Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed, 1 Corinthians 5:7 (ESVUK)
The date of Easter, the central feast of the Christian year, is not fixed in the way that many modern holidays are. Instead, it is determined by a pattern that brings together the movement of the sun, the cycle of the moon, and the memory of the earliest events of the Gospel. At the heart of this pattern stands what is traditionally called the Paschal Moon.
The Paschal Moon is the first full moon that occurs after the spring equinox of the Northern Hemisphere, which the Church has long fixed as March 21. Easter is then celebrated on the first Sunday that follows this full moon, meaning that its date can vary from year to year, falling as early as March 22 and as late as April 25. Far from being an arbitrary system, this method reflects a deliberate and meaningful way of situating the celebration of Christ’s resurrection within the created order. Although this equinox corresponds to autumn in places such as Chile, the Church maintains this fixed reference so that the entire Christian world keeps the feast according to a common reckoning of time.
This connection between Easter and the lunar cycle is not accidental. It arises from the historical context of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, which took place during the Jewish feast of Passover. Passover itself is determined according to a lunar calendar, beginning at the time of the full moon in the month of Nisan. The early Christians, seeking to remain faithful to the historical setting of these events, preserved this connection while making a distinctively Christian affirmation: the resurrection is to be celebrated on a Sunday, the day on which Christ rose from the dead. This rule was formally clarified at the Council of Nicaea in 325, with the intention not merely of achieving uniformity, but of preserving both historical continuity and theological meaning. Easter would always be linked to Passover, yet it would also stand as the celebration of the new reality inaugurated by the resurrection.
There is also a deeper theological significance in this way of reckoning time. By tying Easter to the spring equinox and the full moon, the Church affirms that the work of Christ is not detached from the world, but belongs to the very structure of creation. The rhythms of light and darkness, of seasons and cycles, become a kind of silent witness to the greater reality of redemption. Time itself is not neutral. It is ordered, sustained, and ultimately fulfilled in the purposes of God.
The imagery of the full moon has also invited reflection. The moon does not produce its own light, but reflects the light of the sun. In a similar way, the Church does not generate its own truth or life, but reflects the light of Christ, who is called in Scripture the Sun of righteousness. The Paschal Moon, then, can be seen as a fitting symbol of the Church’s calling: to receive and to bear witness to the light that comes from another.
This ancient pattern continues to shape the life of the Church in every place. In Chile in 2026, for instance, the Paschal Moon falls on Thursday, April 2, and Easter is therefore celebrated on Sunday, April 5. As already noted, although April belongs to autumn in the Southern Hemisphere, the Church maintains a universal reference point by fixing the equinox to March 21, so that the entire Christian world keeps the feast according to a shared reckoning of time.
In a world shaped by fixed calendars and precise scheduling, this ancient method may seem unfamiliar or even inconvenient. Yet it preserves something essential: the reminder that the Christian faith is rooted in real events, situated in history, and connected to the created order. It resists the tendency to reduce the central truths of the Gospel to abstract ideas or private sentiments.
To observe Easter in this way is to confess that the resurrection of Christ is not merely remembered, but proclaimed as an event that stands at the center of time itself, gathering together history, creation, and redemption into a single coherent whole. The Paschal Moon, quietly marking its place in the heavens, serves as a reminder that the story of salvation is written not only in Scripture, but also, in a profound sense, in the very fabric of the world God has made.
