Snow began falling the precise moment our sunrise service began Sunday at North Church. Easter is still the talk around town, including this morning at the 4:30 AM Coffee Shop in downtown Chippewa. Specifically, the talk is: "We never have this much snow on the ground at Easter."
Well, part of that is certainly because of a return to a "normal" winter, after several seasons of paltry snowfall. But the most obvious is that Easter occurred earlier this year -- March 23 -- than any year since 1913. It won't come nearly this early again until 2035, when it will be on March 25.
Since the fourth century, the Western Christian church has determined Easter to be the first Sunday after the first full moon occurring on or after March 21, using the Gregorian calendar. Believe it or not, there's a formula to make this calculation:
((19*t+u-w-(u-(u+8)\25)+1)\3)+15)mod30)+(32+2*x+2*y-(19*t+u-w- (u-(u+8)\25)+1)\3)+15)mod30)-z)mod7)-7*(t+11*(19*t+u-w(u- (u+8)\25)+1)\3)+15)mod30)+22*(32+2*x+2*y-(19*t+u-w-(u- (u+8)\25)+1)\3)+15)mod30)-g)mod7)+114)\31
You thought understanding the Book of Revelation was difficult?
The Eastern Orthodox Church uses the Julian calendar, rather than the Gregorian. So the Orthodox Easter this year will be April 27.
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