Orthodox and Western churches celebrate Easter on different dates

FLORIDA — In the past two years the Orthodox Church and the Western churches have celebrated Easter, the most important feast in the Christian calendar, on the same date.

However, that was unusual since in most years Eastern and Western Christianity celebrate Easter, which is a movable feast as opposed to having a fixed date like Christmas, on different dates. And this year, Easter Sunday will be celebrated on April 8 by Western churches and on April 15 by Orthodox churches.

“This difference occurs,” said Rev. George Kevorkian, pastor of St. Ignatius Antiochian Orthodox Church in the Village of Florida, “because the Orthodox Church uses the older Julian calendar, established in 46 B.C., as opposed to the newer Gregorian Calendar, established in the 16th century and used by the Western churches.”

Kevorkian explained that the difference in calendars causes the dates to sometimes be one week apart, occasionally occur on the same day and even be as much as five weeks apart.

St. Ignatius Antiochian Orthodox Church, located at 75 North Main St., will offer Holy Week services from Sunday, April 8, until the celebration of Easter or “Pascha” on Sunday, April 15.

“Instead of Easter,” said Father Kevorkian, “we use the Greek word “Pascha” which means passover and reminds us that the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ allows us to pass over from death to new life.”

These services, Kevorkian said, commemorate the events in the earthly life of Christ during the week which begins with his entry into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday and ends with his resurrection.

“To be present for an Orthodox Christian Holy Week,” he said, “is not just to commemorate these events, but to journey with our Lord and relive these events. It is only through this full participation that we can truly exclaim ‘Christ is Risen.’”