Theologians from different parts of the Roman Empire used to debate about which is the true date of Easter. In 325, at the Council of Nicaea, theologians abandoned the law that Easter should be celebrated at the same time as Passover, and determined that it should be celebrated on the Sunday after the first full moon day after the beginning of spring.
However, the confusion continued, the festival continued to be celebrated on different dates, as there were different opinions about the beginning of spring in the Roman Empire. In 525, Dionysius Exigius determined March 21 as the beginning of spring. Astronomically, spring begins on March 20 or 21, when day and night are of equal length.
Only in the year 800, when Charlemagne reigned, the entire Christian world began to celebrate Easter on the same date. However, the consensus lasted only until the Middle Ages, when in 1582 Pope Gregor reformed the calendar. Catholics and evangelical Christians have adopted the Reformed calendar, but most Orthodox Christians stick to the Julian calendar.
The Gospels say that on this day the wives came very early to the tomb and carried the anointing medicine. However, they found the tomb empty, without the body of Jesus in it. “When they did not know what to do, then two men in shining clothes approached them. And when they lowered their eyes to the ground in fear, they said to them: “What are you looking for among the living among the dead? He is not here, but has risen,” writes the evangelist Luke.
Easter, or the event of Christ’s resurrection, is what gives people victory over sin, death, and the hope of eternal life, according to the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Latvia.
