Now that spring is here, many people might be thinking ahead to Easter.
If you’re one such person, here’s when the holiday arrives this year.
Easter falls on Sunday, April 20, this year. But it’s not always the same date, as many observers might have noticed.
The Old Farmer’s Almanac explains how the date on which Easter falls on is determined by the lunar cycles of the Jewish calendar: The holiday always occurs on the first Sunday after the Paschal Full Moon (the one that happens on or after the spring equinox).
According to the Encyclopedia Britannica, Easter is a holiday where Christian practitioners celebrate Jesus’s resurrection. The Bible states that Jesus was crucified for humanity’s sins, and was entombed for three days before he arose from the dead.
“The English word Easter, which parallels the German word Ostern, is of uncertain origin,” the encyclopedia explains. “One view, expounded by the Venerable Bede in the 8th century, was that it derived from Eostre, or Eostrae, an Anglo-Saxon goddess possibly associated with spring and fertility.
“(In the modern era the connection between Eostre and spring has been disputed; she may have been a local protective deity rather than a fertility figure). This view presumes — as does the view associating the origin of Christmas on December 25 with pagan celebrations of the winter solstice — that Christians appropriate pagan names and holidays for their highest festivals.”
Easter also marks the end of Lent, the 40-day period during which Christians are meant to give something up, such as sweets or alcohol.
