Tom,
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>As you know Easter is the major event that separated the Catholic Church into the Eastern and Western Churches. When does Easter occur? How long is lent? Differences in beliefs between Roman Catholic and Protestant Churches are also evident. This is truly an interesting question and one that demands my attention. I like to understand the “why” of a question or answer. I do not argue such realities but prefer to appreciate the differences. We cannot change these differences but it is a good exercise to attempt to comprehend them.

Great, Tom. I was hoping for such.

>Easter Day has been defined in relationship to the Jewish celebration of Passover.
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>Passover begins on the 15th day of the Jewish month of Nissan. As the Jewish day begins at sundown the night before, this year (2002) the first night of Passover is Wednesday March 27th.
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>Last year Easter fell on April 15th and was celebrated by both the Eastern and Western Churches. This year the Western Church will celebrate Easter on Sunday March 31st, 2002. Orthodox Easter is celebrated on Sunday, May 5th.
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>Easter is observed by the churches of the West on the first Sunday following the full moon that occurs on or following the spring equinox (March 2I). So Easter became a "movable" feast which can occur as early as March 22 or as late as April 25

The moon you refer to is also known as the "Paschal Moon".

>Christian churches in the East which were closer to the birthplace of the new religion and in which old traditions were strong, observe Easter according to the date of the Passover festival.
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>Easter is at the end of the Lenten season, which covers a forty-six-day period that begins on Ash Wednesday and ends with Easter. The Lenten season itself comprises forty days, as the six Sundays in Lent are not actually a part of Lent. Sundays are considered a commemoration of Easter Sunday and have always been excluded from the Lenten fast. The Lenten season is a period of penitence in preparation for the highest festival of the church year, Easter.

Lent also (for lurkers) commemorates Jesus' fast in the wilderness. From our hymnody (and probably yours as well): "Forty days and forty nights, thou wast fasting in the wild..."

It also should be noted that the second greatest feast day (Christmas) is proceeded by Advent, a similiar period of preparation.

>Holy Week, the last week of Lent, begins with the observance of Palm Sunday. Palm Sunday takes its name from Jesus' triumphal entry into Jerusalem where the crowds laid palms at his feet. Holy Thursday commemorates the Last Supper, which was held the evening before the Crucifixion. Friday in Holy Week is the anniversary of the Crufixion, the day that Christ was crucified and died on the cross.

And here's where this often takes a theological turn. "Is Holy Week a separate season?" The argument goes that if Lent comemorates the forty day fast in the wild, that the entry into Jerusalm obviously begins a different period. Does it really matter? I don't really think it does one way or another.

BTW, we (and I'm pretty sure you do too) refer to "Holy Thursday" as "Maundy Thursday". For lurkers, the word "Maundy" comes from the word "mandate" and references Jesus' first utterance of what's sometimes referred to as the "11th Commandment": "Love one another as I have loved you."

>During Holy Week we observe the “Passion of Jesus” as does the Anglican Church.

Yes, Palm Sunday itself in the Episcopal Church actually has two sides: The triumphant entry into Jerusalm, and the conclusion of the week with the reading of the "Passion Gospel". This, I think is done for the folks who won't be attending the services during the week.

Holy Saturday is really two different days as well. Before sundown it's refered to as "Holy Saturday", Afterwards, it becomes "Easter Eve" and the beginning of the 50 day season of Easter, and celebrated with "The Great Vigil of Easter".

>I know you will agree with my statement: To be a Christian is a way of life and to be lived everyday. One is not a Christian only on Christmas and Easter.

You're absolutely right.

>I do not know how attendance is at your Church, but on Christmas and Easter (and the Sunday agter 9/11) it was "standing room only" with no place for all the cars. Fair weather Christians! Put fear into some Christians and they "suddenly" remember to go to Church! The Christmas/Ester rememberance seems to be something held over from childhood conditioning. Gee - what was that we did on those days with mom and dad? Oh yes! We went to Church! We must set a good example for our children! :)

I think it's the same everywhere, and spans denominations.

>The rest of the year is forgotten by all too many.

Too true.

All of the above doesn't surprise me. The Anglican and Roman churches pretty much march in "theological lockstep". Then, afterall, the English Reformation wasn't part of the Protestant Reformation, and wasn't a theological event, but rather a socio-political one.

I do have something that might be of interest to you (if only out of curiousity). I know that your church uses a lectionary from which the various readings are taken. I wrote a program called, "The Electric Lectionary". All you do is click on a date, and it shows the readings from the lectionary (where applicable). Not an easy task, as you might expect. I've never gotten around to the Daily Office, which was my original intent. If you'd like to see it, drop me an email.