LATEST EASTER

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume 52, Issue 3212, 13 January 1943, Page 8

LATEST EASTER

FALLS ON ANZAC DAY ONLY TIME THIS CENTURY DATE FIXED BY PARLIAMENT For the'only time in this century and for only the fifth time since 1546 Easter Sunday this year will fall on April 25, the latest date possible. The last occasion upon which it fell on the same date was in 1886, 57 years ago. According to an Act of Parliamentpassed in the reign of George 11, Easter Day is the first .Sunday after the'full moon which happens upon or next after March 21. The date does not depend on the real moon but on a hypothetical Ecclesiastical moon, the lunations of which consist of 29 and 30- days alternately, with certain necessary modifications to make the date of its full phase agree as nearly as possible with that of the real moon.

The earliest possible date of Easter Sunday is March 22, but this has occurred only four times since the beginning of the 16th century, falling in the years 1573, 1668, 1761 and 1818. In the present century Easter Sunday will never’ fall on March 22 because only when the Paschal full moon occurs on- March 21, a Saturday, can Easter Sunday be on the . following day. It. is stated in the Act that if the full moon on or -after March 21 falls on a Sunday, Easter Day must be celebrated on the following Sunday. The only other date between March 22 and April 25 upon which Easter Sunday will not fall at least once in the 20th Century is April 24.