Lent Season 2025: Easter Falls on April 20
The rare celestial event sets the stage for a unique celebration of Easter, with both traditions aligning on April 20, 2025, and marking a special occasion for Christians around the world to come together and observe the holiday.
Easter in 2025 will be observed on Sunday, April 20, one of the latest dates for the holiday in recent memory, due to a rare "Blood Moon" total lunar eclipse on March 13-14, 2025, which delays the "Pink Moon" or "Paschal Moon," the full moon used to calculate Easter's date.
The calculation of Easter's date is based on the moon's phases and the spring equinox, with the holiday falling on the first Sunday after the first full moon occurring on or after the equinox. This year, the spring equinox is on March 21, 2025, and the next full moon after the equinox is the "Pink Moon" on April 13, 2025, which is also known as the "Paschal Moon" in Christian tradition.
The "Blood Moon" total lunar eclipse is the final full moon before the spring equinox, making it a rare event that sets the stage for a later Easter. This rare event is visible across North America and has a significant impact on the calculation of Easter's date. As a result, Easter will be observed on the following Sunday, April 20, 2025.
In a unique alignment, both Western and Orthodox Christians will celebrate Easter on the same date in 2025, which is the first time since 2017. Orthodox Christians typically celebrate Easter later than Western Christians due to their use of different calendars, with Orthodox Easter falling on the first Sunday after the first full moon following Passover.
The convergence of the "Blood Moon" total lunar eclipse and the spring equinox has resulted in a later Easter date in 2025, providing a rare opportunity for both Western and Orthodox Christians to come together and observe the holiday on the same day.
