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SRI KRISHNAS REMEMBERING BHAGAVAD GITA "MANY LIVES ARUNJA YOU AND I HAVE LIVED I REMEMBER THEM ALL BUT THOU DOST NOT"
ISIS OSIRIS VISHNU SHIVA SHRI KRISHNA SHRISTI RISHI ISHI CHRIST SING A SONG OF NINES OF NINES A SONG SING
WISDOM OF THE EAST by Hari Prasad Shastri 1948 Page 8 "There is no such word in Sanscrita as 'Creation' applied to the universe. The Sanscrita word for Creation is Shristi, which means 'projection' Creation means to bring something into being out /Page 9/ of nothing, to create, as a novelist creates a character. There was no Miranda, for example, until Shakespeare created her. Similarly the ancient Indians (this term is innacurately used as there was no India at that time). who were our ancestors long, long ago. used a word for creation that means 'projection'
THE LIGHT IS RISING RISING IS THE LIGHT
Daily Mail Friday, April 10, 2009 By Dalya Alberge "Jerusalem" "Jesus's final steps," "The Via Dolorosa" "The Way of Suffering" "Pontius Pilate" "Crucifixion"
GODS SPIRIT GODS ISIS OSIRIS VISHNU SHIVA SHRI KRISHNA SHRISTI RISHI ISHI CHRIST SING A SONG OF NINES OF NINES A SONG SING
THE CONCEPT OF MIND Gilbert Ryle 1949 Page 227 "CONSIDER THE REPLIES WE SHOULD EXPECT TO GET TO THE FOLLOWING QUESTIONS. 'HOW DO YOU KNOW?' 'HOW DO YOU KNOW THAT THERE ARE TWELVE CHAIRS IN THE ROOM?' 'BY COUNTING THEM.' 'HOW DO YOU KNOW THAT 9 x 17 MAKES 153?' 'BY MULTIPLYING THEM AND THEN CHECKING THE ANSWER BY SUBTRACTING 17 FROM 10 x 17.'"
HOW MANY FISH ISHI ISHI ASK IRISH RISHI HOW MANY FISH ?
THE LIGHT IS RISING NOW RISING IS THE LIGHT
Via Dolorosa - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Via_Dolorosa The Via Dolorosa (Latin,"Way of Grief", "Way of Suffering" or simply "Painful Way") is a street, in two parts, within the Old City of Jerusalem, held to be the path ... Via Dolorosa From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia The Via Dolorosa in Jerusalem The Via Dolorosa (Latin,"Way of Grief", "Way of Suffering" or simply "Painful Way") is a street, in two parts, within the Old City of Jerusalem, held to be the path that Jesus walked, carrying his cross, on the way to his crucifixion. The winding route from the Antonia Fortress west to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre — a distance of about 600 metres (2,000 feet) — is a celebrated place of Christian pilgrimage. The current route has been established since the 18th century, replacing various earlier versions.[1] It is today marked by nine Stations of the Cross; there have been fourteen stations since the late 15th century,[1] with the remaining five stations being inside the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.
BEYOND THE VEIL ANOTHER VEIL ANOTHER VEIL BEYOND
JUDE AS HIS CHARIOT HIS CHARIOT AS JUDE
JESUS AND JUDAS 11 = 1+5+1+3+1 AND 1+3+4+1+1 = 10 JESUS AND JUDAS
JUDAS AND JESUS 2 = 1+1 AND 1+1 = 2 JUDAS AND JESUS
JESUS AND JUDAS 9 = 5+1+3 AND 3+4+1 = 8 JESUS AND JUDAS
CHRIST IS HIS CHARIOT HIS CHARIOT IS CHRIST
JUDAS HIS CHARIOT HIS CHARIOT JUDAS
OF
Previous Book:Go to Malachi · Previous Chapter : Go to Matthew 26 ... Matthew 27. 1When the morning was come, all the chief priests and elders of the people ... www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=matthew Matthew 27 (King James Version)Matthew 27 1 When the morning was come, all the chief priests and elders of the people took counsel against Jesus to put him to death: 2 And when they had bound him, they led him away, and delivered him to Pontius Pilate the governor. 3 Then Judas, which had betrayed him, when he saw that he was condemned, repented himself, and brought again the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders, 4 Saying, I have sinned in that I have betrayed the innocent blood. And they said, What is that to us? see thou to that. 5 And he cast down the pieces of silver in the temple, and departed, and went and hanged himself. 6 And the chief priests took the silver pieces, and said, It is not lawful for to put them into the treasury, because it is the price of blood. 7 And they took counsel, and bought with them the potter's field, to bury strangers in. 8 Wherefore that field was called, The field of blood, unto this day. 9 Then was fulfilled that which was spoken by Jeremy the prophet, saying, And they took the thirty pieces of silver, the price of him that was valued, whom they of the children of Israel did value; 10 And gave them for the potter's field, as the Lord appointed me. 11 And Jesus stood before the governor: and the governor asked him, saying, Art thou the King of the Jews? And Jesus said unto him, Thou sayest. 12 And when he was accused of the chief priests and elders, he answered nothing. 13 Then said Pilate unto him, Hearest thou not how many things they witness against thee? 14 And he answered him to never a word; insomuch that the governor marvelled greatly. 15 Now at that feast the governor was wont to release unto the people a prisoner, whom they would. 16 And they had then a notable prisoner, called Barabbas. 17 Therefore when they were gathered together, Pilate said unto them, Whom will ye that I release unto you? Barabbas, or Jesus which is called Christ? 18 For he knew that for envy they had delivered him. 19 When he was set down on the judgment seat, his wife sent unto him, saying, Have thou nothing to do with that just man: for I have suffered many things this day in a dream because of him. 20 But the chief priests and elders persuaded the multitude that they should ask Barabbas, and destroy Jesus. 21 The governor answered and said unto them, Whether of the twain will ye that I release unto you? They said, Barabbas. 22 Pilate saith unto them, What shall I do then with Jesus which is called Christ? They all say unto him, Let him be crucified. 23 And the governor said, Why, what evil hath he done? But they cried out the more, saying, Let him be crucified. 24 When Pilate saw that he could prevail nothing, but that rather a tumult was made, he took water, and washed his hands before the multitude, saying, I am innocent of the blood of this just person: see ye to it. 25 Then answered all the people, and said, His blood be on us, and on our children. 26 Then released he Barabbas unto them: and when he had scourged Jesus, he delivered him to be crucified. 27 Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the common hall, and gathered unto him the whole band of soldiers. 28 And they stripped him, and put on him a scarlet robe. 29 And when they had platted a crown of thorns, they put it upon his head, and a reed in his right hand: and they bowed the knee before him, and mocked him, saying, Hail, King of the Jews! 30 And they spit upon him, and took the reed, and smote him on the head. 31 And after that they had mocked him, they took the robe off from him, and put his own raiment on him, and led him away to crucify him. 32 And as they came out, they found a man of Cyrene, Simon by name: him they compelled to bear his cross. 