach will fall after Easter, rather than before. This is due in part to calculation differences between the Hebrew lunisolar calendar and the Gregorian solar calendar.

Can Easter ever occur on

By bob19594

Can Easter ever occur on April 1, April Fools's Day?

Yes, easter can fall on April

By Me-moi

Yes, easter can fall on April 1. According to the gregorian calender,easter for 2018 will fall on April 1.

Yes; this applies to

By Almanac Staff

Yes; this applies to calculations for Easter using either the Gregorian and Julian calendars. But, it does not apply to Julian calendar dates converted to Gregorian calendar dates.

In many Western Christian denominations that use the Gregorian calendar, for example, Easter can fall as early as March 22 and as late as April 25. It has fallen on April 1 a few times, the last being in 1956. It will occur again on that date in 2018.

According to the Julian calendar, the last Orthodox Easter on April 1, for example, was in 1996. The next will be in 2058. However, when these dates are converted to the Gregorian calendar, Orthodox Easter falls on April 14 for these years.

Note that when converted to Gregorian calendar dates from the Julian calendar dates, Orthodox Easter can not fall earlier than April 3.

Actually, Easter Orthodox

By dduprey

Actually, Easter Orthodox Easter cannot fall earlier than the Gregorian date of April 4, because the Gregorian date of April 3 corresponds to Julian calendar March 21, and Orthodox Easter falls on the first Sunday that occurs AFTER the paschal moon occurring on or after Julian March 21. (This is similar to Western Easter never occurring before March 22 Gregorian.)

It is perfectly OK with me if

By Stephen M. Sebastian

It is perfectly OK with me if you give coverage to Easter next week. I ask only that you also give coverage to Pascha (Russian, Orthodox, Eastern European) --- which will occur on 5/5/2013 this year. Isn't it nice that we orthodox Christians get such nice sale prices for our Easter Lilys and Easter candy) Not that candy and flowers are the purpose of this most important religious feast.

Easter has nothing to do with

By Yahuwnathan

Easter has nothing to do with Passover. Passover 2013 is 25th-26th, Easter is 31st. Therefore, Easter cannot be the day of the resurrection. Easter (Is-thar) is a Babylonian deity and the holiday is a pagan practice.

NO, Easter itself is not

By TT335i

NO, Easter itself is not pagan. It is a Christian celebration of the resurrection of Jesus. That is what Easter is for Christians.
However, as far as how it became known as "Easter", along with many other practices of Easter, this does have quit a bit of basis in ancient Pagan faiths.
The word "Easter" comes from Eostre (a.k.a. Eastre). She was the Great Mother Goddess of the Saxon people in Northern Europe.
This goddess was also part of other similar deities like the "Teutonic dawn goddess of fertility [was] known variously as Ostare, Ostara, Ostern, Eostra, Eostre, Eostur, Eastra, Eastur, Austron and Ausos." Her name was derived from the ancient word for spring: "eastre." Also, throughout other ancient cultures there were similar deities celebrating birth and renewal and Istar, from Assyria was one of them, along with others such as Astarte from ancient Greece,
Ashtoreth from ancient Isreal, Kali from Indian, and others.
Here is an alternate basis or origin of the word "Easter" that can be found on the internet:
"An alternative explanation has been suggested. The name given by the Frankish church to Jesus' resurrection festival included the Latin word "alba" which means "white." (This was a reference to the white robes that were worn during the festival.) "Alba" also has a second meaning: "sunrise." When the name of the festival was translated into German, the "sunrise" meaning was selected in error. This became "ostern" in German. Ostern has been proposed as the origin of the word "Easter"."

