Easter in 2023

Easter is the oldest and most important Christian holiday, the feast of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ, an event that is the center of all biblical history.

History has not conveyed to us the exact date of the Resurrection of the Lord, we only know that it was in the spring when the Jews celebrated Pesach. However, Christians could not help but celebrate such a great event, so in 325, at the first Ecumenical Council in Nicaea, the issue with the date of Easter was resolved. By decree of the council, it was to be celebrated on the first Sunday after the spring equinox and full moon, after a full week had elapsed since the Old Testament Jewish Passover. Thus, Christian Easter is a “mobile” holiday – within the time period from March 22 to April 25 (from April 4 to May 8, according to the new style). At the same time, the date of the celebration among Catholics and Orthodox, as a rule, does not coincide. In their definition, there are discrepancies that arose as early as the XNUMXth century after the introduction of the Gregorian calendar. However, the convergence of the Holy Fire on the day of Orthodox Easter suggests that the Nicene Council made the right decision.

What date is Orthodox Easter in 2023

The Orthodox have the Holy Resurrection of Christ in 2023 year accounts on April 16. It is believed that this is an early Easter. The easiest way to determine the date of the holiday is to use the Alexandrian Paschalia, a special calendar where it is marked for many years to come. But you can also calculate the timing of Easter yourself, if you know that the celebration comes after the spring equinox on March 20, as well as after the first full moon following it. And, of course, the holiday necessarily falls on Sunday.

Orthodox believers begin preparing for Easter seven weeks before the Bright Resurrection of Christ, entering Great Lent. The very Resurrection of Christ in Our Country was always met in the temple. Divine services begin before midnight, and around midnight, Easter matins begin.

We are forgiven, we are saved and redeemed – Christ is risen! – says the Hieromartyr Seraphim (Chichagov) in his Paschal sermon. Everything is said in these two words. Our faith, our hope, love, Christian life, all our wisdom, enlightenment, the Holy Church, heartfelt prayer and our whole future are based on them. With these two words, all human calamities, death, evil are destroyed, and life, bliss and freedom are granted! What miraculous power! Is it possible to get tired of repeating: Christ is Risen! Can we get tired of hearing: Christ is Risen!

Painted chicken eggs are one of the elements of the Easter meal, a symbol of reborn life. Another dish is called the same as the holiday – Easter. This is a curd delicacy seasoned with raisins, dried apricots or candied fruits, served on the table in the form of a pyramid, decorated with the letters “XB”. This form is determined by the memory of the Holy Sepulcher, from which the light of Christ’s Resurrection shone. The third table messenger of the holiday is Easter cake, a kind of symbol of the triumph of Christians and their closeness with the Savior. Before starting the breaking of the fast, it is customary to consecrate all these dishes in churches during Great Saturday and during the Easter service.

What date is Catholic Easter in 2023

For many centuries, Catholic Easter was determined in accordance with the Paschalia created in Alexandria. It was based on the nineteen-year cycle of the Sun, the day of the vernal equinox in it was also unchanged – March 21. And this state of affairs existed until the 1582th century, until the priest Christopher Clavius ​​proposed another calendar for determining Easter. Pope Gregory XIII approved it, and in XNUMX the Catholics switched to a new – Gregorian – calendar. The Eastern Church abandoned the innovation – Orthodox Christians have everything as before, in accordance with the Julian calendar.

It was decided to switch to a new style of reckoning in Our Country only after the revolution, in 1918, and then only at the state level. Thus, for more than four centuries, the Orthodox and Catholic churches have been celebrating Easter at different times. It happens that they coincide and the celebration is celebrated on the same day, but this rarely happens (for example, such a coincidence of Catholic and Orthodox Easter was quite recent – in 2017).

В 2023 year Catholics celebrate Easter 9 April. Almost always, Catholic Easter is celebrated first, and after that – Orthodox.

Easter traditions

In the Orthodox tradition, Easter is the most important holiday (while Catholics and Protestants venerate Christmas the most). And this is natural, because the whole essence of Christianity lies in the death and resurrection of Christ, in His atoning sacrifice for the sins of all mankind and His great love for people.

Right after Easter night, Holy Week begins. Special days of worship, on which the service is performed according to the Paschal Rule. Easter hours are performed, festive chants: “Christ is risen from the dead, trampling down death by death and bestowing life on those in the tombs.”

The gates of the altar are open all week, as if a symbol of an invitation to the main church celebration of all comers. The decoration of the temple Calvary (a wooden crucifix in natural size) changes from black mourning to white festive.

These days there is no fasting, preparations for the main sacrament – Communion are relaxed. On any day of Bright Week, a Christian can approach the Chalice.

Many believers testify to a special state of prayer on these holy days. When the soul is filled with amazing gracious joy. It is even believed that those who were honored to die on Easter days go to Heaven, bypassing air ordeals, because demons are powerless at this time.

From Easter until the Ascension of the Lord, during the services there are no kneeling prayers and prostrations.

On the eve of Antipascha, the gates of the altar are closed, but the festive services last until the Ascension, which is celebrated on the 40th day after Easter. Until that moment, the Orthodox greet each other joyfully: “Christ is Risen!”

Also on the eve of Easter, the main miracle of the Christian world takes place – the descent of the Holy Fire on the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem. A miracle that many have tried to challenge or study scientifically. A miracle that instills in the heart of every believer the hope for salvation and eternal life.

Word to the priest

Father Igor Silchenkov, Rector of the Church of the Intercession of the Most Holy Theotokos (village Rybachye, Alushta) says: “Easter is a holiday of holidays and a celebration of celebrations, the most important event in the history of mankind. Thanks to the Resurrection of Christ, there is no longer any death, but only the eternal, endless life of the human soul. And all our debts, sins and insults are forgiven, thanks to the sufferings of our Lord on the cross. And we, thanks to the sacraments of confession and communion, are always resurrected with Christ! While we live here on earth, while our hearts are beating, no matter how bad or sinful it is for us, but having come to the temple, we renew the soul, which rises again and again, ascends from earth to Heaven, from hell to the Kingdom of Heaven, to eternal life . And help us, Lord, to always keep Your Resurrection in our hearts and our lives and never lose heart and despair of our salvation!”