33 And when they were come unto a place called Golgotha, that is to say, a place of a skull, 34 They gave him vinegar to drink mingled with gall: and when he had tasted thereof, he would not drink. 35 And they crucified him, and parted his garments, casting lots: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, They parted my garments among them, and upon my vesture did they cast lots. 36 And sitting down they watched him there; 37 And set up over his head his accusation written, THIS IS JESUS THE KING OF THE JEWS. 38 Then were there two thieves crucified with him, one on the right hand, and another on the left. 39 And they that passed by reviled him, wagging their heads, 40 And saying, Thou that destroyest the temple, and buildest it in three days, save thyself. If thou be the Son of God, come down from the cross. 41 Likewise also the chief priests mocking him, with the scribes and elders, said, 42 He saved others; himself he cannot save. If he be the King of Israel, let him now come down from the cross, and we will believe him. 43He trusted in God; let him deliver him now, if he will have him: for he said, I am the Son of God. 44The thieves also, which were crucified with him, cast the same in his teeth. 45 Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land unto the ninth hour. 46 And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? that is to say, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? 47 Some of them that stood there, when they heard that, said, This man calleth for Elias. 48 And straightway one of them ran, and took a spunge, and filled it with vinegar, and put it on a reed, and gave him to drink. 49 The rest said, Let be, let us see whether Elias will come to save him. 50 Jesus, when he had cried again with a loud voice, yielded up the ghost. 51And, behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom; and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent; 52 And the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints which slept arose, 53 And came out of the graves after his resurrection, and went into the holy city, and appeared unto many. 54 Now when the centurion, and they that were with him, watching Jesus, saw the earthquake, and those things that were done, they feared greatly, saying, Truly this was the Son of God. 55 And many women were there beholding afar off, which followed Jesus from Galilee, ministering unto him: 56 Among which was Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James and Joses, and the mother of Zebedees children. 57 When the even was come, there came a rich man of Arimathaea, named Joseph, who also himself was Jesus' disciple: 58 He went to Pilate, and begged the body of Jesus. Then Pilate commanded the body to be delivered. 59 And when Joseph had taken the body, he wrapped it in a clean linen cloth, 60 And laid it in his own new tomb, which he had hewn out in the rock: and he rolled a great stone to the door of the sepulchre, and departed. 61 And there was Mary Magdalene, and the other Mary, sitting over against the sepulchre. 62 Now the next day, that followed the day of the preparation, the chief priests and Pharisees came together unto Pilate, 63 Saying, Sir, we remember that that deceiver said, while he was yet alive, After three days I will rise again. 64 Command therefore that the sepulchre be made sure until the third day, lest his disciples come by night, and steal him away, and say unto the people, He is risen from the dead: so the last error shall be worse than the first. 65 Pilate said unto them, Ye have a watch: go your way, make it as sure as ye can. 66 So they went, and made the sepulchre sure, sealing the stone, and setting a watch.
Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do. (Luke 23:34) Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise. (Luke 23:43) ... www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/142050.html - 9k From the Bible, Luke 23 ( King James Version)
This phrase, which is supposed to be the first of the sayings Jesus uttered on the cross, forms part of a meditation that is used by Christians during the major festivals of the Christian year:
THE MAGIC MOUNTAIN Thomas Mann 1875-1955 Page 466 "Had not the normal, since time was, lived on the achievements of the abnormal? Men consciously and voluntarily descended into disease and madness, in search of knowledge which, acquired by fanaticism, would lead back to health; after the possession and use of it had ceased to be conditioned by that heroic and abnormal act of sacrifice. That was the true death on the cross, the true Atonement."
AT ONE MENTALLY GODS MENTALLY AT ONE
AND THEY CRUCIFIED HIM AND ON THE THIRD DAY HE ROSE FROM THE DEAD AND ASCENDED INTO THE KINGDOM OF EVEN
THE EASTER FESTIVAL GOOD FRIDAY 10TH OF THE 4TH 2009 SATURDAY 11TH OF THE 4TH 2008 SUNDAY 12TH OF THE 4TH 2009 MONDAY 13TH OF THE 4TH 2009 HALLELUJAH
Easter (Greek: Πάσχα, Ethiopic: ፍሲካ, Pascha) is the most important annual religious feast in the Christian liturgical year. [1] According to Christian ... en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Easter Easter
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Easter (Greek: Πάσχα, Ethiopic: ፍሲካ, Pascha) is the most important annual religious feast in the Christian liturgical year.[1] According to Christian scripture, Jesus was resurrected from the dead three days[2] after his crucifixion. Christians celebrate this resurrection on Easter Day or Easter Sunday[3] (also Resurrection Day or Resurrection Sunday), two days after Good Friday and three days after Maundy Thursday. The chronology of his death and resurrection is variously interpreted to be between A.D. 26 and 36. Easter also refers to the season of the church year called Eastertide or the Easter Season. Traditionally the Easter Season lasted for the forty days from Easter Day until Ascension Day but now officially lasts for the fifty days until Pentecost. The first week of the Easter Season is known as Easter Week or the Octave of Easter. Easter also marks the end of Lent, a season of fasting, prayer, and penance.
Easter is a moveable feast, meaning it is not fixed in relation to the civil calendar. Easter falls at some point between late March and late April each year (early April to early May in Eastern Christianity), following the cycle of the Moon. After several centuries of disagreement, all churches accepted the computation of the Alexandrian Church (now the Coptic Church) that Easter is the first Sunday after the Paschal Full Moon, which is the first moon whose 14th day (the ecclesiastic "full moon") is on or after March 21 (the ecclesiastic "vernal equinox").
Easter is linked to the Jewish Passover not only for much of its symbolism but also for its position in the calendar.
Cultural elements, such as the Easter Bunny and Easter egg hunts, have become part of the holiday's modern celebrations, and those aspects are often celebrated by many Christians and non-Christians alike.