Then we have the developing and power growing early Christian church wanting to Christianize "Pagan" people mostly in Europe. This leads to the Christian church using symbolism from the Pagan's beliefs to influence the Pagans into accepting Christianity, and the Church created the celebrations around the celebrations the Pagans already had during springtime to honor their deities named above.
So in essence the Easter celebration was a mixing of Christian beliefs and Pagan celebrations, in order to bring Pagan's into Christianity.
This works because these Pagan celebrations are about renewal, revival, and the rebirth of life at the coming of spring after the "death" brought on by winter.
The symbolism follows closely with the story of Jesus, his death (winter), and subsequent rebirth and revival (spring).
Some say the Christian story and the Pagan stories about their deities influenced each other.

The story of Ishtar is eye opening as you can easily see many things about Ishtar and the stories that clearly parallel Jesus, the Trinity, and other things like the the cycle of the moon, which as we know is how the day for Easter is calculated.
The story also reveals a "40 day" time of mourning and sarrow, and how "no meat" was to be eaten during this period, just like the fasting before Easter.
Then there is Oester a great northern goddess who's symbol is the rabbit!

It's interesting to realize that Jesus's death and resurrection is NOT celebrated in the Bible as "Easter", and there is no description of an Easter celebration nor how to celebrate or anything.

The acceptance/belief in the resurrection of Jesus is the cornerstone of Christian faith.
Wanting to then celebrate that momentous event is why Easter was created. And it was created by taking things from various Pagan traditions to construct a holiday "HOLY DAY" that have become Christian traditions, down to even the name, "Easter".

Still, I do not accept the Easter is a Pagan holiday, because it does not celebrate a Pagan event. Yet, I do understand how and why Pagan traditions and imagery were adopted and adapted in order to create a celebration to honor and remember the death and resurrection of Jesus, and it is due to those adoptions and adaptations that led Pagans toward and into Christianity.
Easter as risen. Truly it has risen. :)

I agree completely, and

By Luni-Solar

I agree completely, and Passover is properly calculated using the original Calendar. The Luni-Solar calendar based on each month starting with the New Moon. Passover is always the 14 day of the month. Sabbath's are always the 8th 15th 22th and 29th.
There was no Julian or Gregory so their fictitious calendar's had not been "invented" yet.

Hello, readers, We appreciate

By Almanac Staff

Hello, readers, We appreciate the helpful comments! Since there is such variability, we have made some adjustments to our article. Thank you, the OFA editors

I am trying to verify if June

By Bill Buksa

I am trying to verify if June 29, 2013 is good to be married in the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of Canada following the Julian Calendar given that June 29 is on Sts Peter and Paul Feast Day per the Gregorian Calendar. Please advise, our church calendars for 2013 are not available. Thank you and Xpucmoc Bockpec.

Even though my family is from

By First Generation Born

Even though my family is from Russia/Ukraine, I am American-made and American-born. So, I was brought up to celebrate both holidays, such as Easter. All I understand is that Russian holidays follow the week after American holidays. This is what I was told/taught. Anyone feel like enlightening me some more? I haven't learned much and so I am a bit naive. Happy Easter and HRISTOS VOSKRESE! :) Thank you!

Always interesting how Easter

By Nafstika

Always interesting how Easter is determined. Being Greek Orthodox our house gets two Easters--one with the baskets and bunnies and ham the other with Holy Week, red eggs and lamb. Best of both!

Pascha (Easter) is celebrated

By Bishop Emanuel

Pascha (Easter) is celebrated after Passover as Christ celebrated the Passover before his crucifixion. All else has been decided by Church Councils which came after the Apostolic Era was over. The Orthodox tradition is older. A Universal Church Council could regulate this. I might even live to see it!

yes, agreed. but this

By alessa

yes, agreed. but this doesn't explain 2013 since Passover begins March 26th and Pascha is May 5th.

It is incorrect and

By zuki77

It is incorrect and misleading to classify Julian calendar feasts and dates as Orthodox. There are other churches, such as , e.g. Ukrainian Catholic or Romanian Catholic who also follow this calendar.
It is amazing that in the 21-st century, when there is so much accommodation for even tiny splinter sects and religious groups, this kind of inaccuracy continues to be perpetuated by news services and other sources of supposedly accurate information.

