EASTER

(Germ. Ostem.) The festival which is held In comm anti oration of our Lord's resurrection. The term seems to be derived from a Saxon word signifying rising. The Jews celebrated their pa over, in conformity with the directions given them by Moses, on the 14th day of the month Nisan, being the lunar month of which the 14th day either falls on, or next follows, the day of the vernal equinox. In the year of our Lord's crucifixion this fell on a Friday: the resurrection, therefore, took place on the first day of the next week, which from thence is denominated the Lord's day. The primitive Christians in their desire to celebrate this anniversary fell into two different systems. The We stem churches observed the nearest Sunday to the full moon of Nisan, taking no account of the day on which the pa over would be celebrated. The Asiatics, on the other hand, following the Jewish calendar, adopted the 14th of Nisan upon which to commemorate the crucifixion, and observed the festival of Easter on the third day following, upon whatever day of the week that might fall; hence they obtained the name of Quartodeciman tes: the former appealed to the authority of St. Peter and St. Paul, the latter to that of St. John. The dispute which took place upon this point in the 2d and 3d centuries of our era is remarkable, as connected with perhaps the first event which can be brought to bear upon the question of the primacy of the Roman bishop; and it is the more interesting as both parties are accustomed to claim it as a testimony in favour of their own views. Victor, bishop of Rome, wrote an imperious letter to the Asiatic bishops, requiring their conformity to the Western rule; which was answered by Poly crates, bishop of Ephesus, in the name of the rest, expre ing their resolution to maintain the custom handed down to them by their ancestors. The Roman bishop thereupon broke off communion with them; but he was rebuked by Irenaeus of Lyons, and it was agreed by his mediation that each party should retain its customs. Such continued to be the practice till the time of Const an tine, when the Council of Nice determined the matter by the following canons: — 1. Easter must be celebrated on a Sunday. 2. This Sunday must /o«oti) the 14th day of the paschal moon; so that if the 14th day of the paschal moon falls on a Sunday, then Easter must be celebrated on the Sunday following. 3. The paschal moon is that moon of which the 14th day either falls on, or next follows, the day of the vernal equinox. 4. The 21 st day of March is to be accounted the day of the vernal equinox. The new moons, it is nece ary to observe, are those of the ecclesiastical calendar, which are determined arbitrarily (by the lunar cycle in the Julian calendar, and by means of the table of epacts in the Greg or i an); so that the above rules define Easter without ambiguity. The new moons of the calendar are in general one or two days, sometimes even three days, later than the astronomical or true new moons; and the 14th day of the moon is accounted the full moon, although the opposition takes place more frequently on the 1 6th day. See Calendar, Epact. [s. 389]