Easter 2016 Time and date

Easter marks the epic of the Christian calendar. It is considered to be the greatest amongst all the religious festivals. However, some individuals seem to differ and consider Christmas to be the greatest festival in their calendar. Christmas is also important as it marks the birth of Christ, and on the other hand Easter represents the resurrection of Christ. Christians believe that Christ died and rose up on the third day. Therefore, they commemorate Easter three days after the Maundy Thursday. Usually, it is on a Sunday since the crucifixion of Jesus occurred on Good Friday that is two days to Easter Sunday. Easter is normally not fixed to a definite date as it depends on various factors. Therefore every year Easter is commemorated on a different date. So, when will Easter 2016 be?

Easter bunny

Mostly, Easter Sunday occurs between March 22nd and April 25th. This is because it is celebrated on a Sunday that immediately follows equinox also referred to as the paschal moon to denote Easter. On the onset of every spring the first full moon appears. There is a range in the date because the appearance of the full moon does not occur on a specific day. It may appear between March 20th and April 18th. This fact enabled scientists and astronomers to approximate and draft a historical table showing future dates for the appearance of the full moon. Conversely, Christians use the same fact as a standard for determining Easter Day. In 1583 AD Christians formulated a permanent Ecclesiastical table comprising future full moon dates. Since then this table has been used to predict the future dates of Easter Sunday. So, when will Easter 2016 be?

The date of Easter Sunday also depends on the churches celebrating it. Globally, there are two classes of Christians; the Western and Eastern. The two commemorate Easter on different dates. The Eastern Churches commemorate Easter weeks after the Western Churches are done with their celebrations. This is because the Eastern churches use the Julian calendar to determine Easter Day whereas the Western Churches use the Gregorian calendar to predict Easter Sunday date. The Julian calendar was predicted and drafted by Julius Caesar. He took the obligation of redrafting the Roman calendar as the dates were haphazardly set. They were not in synch with the rotation and revolution of the earth. Moreover, the Roman politicians used the calendar to satisfy their own selfish gains thus unnecessarily added extra days and months.

Although Caesar’s aim was to be as accurate as possible, his timing was slow. This caused Easter to occur days earlier than the speculated period. As a result, Pope Gregory the XIII with the help of astronomers revised Caesar’s calendar to formulate a more accurate calendar that is today known as the Gregorian calendar. This was also made the official calendar which is also currently observed by the majority. However, to date Easter date raises a plethora of complications and arguments as individuals try to trace back the exact date that Jesus resurrected. Therefore, when will Easter 2011 be? According to the above facts the Western churches will celebrate Easter on 27th March, 2016.