1 Theological significance
2 Etymology 2.1 Anglo-Saxon and German
2.2 Semitic, Romance, Celtic and other Germanic languages
2.3 Slavic languages
2.4 Finno-Ugric languages
3 Easter in the early Church
3.1 Second-century controversy
3.2 Third/fourth-century controversy and Council
4 Date of Easter 4.1 Computations
4.2 Relationship to date of Passover
4.3 Reform of the date of Easter
5 Position in the church year 5.1 Western Christianity
5.2 Eastern Christianity
6 Religious observance of Easter
6.1 Western Christianity
6.2 Eastern Christianity
7 Religious and secular Easter traditions
7.1 English-speaking world
7.2 Belgium and France
7.3 Nordic countries
7.4 Netherlands and Northern Germany
7.5 Central Europe
8 Easter controversies
8.1 Christian denominations and organizations that do not observe Easter
8.2 Modern avoidance controversy
9 References
10 External links
10.1 Primary sources
10.2 Liturgical
10.3 Traditions
10.4 Calculating
10.5 National traditions
Theological significance The Christian tradition, based on New Testament and later writings, links the Last Supper with Passover. According to Paul, as Jesus prepared himself and his disciples for his death during the Last Supper, he gave the Passover meal a new meaning. 1 Corinthians 5:7 states:
"Get rid of the old yeast that you may be a new batch without yeast—as you really are. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed"
This refers to the Passover requirement to have no yeast in the house and to Christ's identification as the Paschal lamb.[4]
More importantly, Easter has become associated with Jesus’ crucifixion, and the loaf of bread and cup of wine served at the Last Supper is identified with and symbolizing his body soon to be sacrificed and his blood soon to be shed. (1 Corinthians 11:23–26)
One interpretation of the Gospel of John is that Jesus, as the Passover lamb, was crucified at roughly the same time as the Passover lambs were being slain in the temple, on the afternoon of Nisan 14.[5][6] This interpretation, however, is inconsistent with the chronology in the Synoptic Gospels. It assumes that "the preparation of the passover" in John 19:14 literally refers to Nisan 14 (Preparation Day for the Passover) and not necessarily to Yom Shishi (Friday, Preparation Day for the Sabbath)[7] and that "eat the passover" in John 18:28 refers to the eating of the Passover lamb, not to eating any of the sacrifices that were offered during the Days of Unleavened Bread.
However, Easter itself commemorates the resurrection of Jesus, and not his crucifixion. Etymology Anglo-Saxon and German
"Eástre" by Jacques Reich (1909)
Main article: Ēostre
The modern English term Easter developed from Old English word Ēastre or Ēostre or Eoaster, which itself developed prior to 899. The name refers to Eostur-monath, a month of the Germanic calendar attested by Bede as named after the goddess Ēostre of Anglo-Saxon paganism.[8] Bede notes that Eostur-monath was the equivalent to the month of April, and that feasts held her in honor during Ēostur-monath had died out by the time of his writing, replaced with the Christian custom of Easter.[9] Using comparative linguistic evidence from continental Germanic sources, the 19th century scholar Jacob Grimm proposed the existence of an equivalent form of Eostre among the pre-Christian beliefs of the continental Germanic peoples, whose name he reconstructed as *Ostara.
The implications of the goddess have resulted in scholarly theories about whether or not Eostre is an invention of Bede, theories connecting Eostre with records of Germanic folk custom (including hares and eggs), and as descendant of the Proto-Indo-European goddess of the dawn through the etymology of her name. Grimm's reconstructed *Ostara has had some influence in modern popular culture. Modern German has Ostern, but otherwise, Germanic languages have generally borrowed the form pascha, see below.
Semitic, Romance, Celtic and other Germanic languages The Greek word Πάσχα and hence the Latin form Pascha is derived from Hebrew Pesach (פֶּסַח) meaning the festival of Passover.
Christians speaking Arabic or other Semitic languages generally use names cognate to Pesach. For instance, the second word of the Arabic name of the festival عيد الفصح ʿĪd al-Fiṣḥ has the root F-Ṣ-Ḥ, which given the sound laws applicable to Arabic is cognate to Hebrew P-S-Ḥ, with "Ḥ" realized as /x/ in Modern Hebrew and /ħ/ in Arabic. Arabic also uses the term عيد القيامة ʿĪd al-Qiyāmah, meaning "festival of the resurrection," but this term is less common. In Maltese the word is L-Għid. In Ge'ez and the modern Ethiosemitic languages of Ethiopia and Eritrea, two forms exist: ፋሲካ ("Fasika," fāsīkā) from Greek Pascha, and ትንሣኤ ("Tensae," tinśā'ē), the latter from the Semitic root N-Ś-', meaning "to rise" (cf. Arabic nasha'a - ś merged with "sh" in Arabic and most non-South Semitic languages).
In all Romance languages the name of the Easter festival is derived from the Latin Pascha. In Spanish, Easter is la Pascua, in Italian Pasqua and in Portuguese Páscoa. In French, the name of Easter Pâques also derives from the Latin word but the s following the a has been lost and the two letters have been transformed into a â with a circumflex accent by elision.
In all modern Celtic languages the term for Easter is derived from Latin. In Brythonic languages this has yielded Welsh Pasg, Cornish and Breton Pask. In Goidelic languages the word was borrowed before these languages had re-developed the /p/ sound and as a result the initial /p/ was replaced with /k/. This yielded Irish Cáisc, Gaelic Càisg and Manx Caisht. These terms are normally used with the definite article in Goidelic languages, causing lenition in all cases: An Cháisc, A' Chàisg and Y Chaisht.
In Dutch, Easter is known as pasen and in the Scandinavian languages Easter is known as påske (Danish and Norwegian), påsk (Swedish), páskar (Icelandic) and páskir (Faeroese). The name is derived directly from Hebrew Pesach.[10] The letter å is a double a pronounced /o/, and an alternate spelling is paaske or paask.
Slavic languages
In most Slavic languages, the name for Easter either means "Great Day" or "Great Night". For example, Wielkanoc, Veľká noc and Velikonoce mean "Great Night" or "Great Nights" in Polish, Slovak and Czech, respectively. Велигден (Veligden), Великдень (Velykden), Великден (Velikden), and Вялікдзень (Vyalikdzyen') mean "The Great Day" in Macedonian, Ukrainian, Bulgarian, and Belarusian, respectively.
