2 Days after 2017 Easter

After a beautiful Easter day in mid-April, the conversation came up as to why is Easter a different day each year? Wasn’t it cold and snowy last year? Hasn’t it been in March?

According to the Daily News web site: “There’s actually a formula to determine the date Easter Sunday will fall on. Since Jesus’ resurrection is believed to have occurred so near the spring feasts, it was determined that Easter would always be calculated as the first Sunday after the first full moon after the vernal equinox, said Loyola Press. This year the vernal equinox fell on March 20 and the first full moon after that was on April 11. So Easter Sunday falls on April 16.”

What in the world!  Christmas is a set date, whether or not it was THE exact date of Christ’s birth. Why isn’t Easter a set date?

“So near the spring feasts” – feasts of what? I think it was pagan celebrations that the Church changed to Christian, maybe perhaps to more easily convert the pagans to Christianity?  Do a search for more detailed information.