Vernal Equinox

For those who do not know, VE is the day that the sun is directly over the equator on its way north go provide summer for the northern hemisphere and winter for the southern boys. It is also know as (AKA) the first day of spring.

You may wonder why I seem to have a fixation on the vernal equinox. To be frank, I do too. Then Easter came. Easter is celebrated on different dates every year. Did you ever wonder why?

Easter was "fixed" by the early church when someone realized that the Passover did not always fall on Friday. The full moon after or on the vernal equinox starts a 14 day countdown to Passover. It can be any day, which left the church with a minor conundrum because they wanted to celebrate the resurrection on a Sunday.

The date of Easter Day is usually the first Sunday after the first Full Moon occurring on or after the March equinox. This means that it can vary from March 22 to April 25, depending upon the phase of the moon. (I have always wanted to say that and have it be true.)

So the vernal equinox begins the countdown to Easter when the equinox and the full moon are not on a Sunday. If they are, Easter is here. If not, we wait for the full moon, then the next Sunday. This year the full moon, and also Passover was on April 11, a Tuesday. So Sunday, April 16 was Easter or Resurrection Day.

Aren't you glad to get that straightened out? Vernal equinox, then full moon, then Easter Sunday. Simple.

I heard a guy named J. John who commented that, "We are Easter Christians in a Good Friday world."

https://www.gotquestions.org/date-easter-determined.html