An Early Easter in 2008

Traditional Scottish Saying

First comes Candlemass,
Syne the new mune;
The neist Tyseday aifter that
Is aye Fester Een.
That mune oot
An the neist mune fou,
The neist mune aifter that
Is aye Pasch true.

The EnglishTranslation is

First comes 2 February
And after that the new moon,
The First Tuesday after that
Is Shrove Tuesday.
That moon passes,
And the next full moon,
On the first Sunday after that
Is Easter by rights.

Easter is always the 1st Sunday after the 1st full moon after the Spring Equinox (which is March 20). This dating of Easter is based on the lunar calendar that Hebrew people used to identify pass over, which is why it moves around on our Roman calendar.

This year is the earliest Easter any of us will ever see the rest of our lives. Only the most elderly of us have ever seen it this early, only those who are 95 years old or older. No one under 95 has ever, or will ever, see Easter a day earlier than this year.

The next time Easter will be this early, March 23,  will be the year 2228, 220 years from now. The last time it was this early was 1913 , so if you're 95 or older you are the only ones living  that celebrated Pasch any earlier in the year.