In Croatian and Serbian, however, the day's name reflects a particular theological connection: it is called Uskrs, meaning "Resurrection". In Croatian it is also called Vazam (Vzem or Vuzem in Old Croatian), which is a noun that originated from the Old Church Slavonic verb vzeti (now uzeti in Croatian, meaning "to take"). It also explains the fact that in Serbian Easter is sometimes also called Vaskrs, a liturgical form inherited from the Serbian recension of Church Slavonic. The archaic term Velja noć (velmi: Old Slavic for "great"; noć: "night") was used in Croatian while the term Velikden ("Great Day") was used in Serbian. It is believed that Cyril and Methodius, the "holy brothers" who baptized the Slavic people and translated Christian books from Greek into Old Church Slavonic, invented the word Uskrs from the word krsnuti or "enliven".[11]
Another exception is Russian, in which the name of the feast, Пасха (Paskha), is a borrowing of the Greek form via Old Church Slavonic.[12]
Finno-Ugric languages
In Finnish the name for Easter pääsiäinen, traces back to the Swedish påsk, as does the Sámi word Beassážat. The Estonian name lihavõtted and the Hungarian húsvét, however, literally mean the taking of the meat, relating to the end of the Great Lent fasting period.
Easter in the early Church Reenacting the Stations of the Cross in Jerusalem on the Via Dolorosa from the Lions' Gate to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. The first Christians, Jewish and Gentile, were certainly aware of the Hebrew calendar (Acts 2:1; 12:3; 20:6; 27:9; 1 Cor 16:8), but there is no direct evidence that they celebrated any specifically Christian annual festivals. The observance by Christians of non-Jewish annual festivals is believed by some to be an innovation postdating the Apostolic Age. The ecclesiastical historian Socrates Scholasticus (b. 380) attributes the observance of Easter by the church to the perpetuation of its custom, "just as many other customs have been established," stating that neither Jesus nor his Apostles enjoined the keeping of this or any other festival. However, when read in context, this is not a rejection or denigration of the celebration—which, given its currency in Scholasticus' time would be surprising—but is merely part of a defense of the diverse methods for computing its date. Indeed, although he describes the details of the Easter celebration as deriving from local custom, he insists the feast itself is universally observed.[13]
Perhaps the earliest extant primary source referencing Easter is a mid-2nd century Paschal homily attributed to Melito of Sardis, which characterizes the celebration as a well-established one.[14] Evidence for another kind of annual Christian festival, the commemoration of martyrs, begins to appear at about the same time as evidence for the celebration of Easter.[15] But while martyrs' "birthdays" were celebrated on fixed dates in the local solar calendar, the date of Easter was fixed by means of the local Jewish lunisolar calendar. This is consistent with the celebration of Easter having entered Christianity during its earliest, Jewish period, but does not leave the question free of doubt.[16]
Second-century controversy
For more details on this topic, see Quartodecimanism.
See also: Easter controversy and Passover (Christian holiday)
By the later second century, it was accepted that the celebration of Pascha (Easter) was a practice of the disciples and an undisputed tradition. The Quartodeciman controversy, the first of several Paschal/Easter controversies, then arose concerning the date on which Pascha should be celebrated.
The term "Quartodeciman" refers to the practice of celebrating Pascha or Easter beginning on Nisan 14 of the Hebrew calendar, "the LORD's passover" (Leviticus 23:5). According to the church historian Eusebius, the Quartodeciman Polycarp (bishop of Smyrna, by tradition a disciple of John the Evangelist) debated the question with Anicetus (bishop of Rome). The Roman province of Asia was Quartodeciman, while the Roman and Alexandrian churches continued the fast until the Sunday following, wishing to associate Easter with Sunday. Neither Polycarp nor Anicetus persuaded the other, but they did not consider the matter schismatic either, parting in peace and leaving the question unsettled.
Controversy arose when Victor, bishop of Rome a generation after Anicetus, attempted to excommunicate Polycrates of Ephesus and all other bishops of Asia for their Quartodecimanism. According to Eusebius, a number of synods were convened to deal with the controversy, which he regarded as all ruling in support of Easter on Sunday.[17] Polycrates (c. 190), however wrote to Victor defending the antiquity of Asian Quartodecimanism. Victor's attempted excommunication was apparently rescinded and the two sides reconciled upon the intervention of bishop Irenaeus and others, who reminded Victor of the tolerant precedent of Anicetus.
Quartodecimanism seems to have lingered into the fourth century, when Socrates of Constantinople recorded that some Quartodecimans were deprived of their churches by John Chrysostom[18] and that some were harassed by Nestorius.[19]
Third/fourth-century controversy and Council
It is not known how long the Nisan 14 practice continued. But both those who followed the Nisan 14 custom, and those who set Easter to the following Sunday (the Sunday of Unleavened Bread) had in common the custom of consulting their Jewish neighbors to learn when the month of Nisan would fall, and setting their festival accordingly. By the later 3rd century, however, some Christians began to express dissatisfaction with the custom of relying on the Jewish community to determine the date of Easter. The chief complaint was that the Jewish communities sometimes erred in setting Passover to fall before the spring equinox. Anatolius of Laodicea in the later third century wrote:
Those who place [the first lunar month of the year] in [the twelfth zodiacal sign before the spring equinox] and fix the Paschal fourteenth day accordingly, make a great and indeed an extraordinary mistake[20]
Peter, bishop of Alexandria (died 312), had a similar complaint
On the fourteenth day of [the month], being accurately observed after the equinox, the ancients celebrated the Passover, according to the divine command. Whereas the men of the present day now celebrate it before the equinox, and that altogether through negligence and error.[21]
The Sardica paschal table[22] confirms these complaints, for it indicates that the Jews of some eastern Mediterranean city (possibly Antioch) fixed Nisan 14 on March 11 (Julian) in A.D. 328, on March 5 in A.D. 334, on March 2 in A.D. 337, and on March 10 in A.D. 339, all well before the spring equinox.[23]
Because of this dissatisfaction with reliance on the Jewish calendar, some Christians began to experiment with independent computations.[24] Others, however, felt that the customary practice of consulting Jews should continue, even if the Jewish computations were in error. A version of the Apostolic Constitutions used by the sect of the Audiani advised:
Do not do your own computations, but instead observe Passover when your brethren from the circumcision do. If they err [in the computation], it is no matter to you....[25]
Two other objections that some Christians may have had to maintaining the custom of consulting the Jewish community in order to determine Easter are implied in Constantine's letter from the Council of Nicea to the absent bishops:
It appeared an unworthy thing that in the celebration of this most holy feast we should follow the practice of the Jews...For we have it in our power, if we abandon their custom, to prolong the due observance of this ordinance to future ages by a truer order...For their boast is absurd indeed, that it is not in our power without instruction from them to observe these things....Being altogether ignorant of the true adjustment of this question, they sometimes celebrate Passover twice in the same year.[26]
The reference to Passover twice in the same year might refer to the geographical diversity that existed at that time in the Jewish calendar, due in large measure to the breakdown of communications in the Empire. Jews in one city might determine Passover differently from Jews in another city.[27] The reference to the Jewish "boast", and, indeed, the strident anti-Jewish tone of the whole passage, suggests another issue: some Christians thought that it was undignified for Christians to depend on Jews to set the date of a Christian festival.
