Easter - the computus moveable feast, Christian origin, and how the US observes it

Easter is the Christian feast of the resurrection of Jesus Christ, observed on the first Sunday after the first ecclesiastical full moon after the spring equinox. The date moves between March 22 and April 25 in the Western tradition.

The one-line summary

Christian feast of the resurrection on the first Sunday after the first ecclesiastical full moon after the spring equinox. Western Easter moves between March 22 and April 25; Eastern Orthodox Easter usually falls one to five weeks later.

Origin

Easter is the central feast of the liturgical year, commemorating the resurrection of Jesus Christ on the third day after his crucifixion as described in the New Testament gospels. The computus (the calculation of Easter) was formalized at the Council of Nicaea in 325 CE. The rule: Easter is the first Sunday after the first ecclesiastical full moon on or after the spring equinox.

The computus produces a movable date. The earliest possible Western Easter is March 22; the latest is April 25. Eastern Orthodox churches use the Julian calendar for the computus, producing dates usually one to five weeks later.

How it is observed

Religious: church services (sunrise services, Easter morning masses, ecumenical services). Family: Easter egg hunts, Easter baskets, family gatherings. Commercial: candy, greeting cards, decorations. Spring traditions: Easter lilies, new clothes, brunch. The Easter Bunny tradition was brought to the US by German immigrants in the 18th century.

Legal status

Easter is not a US federal holiday. Most schools are closed for spring break, many businesses operate on a holiday schedule, and stock markets are open. It is one of the largest commercial US holidays after Christmas and Halloween.

Where it is contested

Easter itself is broadly accepted. Religious observance varies by denomination (Catholic, Protestant, Orthodox). The commercial aspects of the holiday have been critiqued by religious leaders since the 19th century; these critiques have not produced broad civic changes.

In other countries

Easter is observed as a public holiday in most countries, including non-Christian-majority countries (e.g., Australia, New Zealand, Japan for secular observance). The date follows the Western computus in most countries; Egypt, Ethiopia, and Serbia observe Orthodox Easter on the later Julian date.

When it falls

Easter falls on the first Sunday after the first full moon on or after the spring equinox (March 21). The date is movable, ranging from March 22 to April 25 in the Western tradition. In 2026, Easter Sunday falls on April 5. In 2027, Easter falls on March 28. The date is determined by the Computus, an algorithm from the Council of Nicaea (325 CE). The Western and Eastern churches traditionally compute the date differently, leading to occasional different Easter dates (e.g. 2025 Western Easter on April 20, Eastern Easter on April 20; 2024 Western Easter on March 31, Eastern Easter on May 5).

Christian and pre-Christian origins

Easter is the Christian feast of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ, observed on the third day after his crucifixion. The event is described in all four gospels as occurring on the Sunday following Passover (Pesach). The early Christian community debated whether Easter should always fall on a Sunday or on the Jewish Passover date regardless of the day of the week. The Council of Nicaea (325 CE) resolved the dispute by mandating that Easter be observed on the Sunday after the first full moon on or after the spring equinox, breaking the dependence on the Jewish calendar.

The English name "Easter" and the German "Ostern" derive from Old English "Eostre" or Old High German "Ostara," a pre-Christian Germanic goddess of spring and fertility. The springtime timing, the egg symbolism, and the rabbit (Easter Bunny) motifs have pre-Christian antecedents in the Germanic and broader European spring fertility traditions. Most Romance-language names for Easter derive from the Hebrew "Pesach" (Passover): Pasqua (Italian), Pascua (Spanish), Pâques (French), indicating the Latin church's emphasis on the Jewish-roots context.

Global observance and Holy Week

Easter is preceded by Lent (40-day fast, beginning on Ash Wednesday) and Holy Week (Palm Sunday through Holy Saturday). The Easter Triduum runs from the evening of Maundy Thursday through Easter Sunday evening. In Catholic and many Protestant traditions, Easter is the largest single liturgical feast of the year. Eastern Orthodox traditions observe the same liturgical structure but with different dates and often more elaborate ritual, particularly the Greek, Russian, Serbian, and Ethiopian traditions.

