Glad You Asked: Why does Easter move around the calendar?
Why isn't Easter on a specific date or even a specific week?
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"The date of Easter is the first Sunday, after the first full moon, after the vernal equinox." said Father Paul Hartmann at his St. Monica Parish in Whitefish Bay. "So, the first Sunday after the first full moon of spring time."
It's based on the Jewish tradition of Passover. Fr. Hartmann says the reference to the slaughter of a spring lamb in the book of Exodus tells us Passover (and Easter) is a springtime tradition.
Fr. Hartmann says there are a couple of reasons Christians don't just pick a date.
"The risk is, first how to choose that date and kind of reclaiming it as kind of a traditional holiday of the covenant." he said. "Some of the dates that the church has claimed, and religious traditions have claimed, like Christmas, were in response to pagan festivals whereas this one is truly, truly and Christian and Jewish festival unto itself."
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