This controversy between those who advocated independent computations, and those who wished to continue the custom of relying on the Jewish calendar, was formally resolved by the First Council of Nicaea in 325 (see below), which endorsed the move to independent computations, effectively requiring the abandonment of the old custom of consulting the Jewish community in those places where it was still used. That the older custom (called "protopaschite" by historians) did not at once die out, but persisted for a time, is indicated by the existence of canons[28] and sermons[29] against it.
Some historians have argued that mid-4th century Roman authorities, in an attempt to enforce the Nicene decision on Easter, attempted to interfere with the Jewish calendar. This theory was developed by S. Liebermann,[30] and is repeated by S. Safrai in the Ben-Sasson History of the Jewish People.[31] This view receives no support, however, in surviving mid-4th century Roman legislation on Jewish matters.[32] The Historian Procopius, in his Secret History,[33] claims that the emperor Justinian attempted to interfere with the Jewish calendar in the 6th century, and a modern writer has suggested[34] that this measure may have been directed against the protopaschites. However, none of Justinian's surviving edicts dealing with Jewish matters is explicitly directed against the Jewish calendar,[35] making the interpretation of Procopius's statement a complex matter.
Easter and the holidays that are related to it are moveable feasts, in that they do not fall on a fixed date in the Gregorian or Julian calendars (both of which follow the cycle of the sun and the seasons). Instead, the date for Easter is determined on a lunisolar calendar, as is the Hebrew calendar. In Western Christianity, using the Gregorian calendar, Easter always falls on a Sunday between March 22 and April 25 inclusively.[36] The following day, Easter Monday, is a legal holiday in many countries with predominantly Christian traditions. In Eastern Orthodox Churches which continue to use the Julian calendar for religious dating, Easter also falls on a Sunday between March 22 and April 25 inclusive of the Julian calendar. (The Julian calendar is no longer used as the civil calendar of the countries where Eastern Christian traditions predominate.) In terms of the Gregorian calendar, due to the 13 day difference between the calendars between 1900 and 2099, these dates are between April 4 and May 8 inclusive. The precise date of Easter has at times been a matter for contention. At the First Council of Nicaea in 325 it was decided that all Christians would celebrate Easter on the same day, which would be computed independently of any Jewish calculations to determine the date of Passover. It is probable, though, that no method of determining the date was specified by the Council. (No contemporary account of the Council's decisions has survived.) Epiphanius of Salamis wrote in the mid-4th century: ...the emperor...convened a council of 318 bishops...in the city of Nicea...They passed certain ecclesiastical canons at the council besides, and at the same time decreed in regard to the Passover that there must be one unanimous concord on the celebration of God's holy and supremely excellent day. For it was variously observed by people....[37]
In the years following the council, the computational system that was worked out by the church of Alexandria came to be normative. It took a while for the Alexandrian rules to be adopted throughout Christian Europe, however. The Church of Rome continued to use an 84-year lunisolar calendar cycle from the late third century until 457. The Church of Rome continued to use its own methods until the 6th century, when it may have adopted the Alexandrian method as converted into the Julian calendar by Dionysius Exiguus (certain proof of this does not exist until the ninth century). Early Christians in Britain and Ireland also used a late third century Roman 84-year cycle. This was replaced by the Alexandrian method in the course of the 7th and 8th centuries. Churches in western continental Europe used a late Roman method until the late 8th century during the reign of Charlemagne, when they finally adopted the Alexandrian method. However, with the adoption of the Gregorian calendar by the Catholic Church in 1582 and the continuing use of the Julian calendar by Eastern Orthodox Churches, the date on which Easter is celebrated again deviated, and the divergence continues to this day.
Computations
Main article: Computus
The rule has since the Middle Ages been phrased as Easter is observed on the Sunday after the first full moon on or after the day of the vernal equinox. However, this does not reflect the actual ecclesiastical rules precisely. One reason for this is that the full moon involved (called the Paschal full moon) is not an astronomical full moon, but the 14th day of a calendar lunar month. Another difference is that the astronomical vernal equinox is a natural astronomical phenomenon, which can fall on March 19, 20, or 21, while the ecclesiastical date is fixed by convention on March 21.[38]
In applying the ecclesiastical rules, Christian Churches use March 21 as the starting point in determining the date of Easter, from which they find the next full moon, etc. The Eastern Orthodox and Oriental Orthodox Churches continue to use the Julian calendar. Their starting point in determining the date of Orthodox Easter is also March 21, but according to the Julian reckoning, which corresponds to April 4th on the Gregorian calendar. In addition, the lunar tables of the Julian calendar are 4 days (sometimes 5 days) behind those of the Gregorian calendar. The 14th day of the lunar month according to the Gregorian system is only the 9th or 10th day according to the Julian. The result of this combination of solar and lunar discrepancies is divergence in the date of Easter in most years. (see table)
The actual calculations for the date of Easter are somewhat complicated, but can be described briefly as follows:
Easter is determined on the basis of lunisolar cycles. The lunar year consists of 30-day and 29-day lunar months, generally alternating, with an embolismic month added periodically to bring the lunar cycle into line with the solar cycle. In each solar year (January 1 to December 31), the lunar month beginning with an ecclesiastical new moon falling in the 29-day period from March 8 to April 5 inclusive is designated as the Paschal lunar month for that year. Easter is the 3rd Sunday in the Paschal lunar month, or, in other words, the Sunday after the Paschal lunar month's 14th day. The 14th of the Paschal lunar month is designated by convention as the Paschal full moon, although the 14th of the lunar month may differ from the date of the astronomical full moon by up to two days.[39] Since the ecclesiastical new moon falls on a date from March 8 to April 5 inclusive, the Paschal full moon (the 14th of that lunar month) must fall on a date from March 21 to April 18 inclusive.
Accordingly, Gregorian Easter can fall on 35 possible dates - between March 22 and April 25 inclusive.[40] It last fell on March 22 in 1818, and will not do so again until 2285. It fell on March 23 in 2008, but will not do so again until 2160. Easter last fell on the latest possible date, April 25, in 1943 and will next fall on that date in 2038. However, it will fall on April 24, just one day before this latest possible date, in 2011. The cycle of Easter dates repeats after exactly 5,700,000 years, with April 19 being the most common date, happening 220,400 times or 3.9%, compared to the median for all dates of 189,525 times or 3.3%.
