Why Holy Week not always done on the same date? The Christian holiday celebration to remember the sacrifice, death and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth takes place between the months of March and April, but falls on different days. For what is this? What does the full moon have to do with it?
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Holy Week was originally called “The Great Week” and its days are called holy days. This week begins with Palm Sunday and ends with Easter Sunday. It is always celebrated on different dates and here we explain why. This 2022 starts on April 10.
HOW IS HOLY WEEK CELEBRATED?
During Holy Week numerous displays of popular religiosity take place throughout the world, highlighting the processions, penances and the representations of the Passion, death and resurrection of Jesus.
WHY DOES THE DATE OF HOLY WEEK CHANGE EVERY YEAR?
Easter depends on the full moon. Christian Easter fEsteja the resurrection of Jesus Christ is celebrated on the full moon after the equinox Spring (moments of the year in which the Sun is located in the plane of the celestial equator), as agreed in the I Ecumenical Council of Nicaea in the year 325 so that it does not coincide with the Jewish Passover.
It must be calculated using the astronomical full Moon. Thus, Christian Easter Sunday occurs in a parenthesis of 35 days, since it can occur between March 22 and April 25. This year 2022 starts on Sunday April 10 and ends on April 17.
The Christian Easter is celebrated before the Jewish Easter, known as Pesach, which takes place every year on the 15th day of the Hebrew month of Nisan, which begins with the first full moon of spring. In the Jewish religion the days and dates of religious ceremonies are determined by the lunar phases.
In this week of religious celebration, the Jews remember the freedom of the Hebrew people from the slavery of Egypt, related in the book of Exodus, in the Old Testament of the Bible. This 2022 will be from the afternoon of April 15 to the afternoon of April 23.
WHAT IS CELEBRATED IN HOLY WEEK?
Every day has a meaning:
- Palm Sunday: Triumphal entry of Jesus Christ into Jerusalem.
- Holy Monday: Anointing of Jesus in the house of Lazarus. Jesus expels the merchants from the Temple of Jerusalem.
- Holy Tuesday: Jesus anticipates to his disciples the betrayal of Judas and the Denials of Saint Peter.
- Holy Wednesday: Judas Iscariot conspires with the Sanhedrin to betray Jesus with thirty silver coins.
- Holy Thursday: celebrates the institution of the Eucharist at the Last Supper
- Good Friday: the crucifixion of Jesus
- Saturday of Glory: The loneliness of Mary
- Resurrection Sunday: the Easter Vigil during the night from Holy Saturday to Resurrection Sunday.
