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Article: WHY EASTER IS SO EARLY.(Kentucky Life: Religion)
- Article from:
- The Kentucky Post (Covington, KY)
- Article date:
- February 17, 2005
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2005 The Kentucky Post. All rights reserved. Reproduced with the permission of the Dialog Corporation by Gale Group. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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With the exception of Orthodox Christians, who begin their observance of Lent next month, most of the world's Christians will start their annual Lenten observance earlier than usual this year.
This year's Ash Wednesday and Easter (March 27) observances are the earliest since 1989, when Easter arrived on March 26. But soon Easter will arrive even earlier: in 2008, it falls on March 23, earlier than anytime since 1856.
The general rule of thumb for Protestants and Catholics has been that Easter is always the first Sunday after the first full moon occurring on or after the vernal equinox, usually known as the first day of spring.
But the formula, ...