Most Ukrainian

By +Chrysostom+

Most Ukrainian Greek/Byzantine CATHOLIC parishes follow the GREGORIAN calendar & celebrate Holy Thursday/Good Friday/Holy Saturday & EASTER on the SAME dates as the Roman Catholic Church. However, these parishes may also celebrate EASTER Sunday a second time, coinciding w/Greek, Russian, Ukrainian, etc. ORTHODOX, for all those die-hard purists who insist on celebrating according to the Julian way. So much for being "In COMMUNION w/ Rome & the Holy Father!... Sigh...

dye-hard purists? Obviously,

By Ansia Petropulos

dye-hard purists? Obviously, this shows the amount of respect you have for other traditions, never mind the Roman Catholic centrisity.

Being "in communion" does not

By Ukrainian

Being "in communion" does not mean a hostile takeover, nor is it a merger (to use commercial speak). Rome does not interfere with liturgical traditions or obserances. It is a real shame you do not have a grasp of this. We are different and I would walk and join the Orthodox Church is any attempt was ever made to waterdown my beliefs and practises by Rome.

No this is incorrect. ALL

By Ukrainian

No this is incorrect. ALL Ukrainian catholics of the Byzantine rite follow the Julian calendar not the Gregorian. We are in communion with Rome by virtue of a historical quirk. Liturgically we do not have any overlap with the Latin Rite. Christmas is celebrated as in the Orthodox churches on 07 January and Easter this year with be in May. (UK, Europe and Australasia, at least!!)

Where did you get this from?

By Maria Mazur

Where did you get this from? I follow the Gregorian Calendar here and my Ukrainian Catholic friends in Canada follow the Gregorian Calendar, and so do my Ukrainian Catholic friends in Australia.

Often individual Orthodox

By TT335i

Often individual Orthodox families will decide to celebrate Christmas on Dec. 25th if they live in a country where the majority celebrate on the 25th. However, most of those families also celebrate or honor January 7th as Christmas based on their religion.
So for some Christian Orthodox families they will celebrate on the 25th by exchanging gifts and a family get together in response to the larger culture they live in. And then they will celebrate their religions Christmas observance on Jan. 7th, but this celebration is typically done in more religious somber fashion by gathering the family together for a feast. There is very little to no gift exchange, as that is done during the Dec. 25th celebration.
This is what my family and many many other Eastern Orthodox families do who live in western countries dominated by western Christian faiths, which are mainly Catholic and Protestant, and the all the other faiths the stem from Protestantism.
This is common in the USA and some places in Canada that have larger Eastern Orthodox populations.
So there can be faith based and cultural based celebrations of Christmas, especially in countries that have more forgiving notions about separating religion from the greater general culture.

Sorry Maria, I am an

By Bipa Nadia

Sorry Maria,
I am an Australian born Ukrainian, strongly brought up in the Ukrainian culture and traditions by my migrant parents.
We have always - and still do - follow the Julian calendar here in Australia.

in ukraine, they celebrate

By georgepaloviou

in ukraine, they celebrate according to the julian calendar only

Actually, it's not

By asherblack

Actually, it's not coincidence but Orthodox typology. The type always precedes the fulfillment, so Passover always precedes Pascha among the Orthodox.

Thanks guys! Now I better

By farmerboy96

Thanks guys! Now I better understand how and when Easter falls. I followed the directions on how to find the Golden Number. I got April 12 as Easter Sunday for the year 2020.

My remaining number was April

By Shawn B

My remaining number was April 7, 2020. This is fun. I will check again.