Secular Easter observances include the Easter Bunny (who delivers baskets of candy and eggs to children, originally a German tradition that spread to the US in the 18th century), Easter egg hunts, Easter parades (notably the New York Easter Parade on Fifth Avenue, dating to the 1870s), and the consumption of Easter-specific foods (hot cross buns, Easter bread, lamb). In the US, Easter is one of the most candy-heavy holidays after Halloween, with Easter candy sales estimated at $3-4 billion annually.

Eastern and Western divergence

The Eastern Orthodox churches compute Easter using the Julian calendar and a different astronomical convention. The result is that Orthodox Easter often falls on a different date than Western Easter, although the two occasionally coincide (most recently in 2025). When the dates differ, Orthodox Easter typically falls later. Several Orthodox traditions (Greek, Cypriot) follow the "ecclesiastical" rule that Easter must follow Jewish Passover; this rule has been relaxed in some Orthodox churches.

The Eastern Orthodox Easter services are among the most elaborate Christian liturgical events. The Greek Orthodox Holy Week services, particularly the Good Friday Epitaphios procession and the midnight Resurrection service on Holy Saturday, attract large crowds. The Russian Orthodox Easter (Paskha) follows similar liturgical structure with distinctive traditions including kulich (Easter bread) and paskha (a curd-cheese dish shaped like a pyramid).

Secular Easter traditions

Secular Easter in the US and other Western countries centers on the Easter Bunny, Easter egg hunts, Easter baskets with candy, and family meals. The Easter Bunny tradition arrived in America with German immigrants in the 18th century and was popularized in the 19th century. The tradition is similar to other "egg-bringing" folklore figures in European traditions (the Cuckoo in Switzerland, the Easter Fox in some German regions, the Easter Hare in others).

The Easter egg tradition has pre-Christian roots in springtime egg symbolism (eggs as fertility symbols) and was overlaid with Christian symbolism (the egg as resurrection, the empty tomb). Decorated eggs (pysanka in Ukrainian tradition, Kraslice in Czech tradition, Faberge in Russian imperial tradition) are central to Easter in Eastern Europe. The White House Easter Egg Roll, an annual tradition since 1878, takes place on the Monday after Easter on the White House lawn.

Easter economics

Easter is one of the largest candy-consuming holidays in the US. The National Confectioners Association estimates Easter candy sales at roughly $3-4 billion annually, driven by chocolate bunnies, jelly beans, marshmallow Peeps, and chocolate eggs. The seasonal candy industry has spawned specialized manufacturers (Just Born for Peeps, founded 1923; Cadbury for chocolate eggs) and seasonal employment peaks in February-April.

Easter travel is significant in the US: AAA estimates 35-40 million Americans travel for Easter weekend, though less than Thanksgiving or Christmas. The religious dimension drives church attendance spikes: Easter Sunday is the highest-attended Sunday of the year for most Christian denominations.

Cultural symbolism beyond Christianity

Easter's themes of renewal, fertility, and rebirth have resonated in cultural traditions beyond Christianity. The egg symbolism is widespread in folk traditions, and springtime renewal is a common theme in literature (e.g., Thomas Hardy's poetry, the spring sections of Vivaldi's "Four Seasons"). The Easter Bunny and egg imagery have become globally recognized even where the religious observance is minimal.

Easter trivia and lesser-known facts

Easter egg hunts originated in Germany, where the Easter Hare was believed to lay eggs (or hide them for children to find). The tradition spread to America with German immigrants in the 1700s and 1800s. The largest Easter egg hunt on record involved over 9,000 children in Florida in 2007. The Easter Bilby is an Australian alternative to the Easter Bunny, supporting conservation of the endangered bilby marsupial.

Easter by the numbers

Sources

• U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, Easter computus: usccb.org
• Encyclopedia Britannica, Easter: britannica.com
• Wikipedia, "Easter": en.wikipedia.org