To prevent any differences developing in the dating of Easter in the Catholic Church, the Church has compiled tables for Easter, which are based on the ecclesiastical rules described above. All affiliated churches celebrate Easter in accordance with these tables.
Relationship to date of Passover
In determining the date of the Gregorian and Julian Easter a lunisolar cycle is followed. In determining the date of the Jewish Passover a lunisolar calendar is also used, and Easter usually falls up to a week after the first day of Passover (Nisan 15 in the Hebrew calendar). However, the differences in the rules between the Hebrew and Gregorian cycles results in Passover falling about a month after Easter in three years of the 19-year cycle. These occur in years 3, 11, and 14 of the Gregorian 19-year cycle (corresponding respectively to years 19, 8, and 11 of the Jewish 19-year cycle).
The reason for the difference is the different scheduling of embolismic months in the two cycles (see computus). In addition, without changes to either calendar, the frequency of monthly divergence between the two festivals will increase over time as a result of the differences in the implicit solar years: the implicit mean solar year of the Hebrew calendar is 365.2468 days while that of the Gregorian calendar is 365.2425 days. In years 2200-2299, for example, the start of Passover will be about a month later than Gregorian Easter in four years out of nineteen.
Since in the modern Hebrew calendar Nisan 15 can never fall on Monday, Wednesday, or Friday, the seder of Nisan 15 never falls on the night of Maundy Thursday. The second seder, observed in some Jewish communities on the second night of Passover can, however, occur on Thursday night.
Because the Julian calendar's implicit solar year has drifted further over the centuries than the those of the Gregorian or Hebrew calendars, Julian Easter is a lunation later than Gregorian Easter in five years out of nineteen, namely years 3, 8,11, 14, and 19 of the Christian cycle. This means that it is a lunation later than Jewish Passover in two years out of nineteen, years 8 and 19 of the Christian cycle. Furthermore, because the Julian calendar's lunar age is now about 4 to 5 days behind the mean lunations, Julian Easter always follows the start of Passover. This cumulative effect of the errors in the Julian calendar's solar year and lunar age has led to the often-repeated, but false, belief that the Julian cycle includes an explicit rule requiring Easter always to follow Jewish Passover.[41][42]
Reform of the date of Easter
See also: Reform of the date of Easter A Pan-Orthodox congress of Eastern Orthodox bishops met in Istanbul in 1923 under the presidency of Patriarch Meletios IV, where the bishops agreed to the Revised Julian calendar. The original form of this calendar would have determined Easter using precise astronomical calculations based on the meridian of Jerusalem.[43][44] However, all the Eastern Orthodox countries that subsequently adopted the Revised Julian calendar adopted only that part of the revised calendar that applied to festivals falling on fixed dates in the Julian calendar. The revised Easter computation that had been part of the original 1923 agreement was never implemented in any Orthodox diocese.
At a summit in Aleppo, Syria, in 1997, the World Council of Churches proposed a reform in the calculation of Easter which would have replaced the present divergent practices of calculating Easter with modern scientific knowledge taking into account actual astronomical instances of the spring equinox and full moon based on the meridian of Jerusalem, while also following the Council of Nicea position of Easter being on the Sunday following the full moon.[45] The WCC presented comparative data of the relationships:
Notes: 1. Astronomical Easter is the first Sunday after the Astronomical full moon. The recommended WCC changes would have side-stepped the calendar issues and eliminated the difference in date between the Eastern and Western churches. The reform was proposed for implementation starting in 2001, but it was not ultimately adopted by any member body.
A few clergymen of various denominations have advanced the notion of disregarding the moon altogether in determining the date of Easter. Their proposals include always observing Easter on the second Sunday in April, or always having seven Sundays between the Epiphany and Ash Wednesday, producing the same result except that in leap years Easter could fall on April 7. These suggestions have not attracted significant support, and their adoption in the future is considered unlikely.
In the United Kingdom, the Easter Act 1928 set out legislation to allow the date of Easter to be fixed as the first Sunday after the second Saturday in April (or, in other words, the Sunday in the period from April 9 to April 15). However, the legislation has not been implemented, although it remains on the Statute book and could be implemented subject to approval by the various Christian churches.[46]
Western Christianity In Western Christianity, Easter marks the end of Lent, a period of fasting and penitence in preparation for Easter, which begins on Ash Wednesday and lasts forty days (not counting Sundays).
The week before Easter, known as Holy Week, is very special in the Christian tradition. The Sunday before Easter is Palm Sunday and the last three days before Easter are Maundy Thursday or Holy Thursday, Good Friday and Holy Saturday (sometimes referred to as Silent Saturday). Palm Sunday, Maundy Thursday and Good Friday respectively commemorate Jesus' entry in Jerusalem, the Last Supper and the Crucifixion. Holy Thursday, Good Friday, and Holy Saturday are sometimes referred to as the Easter Triduum (Latin for "Three Days"). In some countries, Easter lasts two days, with the second called "Easter Monday." The week beginning with Easter Sunday is called Easter Week or the Octave of Easter, and each day is prefaced with "Easter", e.g. Easter Monday, Easter Tuesday, etc. Easter Saturday is therefore the Saturday after Easter Sunday. The day before Easter is properly called Holy Saturday. Many churches begin celebrating Easter late in the evening of Holy Saturday at a service called the Easter Vigil.
Eastertide, or Paschaltide, the season of Easter, begins on Easter Sunday and lasts until the day of Pentecost, seven weeks later.
Eastern Christianity
In Eastern Christianity, the spiritual preparation for Pascha begins with Great Lent, which starts on Clean Monday and lasts for 40 continuous days (including Sundays). The last week of Great Lent (following the fifth Sunday of Great Lent) is called Palm Week, and ends with Lazarus Saturday. The Vespers which begins Lazarus Saturday officially brings Great Lent to a close, although the fast continues through the following week. After Lazarus Saturday comes Palm Sunday, Holy Week, and finally Pascha itself, and the fast is broken immediately after the Paschal Divine Liturgy.
The Paschal Vigil begins with the Midnight Office, which is the last service of the Lenten Triodion and is timed so that it ends a little before midnight on Holy Saturday night. At the stroke of midnight the Paschal celebration itself begins, consisting of Paschal Matins, Paschal Hours, and Paschal Divine Liturgy.[47] Placing the Paschal Divine Liturgy at midnight guarantees that no Divine Liturgy will come earlier in the morning, ensuring its place as the pre-eminent "Feast of Feasts" in the liturgical year.