Actually, it is merely

By G. Michael Sadie

Actually, it is merely coincidence that the Orthodox Pascha always follows Passover. The current formula for calculating Easter was imposed after the early Church debate over Quartodecimenism, which celebrated the Pascha according to the Hebrew calendar. The basic problem was that with Quartodecimenism Easter could fall on any day of the week. Outside the Middle East, (as in Rome and North Africa)people were more disposed to keep Easter on Sunday because the original event was on Sunday. So a Council decreed the current formula. However, when Pope Gregory revised the calendar, the Orthodox churches refused to change their church kalendars, hence, their continued use of the Julian calendar. It is merely coincidence that for the last few centuries Orthodx Pashca always follows Passover; it was not so when the rule was first implemented. Another complication is the use of church kalendar data instead of accurate astronomical calendar data. The rule says that Easter falls on the first Sunday following the first full moon following the vernal equinox, but when I was a young man I was surprised one year to discover that Western Easter was celebrated a week later than the full moon as noted in the OFA. This, it turns out, was because of the calculations for the date of the full moon of the church kalendar, which is not astronomically accurate. Sorry, I can't remember the year.

Not all Eastern churches

By CMT Hogan

Not all Eastern churches follow the Julian calendar. My church, the Orthodox Church of America (OCA) follows the Western calendar and yet Easter is the same. That is because Easter is based on an event and not a date and yes, the event includes Passover having commenced.

_Astronomical Algorithms_ by

By Odysseus

_Astronomical Algorithms_ by Jean Meeus lists the following years between 1900 & 2100 when the Gregorian Easter differs from "the purely astronomical rule": 1900, '03, '23, '24, '27, '43, '54, '62, '67, '74, 1981, 2038, '49, '69, '76, '89, '95, 2096. So we seem to be near the middle of an 'accurate patch'. The most frequent date is April 19.

Meeus also mentions that the dates of Julian Easter, according to the Julian (Old Style) calendar, repeat every 532 years. During that time the discrepancy between the Julian and Gregorian calendars increases by three to five days.

The Eastern Orthodox also

By MrsMutton

The Eastern Orthodox also require that Easter follow Passover, so when Passover occurs late in the season, Pascha (Orthodox Easter) will occur in late April or early May, as in 2013.

In the Eastern Orthodox, if

By genak

In the Eastern Orthodox, if the first full moon after the vernal equinox is a Sunday, Pascha (Eastern Orthodox Easter) will be the following Sunday. Also, the Greek Orthodox is the only Eastern Orthodox denomination whose Church calendar follows the Gregorian calendar for the entire Church year EXCEPT that cannonically all Eastern Orthodox Churches "must" celebrate Easter on the same day. Therefore, the Greek Orthodox Church calendar switches from following Gregorian to following Julian and then back to Gregorian. For example, Greek Orthodox Christmas is celebrated on Dec. 25 (Gregorian) vs. all other Eastern Orthodox denominations' Christmas which is celebrated on Jan. 7 (Julian); since Jan. 7 is the Julian equivalent of Gregorian Dec. 25. That's why some years the Greek Orthodox Church has to move when it celebrates St. George's Day (April 25) [Gregorian] until after Easter if Easter falls before St. George's Day! Whew!

Not ALL other Eastern

By Bulgarian Anonymous

Not ALL other Eastern Orthodox denominations use Julian calendar to celebrate Christmas. The Bulgarian Orthodox Church celebrates Christmas on December 25, using Gregorian calendar (small clarification, so you have your facts right)

Saying that all Greek

By Polyxeni

Saying that all Greek Orthodox Churches follow the (new)Gregorian calendar is not accurate. The correct term for the calendar that is followed is neither the Gregorian nor Julian, but rather the Patristic Calendar. The early fathers used the Julian calendar and worked it over to create the dates and schedules of feasts for the church within the framework of the Julian calendar. When Pope Gregory undertook the project to create a (new) calendar, it's purpose was for more than to correct the flaws of the Julian calender, but to demonstrate his sole authority over the church. For this and other reasons, the church has never accepted this change and it was forced upon the Orthodox in Greece under the threat of death or imprisonment. Co-celebrating with heretics as many do with the (new)calender is clearly condemned in the anathamas read during the Sunday of Orthodoxy. There is only ONE HOLY CATHOLIC AND APOSTOLIC CHURCH, not several divided by calendars. The fathers, through the ecumenical councils, determined the calendar, the Theology, and practices of the church that need to be held until a valid ecumenical council, guided by the Holy Spirit, determines otherwise.

