The Proclamation of the Date of Easter
Given by ancient custom on the Solemnity of the Epiphany
Dear Brothers and sisters,
The glory of the Lord has shone upon us, and shall ever be manifest among us, until the day of his return.
Through the rhythms of the times and seasons, he lets us celebrate the mysteries of salvation.
Let us recall this year’s culmination, the Easter Triduum of the Lord, his Last Supper, his Crucifixion, his Burial and his Rising, celebrated between the evening of the ninth of April and the evening of the twelfth of April.
Each Easter, as on each Sunday, the Holy Church makes present the great and saving deed by which Christ has for ever conquered sin and death. From Easter are reckoned all the days we keep holy.
Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent, will occur on the twenty-fifth of February.
The Ascension of the Lord, forty days after Easter, falls on the twenty-first of May (the obligation attached to this day is transferred to the Sunday following).
Pentecost, the joyful conclusion of the season of Easter, will be celebrated on the thirty-first of May.
And this year the First Sunday of Advent will be on the twenty-ninth of November.
Likewise the pilgrim Church proclaims the Passover of Christ in the feasts of the holy Mother of God, in the feasts of the Apostles and Saints (the Solemnity of St. Boniface is on the fifth of June, the Solemnity of the Dedication of our Church the seventeenth of June.), and in the commemoration of the faithful departed.
To Jesus Christ, who was, who is, and who is to come, Lord of time and history, be endless praise, for ever and ever, Amen.
The Proclamation of the Date of Easter on Epiphany dates from a time when calendars were not readily available. It was necessary to make known the date of Easter in advance, since many celebrations of the liturgical year depend on its date. The number of Sundays that follow Epiphany, the date of Ash Wednesday, and the number of Sundays that follow Pentecost are all computed in relation to Easter.
In the Catholic Church, the date of Easter moves each year because it is affected by the lunar and solar cycles. The Council of Nicaea (325 AD) determined that Easter would be celebrated on the Sunday following the first full moon after the vernal equinox, or first day of spring (in the northern hemisphere). (The Orthodox Churches use a different calendar system, and so their date for Easter is different. You can read about the difference in Easter calendaring here.)
Although calendars now give the date of Easter and the other feasts in the liturgical year in advance, the Epiphany proclamation still has value. It is a reminder of th centrality of the resurrection of the Lord in the liturgical year and the importance of the great mysteries of faith which are celebrated each year.