St.Irene Orthodox Mission

Q.So are the two dates always two weeks apart?
A;No.The gap between the two Easters is different every year.It can be as much as five weeks.Besides the fact that the dates of vernal equinox lie 13 days apart,we also have to consider when the full moon falls.So ,if the full moon falls within the 13 days between the Gregorian and Julian equinoxes,Orthodox Easter will be later.There is another complication here,which is that,alongside the equinox,the sun and moon have a part to play as well.Under the Julian calendar,the full moon is calculated using the so-called Metonic cycle(a 19-year cycle under which the phases of the moon fall on the same date every 19 years). However,this calculation is not astronomically accurate either,so it,too,leads to the dates shifting out of place.When this is added to the discrepancy between the Julian and Gregorian equinoxes,it can lead to a difference of up to five weeks between the Orthodox and Western dates of Easter.The Nicaea ruling contains one other provision that is extremely important for the The Orthodox churches.It states that Easter should not be celebrated "with"(Greek "meta")the Jews. Todays theologians are no longer entirely certain what was meant by this,but Orthodox Easter still cannot fall on the same day as Passover.If it does,it is postponed by a week.