Early Easter Explained

Wednesday 19 Mar 08

The Easter eggs are in the shops, the daffodils are blooming and Lent is almost over - and yet we’re still in March. Easter this year is the earliest in living memory. But have you ever wondered why the date of Easter Sunday varies from year-to-year?

The answer is right on our doorstep. It was a monk called Bede living and studying at the twin monastery of St Peter’s, Wearmouth, Sunderland and St Paul’s, Jarrow in the 7th century who came up with the calculation, solving one of the biggest problems for the church in his day.

Bede wanted to ensure that Easter, the most important Christian Feast, was celebrated at the correct time of year and also at the same time by Christians in the western world.

Using theology, mathematics and astronomy, and the work of earlier thinkers – some right and some wrong – Bede devised a calculation based on the lunar calendar, which is still used to this day. Put simply it means that Easter is celebrated on the first Sunday after the full moon, on or after March 21st, the solar equinox.

It also means that Easter Sunday can fall anywhere between March 22 and April 25. Bede created what he called his “Giant Easter Cycle” – a 532-year repeating cycle, predicting ahead when Easter would be for every year in the future, something which had never been achieved before.

His work was immediately popular all over Europe. The continuing influence of Bede’s work at the twin monastery known as Wearmouth-Jarrow, is just one of the reasons why the site will be nominated for World Heritage Site Status in 2010. The monastery has huge historical significance and remains of the 7th century buildings, standing in Bede’s day, still survive at both churches.

If successful the monastery will rank alongside sites such as the Taj Mahal, the Great Wall of China and the Pyramids.
Rt Rev Mark Bryant is Bishop of Jarrow and chairs the Wearmouth-Jarrow Partnership, he said: "The north east of England should take pride in the fact that it was a local man, Bede, who set the basis for the calculation of Easter used right up to the present day. This is just one of the many reasons that he is considered as having an important influence on the world and why his work supports calls to have his home monastery at Wearmouth and Jarrow designated as a World Heritage Site."