Why is Easter so early this year?
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This weekend, Easter and Passover occur on the same weekend.
While the Jewish holiday of Passover — which starts at sundown Friday — and the Christian holiday of Easter — which is observed Sunday — both celebrate redemption and share history, they don't always align on the calendar.
The Jewish faith follows a lunar calendar, said Rabbi Barry Cytron, who has taught Jewish-Christian studies at Macalester College and is a former director of the Jay Phillips Center for Jewish Christian Learning.
Passover begins the eight-day celebration of Passover on sundown of the 15th day of the month Nisan.
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However, Rev. Michael Byron of St. Paschal Baylon in St. Paul said Easter is based more closely on the solar calendar, though it still uses the lunar phases.
The date for Easter Sunday is scheduled on the first Sunday after the first full moon after the first day of spring. It's also called the vernal equinox.
This year, the calendars are closely aligned, but in 2016, Easter was on March 27, while Passover began on April 21.
Not all Christian faiths follow this schedule. Orthodox denominations tend to follow the Julian calendar instead of the Gregorian calendar. Another reason that Orthodox Christians celebrate Easter after Passover is to have the celebration reflect the sequence of events during the crucifixion.
Similar history, different faiths
"It's a really fascinating piece of Jewish-Christian interaction," said Cytron. "Both the story of Passover and the story of Easter are similar overarching themes. Passover is about slavery, sacrifice and redemption, and Easter is about sacrifice, death and rebirth," Cytron said.
Cytron said that after the death of Jesus Christ, Jewish and Christians lived together for a number of centuries and held similar practices and faiths.
In fact, Rev. Byron said the Eucharist celebration at mass — observed by different Christians faiths — draws its inspiration from a Seder meal celebrated at Passover.
Since Easter recalls when Jesus traveled to Jerusalem for Passover, and his crucifixion following the meal with his followers, early Christians also celebrated Passover and Easter.
Cytron said historians aren't completely clear when Christians started to shift the celebration away from the date of Passover, but it was formalized by the Council of Nicea in 325 A.D. when recently converted Christian and Roman emperor Constantine formalized that Easter would be celebrated on a Sunday.