The Ancient Church of the

By Athanasios Toma

The Ancient Church of the East also know as "Holy Apostolic Catholic Church of the East" follows the Julian Calendar for all of it's festivities. Recently in 2011 they changed Christmas day to be celebrated using the Gregorian Calendar all other church festivities are still using the Julian. Calendar

The Russian Orthodox Church

By Orthodox Russian

The Russian Orthodox Church (ROCOR) also strictly follows the Gregorian calendar.

I think you are mistaken. The

By Alya

I think you are mistaken. The Orthodox Church follows the Julian (aka Caesarean) calendar that went into effect in 45 B.C. The Gregorean calendar was established in 1582 by Pope Gregory XIII because every 131 years, the Caesarean calendar was off with equinoxes and solstices by one day which affects the date of Easter. In 2013, according to the Gregorian calendar, Easter is Mar 31. Pascha (Orthodox Easter) according to the JULIAN (aka Caesarean)calendar is May 5th.

No, Greek Orthodox is not the

By DeadPixel

No, Greek Orthodox is not the only one. Romanian Orthodox does the same, in that it follows Gregorian and switches to Julian for Easter. Christmas is celebrated on December 25th.

Greek Churches in Greece

By Zoran

Greek Churches in Greece celebrate Christmas on Jan 7 (Julian), while Greek Churches in USA celebrate on Dec. 25 (Gregorian).

I have to disagree with this

By Athanasios Toma

I have to disagree with this comment. Christmas in Greece is celebrated on December 25th, it's a fact.

That is not entirely the case

By acstamos

That is not entirely the case zoram. The church of Greece celebrates Xmas on December 25. But, there in an orthodox church in Greece that follows the Julian calendar, and therefore celebrate Xmas on January 7.

The Greeks are great

By Theo the Great

The Greeks are great philosophers and discuss every point to minutia. i am puzzled why nott one thinking Greek Orthodox questions the inconsistency in setting Christmas according to one calendar and Easter according to another?

Because you're confusing the

By TT335i

Because you're confusing the ancient Polytheist Hellenistic "Greeks" with modern Christian Greeks.

The honor of logic and philosophy belongs to the Hellenistic people, not the modern Greeks. The word "Greek" has become synonymous with the Ancient Hellenes, but that's due to a lack of understanding history.
I believe that the use of the word "Greek" should only be used to describe modern Greeks and should not be confused with the ancient people of the region.
The ancient hellenes called themselves by the city state they lived or were from.
So, if you lived in Sparta you were a Spartan. If you were from Athens you were Athenian.
The modern word "Greek" is a much later construct, and has wrongly been used to include the ancient Hellenes.
It's now in common use, but there is a distinction with a difference, because the Hellenistic people did not call themselves "Greeks". Modern Greeks want this modern use of the word 'Greek' to also include the ancients as they want to be associated with that great culture. Remember the father in the movie "My big fat Greek wedding" and he believed everything comes from Greek?When in fact he was associating himself, a modern Greek, with the ancient Hellenistic culture that has major influence over modern western society. Many modern Greeks try to maneuver and explain that the modern word "Greek" comes from an the ancient word "Graeki", which is actually pronounced with the letter "G" as a "Y" sound like in "Yard". But, the word "Graeki" is an ancient Latin word used to describe all the people in the Hellene land. The ancient "Greeks" were not like modern Greeks even to the extent that they were Polytheists. Modern Greeks are Christians.

St. George is on April 23 not

By George P

St. George is on April 23 not 25.

St. George is May 1st.

By Safaa Sanad

St. George is May 1st.

April 25 is the Feast Day of

By LaB

April 25 is the Feast Day of St Mark the Evangelist, one of the writers of the New Testament Gospels.

Correct except that St.

By GeorgiafromGeorgia

Correct except that St. George's day is celebrated after Pascha if Easter falls AFTER St. George's day...

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