The liturgical season from Pascha to the Sunday of All Saints (the Sunday after Pentecost) is known as the Pentecostarion (the "fifty days"). The week which begins on Easter Sunday is called Bright Week, during which there is no fasting, even on Wednesday and Friday. The Afterfeast of Pascha lasts 39 days, with its Apodosis (leave-taking) on the day before Ascension. Pentecost Sunday is the fiftieth day from Pascha (counted inclusively).
Although the Pentecostarion ends on the Sunday of All Saints, Pascha's influence continues throughout the following year, determining the daily Epistle and Gospel readings at the Divine Liturgy, the Tone of the Week, and the Matins Gospels all the way through to the next year's Lazarus Saturday.
Religious observance of Easter Western Christianity Liturgical year
Western
Advent
Christmastide
Epiphany
Lent
Easter Triduum
Easter season
Feast of the Ascension
Pentecost
Ordinary Time
Eastern
Feast of Cross
Nativity Fast
Nativity
Theophany
Great Lent
Pascha
Pentecost
Apostles' Fast
Great Feasts
Transfiguration
Dormition
Protection
Western Christianity In Western Christianity, Easter marks the end of Lent, a period of fasting and penitence in preparation for Easter, which begins on Ash Wednesday and lasts forty days (not counting Sundays).
The week before Easter, known as Holy Week, is very special in the Christian tradition. The Sunday before Easter is Palm Sunday and the last three days before Easter are Maundy Thursday or Holy Thursday, Good Friday and Holy Saturday (sometimes referred to as Silent Saturday). Palm Sunday, Maundy Thursday and Good Friday respectively commemorate Jesus' entry in Jerusalem, the Last Supper and the Crucifixion. Holy Thursday, Good Friday, and Holy Saturday are sometimes referred to as the Easter Triduum (Latin for "Three Days"). In some countries, Easter lasts two days, with the second called "Easter Monday." The week beginning with Easter Sunday is called Easter Week or the Octave of Easter, and each day is prefaced with "Easter", e.g. Easter Monday, Easter Tuesday, etc. Easter Saturday is therefore the Saturday after Easter Sunday. The day before Easter is properly called Holy Saturday. Many churches begin celebrating Easter late in the evening of Holy Saturday at a service called the Easter Vigil.
Eastertide, or Paschaltide, the season of Easter, begins on Easter Sunday and lasts until the day of Pentecost, seven weeks later.
Eastern Christianity
In Eastern Christianity, the spiritual preparation for Pascha begins with Great Lent, which starts on Clean Monday and lasts for 40 continuous days (including Sundays). The last week of Great Lent (following the fifth Sunday of Great Lent) is called Palm Week, and ends with Lazarus Saturday. The Vespers which begins Lazarus Saturday officially brings Great Lent to a close, although the fast continues through the following week. After Lazarus Saturday comes Palm Sunday, Holy Week, and finally Pascha itself, and the fast is broken immediately after the Paschal Divine Liturgy.
The Paschal Vigil begins with the Midnight Office, which is the last service of the Lenten Triodion and is timed so that it ends a little before midnight on Holy Saturday night. At the stroke of midnight the Paschal celebration itself begins, consisting of Paschal Matins, Paschal Hours, and Paschal Divine Liturgy.[47] Placing the Paschal Divine Liturgy at midnight guarantees that no Divine Liturgy will come earlier in the morning, ensuring its place as the pre-eminent "Feast of Feasts" in the liturgical year.
The liturgical season from Pascha to the Sunday of All Saints (the Sunday after Pentecost) is known as the Pentecostarion (the "fifty days"). The week which begins on Easter Sunday is called Bright Week, during which there is no fasting, even on Wednesday and Friday. The Afterfeast of Pascha lasts 39 days, with its Apodosis (leave-taking) on the day before Ascension. Pentecost Sunday is the fiftieth day from Pascha (counted inclusively).
Although the Pentecostarion ends on the Sunday of All Saints, Pascha's influence continues throughout the following year, determining the daily Epistle and Gospel readings at the Divine Liturgy, the Tone of the Week, and the Matins Gospels all the way through to the next year's Lazarus Saturday.
Religious observance of Easter
Western Christianity
Procession in the Northwest of Spain.
The Easter festival is kept in many different ways among Western Christians. The traditional, liturgical observation of Easter, as practised among Roman Catholics and some Lutherans and Anglicans begins on the night of Holy Saturday with the Easter Vigil. This, the most important liturgy of the year, begins in total darkness with the blessing of the Easter fire, the lighting of the large Paschal candle (symbolic of the Risen Christ) and the chanting of the Exultet or Easter Proclamation attributed to Saint Ambrose of Milan. After this service of light, a number of readings from the Old Testament are read; these tell the stories of creation, the sacrifice of Isaac, the crossing of the Red Sea, and the foretold coming of the Messiah. This part of the service climaxes with the singing of the Gloria and the Alleluia and the proclamation of the Gospel of the resurrection. A sermon may be preached after the gospel. Then the focus moves from the lectern to the font. Anciently, Easter was considered the ideal time for converts to receive baptism, and this practice continues within Roman Catholicism and the Anglican Communion. Whether there are baptisms at this point or not, it is traditional for the congregation to renew the vows of their baptismal faith. This act is often sealed by the sprinkling of the congregation with holy water from the font. The Catholic sacrament of Confirmation is also celebrated at the Vigil.
The Easter Vigil concludes with the celebration of the Eucharist (known in some traditions as Holy Communion). Certain variations in the Easter Vigil exist: Some churches read the Old Testament lessons before the procession of the Paschal candle, and then read the gospel immediately after the Exsultet. Some churches prefer to keep this vigil very early on the Sunday morning instead of the Saturday night, particularly Protestant churches, to reflect the gospel account of the women coming to the tomb at dawn on the first day of the week. These services are known as the Sunrise service and often occur in outdoor setting such as the church's yard or a nearby park.
The first recorded "Sunrise Service" took place in 1732 among the Single Brethren in the Moravian Congregation at Herrnhut, Saxony, in what is now Germany. Following an all-night vigil they went before dawn to the town graveyard, God's Acre, on the hill above the town, to celebrate the Resurrection among the graves of the departed. This service was repeated the following year by the whole congregation and subsequently spread with the Moravian Missionaries around the world. The most famous "Moravian Sunrise Service" is in the Moravian Settlement Old Salem in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. The beautiful setting of the Graveyard, God's Acre, the music of the Brass Choir numbering 500 pieces, and the simplicity of the service attract thousands of visitors each year and has earned for Winston-Salem the soubriquet "the Easter City."
