When is Easter?

On March 5, we entered another season of Lenten preparation for the Easter joy of the Lord’s resurrection. Each year, Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of Lent with a symbolic gesture of humble repentance by receiving ashes on our foreheads. It is a reminder of our own mortality. 

The sign of ashes is a penitential witness that comes from our spiritual ancestors in the Old Testament. We heard in the Mass of Ash Wednesday a passage from the Gospel according to Saint Matthew in which Jesus not only instructs us to take on acts of prayer, fasting and almsgiving, but describes for us the most integral and spiritually beneficial way of doing so.

While Ash Wednesday is beloved and familiar to most Christians, we may not understand why the date on which it is celebrated moves every year. 

The date of Ash Wednesday can vary anywhere from early February through late March. I have heard people express curiosity about why Ash Wednesday seems so late this year. The reason for this variance is not arbitrary but deeply rooted in sacred scripture and the central mysteries of our faith.

Our Christian faith is what we would call an historical faith, meaning the events that form the central truths of what we believe actually took place in history. Our faith is not based on a myth. 

God created the universe, which began the passage of time. He chose the people of Israel and made covenants with them. God rescued his people in history from slavery in Egypt. The archangel Gabriel visited Mary and God took on human flesh in her womb at a particular place and moment in time. Jesus lived for decades on this very earth, where he suffered, died and rose again all in history.

These are not fictional tales, but historic events that form the basis of what we profess as Christian believers and as Catholics.

This matters in our discussion of Ash Wednesday because the date on which it is celebrated each year shifts precisely because Jesus rose from the dead in history. Jesus was in Jerusalem for the annual Jewish celebration of Passover when he was put to death by crucifixion. The observance of Passover was the sacrificial, ritual banquet in which the Jewish people commemorated, gave thanks for and relived the tremendous acts of God by which he freed them from slavery to the Egyptians. 

The original Passover occurred during the month of Nisan on the Jewish calendar. Every year Jews still celebrate the Passover during the month of Nisan. The months of the Jewish year do not follow a solar cycle like our calendar but instead follow the cycles of the moon. Since the lunar cycles don’t match with the cycles of the sun, the date on our calendar (called the Gregorian calendar created by Pope Gregory XIII) changes year by year.

The month of Nisan can take place during the months of March and April.

When the early Church celebrated Jesus rising from the dead, they did so using the lunar calendar to set the date each year. They did this not only because the 12 apostles were all Jewish, but also to link the celebration of Easter with the celebration of Passover. Just as God saved his people from the oppressive rule of Pharaoh and their slavery in Egypt, he has now saved us from the oppressive rule of sin and death. 

The people of Israel were led from slavery into freedom across the waters of the Red Sea, and we have been led from death into life across the waters of Baptism. Today, we continue this ancient practice of celebrating Easter by tying its date to Passover. It is the celebration of our liberation and deliverance from sin.

In the Latin Church, the date for Easter is always set on the first Sunday after the first full moon after the spring equinox. Remember this is not because of the spring equinox itself, but because the Jewish calendar followed the lunar cycles. 

For example, this year the spring equinox is March 20. The first full moon after March 20 is April 12. The first Sunday after this full moon is April 20. Even though April 12 is a Saturday, Easter is not April 13 because not everyone in the world will experience the full moon until it is already April 13 in other places. Therefore, the date of Easter 2025 is April 20 for the universal Church.

To find the date of Ash Wednesday, we simply count back the six Sundays of Lent, including Palm Sunday, and find the Wednesday before the First Sunday of Lent, which this year is March 5 – 46 days before Easter. This entire process of finding the date for Ash Wednesday is rooted deeply in the created world and salvation history. The truth of the faith that we profess permeates our entire lives in time and space.

It is my hope and prayer that through the Lenten practices of prayer, fasting and almsgiving you may deepen your ability to celebrate and rekindle in your heart the joyful Good News of Easter!