Additional celebrations are usually offered on Easter Sunday itself. Typically these services follow the usual order of Sunday services in a congregation, but also typically incorporate more highly festive elements. The music of the service, in particular, often displays a highly festive tone; the incorporation of brass instruments (trumpets, etc.) to supplement a congregation's usual instrumentation is common. Often a congregation's worship space is decorated with special banners and flowers (such as Easter lilies).
In predominantly Roman Catholic Philippines, the morning of Easter (known in the national language as "Pasko ng Muling Pagkabuhay" or the Pasch of the Resurrection) is marked with joyous celebration, the first being the dawn "Salubong," wherein large statues of Jesus and Mary are brought together to meet, imagining the first reunion of Jesus and his mother Mary after Jesus' Resurrection. This is followed by the joyous Easter Mass.
In Polish culture, The Rezurekcja (Resurrection Procession) is the joyous Easter morning Mass at daybreak when church bells ring out and explosions resound to commemorate Christ rising from the dead. Before the Mass begins at dawn, a festive procession with the Blessed Sacrament carried beneath a canopy encircles the church. As church bells ring out, handbells are vigorously shaken by altar boys, the air is filled with incense and the faithful raise their voices heavenward in a triumphant rendering of age-old Easter hymns. After the Blessed Sacrament is carried around the church and Adoration is complete, the Easter Mass begins. Another Polish Easter tradition is Święconka, the blessing of Easter baskets by the parish priest on Holy Saturday. This custom is celebrated not only in Poland, but also in the United States by Polish-Americans. Eastern Christianity Easter Procession in the Region of Kursk, Russia, painting by Ilya Repin (1880-83), depicting a Bright Week Crucession
Pascha is the fundamental and most important festival of the Eastern and Oriental Orthodox Churches. Every other religious festival on their calendars, including Christmas, is secondary in importance to the celebration of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. This is reflected in rich Paschal customs in the cultures of countries that have traditionally had an Orthodox Christian majority. Eastern Catholics have similar emphasis in their calendars, and many of their liturgical customs are very similar. This is not to say that Christmas and other elements of the Christian liturgical calendar are ignored. Instead, these events are all seen as necessary but preliminary to, and illuminated by, the full climax of the Resurrection, in which all that has come before reaches fulfilment and fruition. They shine only in the light of the Resurrection. Pascha (Easter) is the primary act that fulfills the purpose of Christ's ministry on earth—to defeat death by dying and to purify and exalt humanity by voluntarily assuming and overcoming human frailty. This is succinctly summarized by the Paschal troparion, sung repeatedly during Pascha until the Apodosis of Pascha, which is the day before Ascension: The congregation lighting their candles from the new flame, just as the priest has retrieved it from the altar - note that the picture is flash-illuminated; all electric lighting is off, and only the oil lamps in front of the Iconostasis remain lit (St. George Greek Orthodox Church, Adelaide)
Boris Kustodiev's Easter Greetings (1912) shows traditional Russian khristosovanie (exchanging a triple kiss), with such foods as red eggs, kulich and paskha in the background Priest blessing Easter baskets in Lviv, Ukraine
Χριστός Ανέστη εκ νεκρών,
Θανάτω, θάνατον πατήσας,
και τοις εν τοις μνήμασι
ζώην χαρισάμενος!
Christ is risen from the dead,
Trampling down death by death,
And upon those in the tombs
Bestowing life!
Preparation for Pascha begins with the season of Great Lent. In addition to fasting, almsgiving, and prayer, Orthodox Christians cut down on all entertainment and non-essential worldly activities, gradually eliminating them until Great and Holy Friday, the most austere day of the year. Traditionally, on the evening of Great and Holy Saturday, the Midnight Office is celebrated shortly after 11:00 p.m. (see Paschal Vigil). At its completion all light in the church building is extinguished, and all wait in darkness and silence for the stroke of midnight. Then, a new flame is struck in the altar, or the priest lights his candle from the perpetual lamp kept burning there, and he then lights candles held by deacons or other assistants, who then go to light candles held by the congregation (this practice has its origin in the reception of the Holy Fire at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem). Then the priest and congregation go in a Crucession (procession with the cross) around the temple (church building), holding lit candles, chanting:
Angels in heaven, O Christ our Saviour, praise Thy Resurrection with hymns:
deem us also who are on earth worthy to glorify The with a pure heart. This procession reenacts the journey of the Myrrhbearers to the Tomb of Jesus "very early in the morning" (Luke 24:1). After circling around the temple once or three times, the procession halts in front of the closed doors. In the Greek practice the priest reads a selection from the Gospel Book (Mark 16:1-8). Then, in all traditions, the priest makes the sign of the cross with the censer in front of the closed doors (which represent the sealed tomb). He and the people chant the Paschal Troparion, and all of the bells and semantra are sounded. Then all re-enter the temple and Paschal Matins begins immediately, followed by the Paschal Hours and then the Paschal Divine Liturgy. After the dismissal of the Liturgy, the priest may bless Paschal eggs and baskets brought by the faithful containing those foods which have been forbidden during the Great Fast.
Immediately after the Liturgy it is customary for the congregation to share a meal, essentially an Agápē dinner (albeit at 2:00 a.m. or later). In Greece the traditional meal is mageiritsa, a hearty stew of chopped lamb liver and wild greens seasoned with egg-and-lemon sauce. Traditionally, Easter eggs, hard-boiled eggs dyed bright red to symbolize the spilt Blood of Christ and the promise of eternal life, are cracked together to celebrate the opening of the Tomb of Christ.
The next morning, Easter Sunday proper, there is no Divine Liturgy, since the Liturgy for that day has already been celebrated. Instead, in the afternoon, it is often traditional to celebrate "Agápē Vespers". In this service, it has become customary during the last few centuries for the priest and members of the congregation to read a portion of the Gospel of John 20:19-25 (in some places the reading is extended to include verses 19:26-31) in as many languages as they can manage, to show the universality of the Resurrection.
For the remainder of the week, known as "Bright Week", all fasting is prohibited, and the customary Paschal greeting is: "Christ is risen!," to which the response is: "Truly He is risen!" This may also be done in many different languages. The services during Bright Week are nearly identical to those on Pascha itself, except that the do not take place at midnight, but at their normal times during the day. The Crucession during Bright Week takes place either after Paschal Matins or the Paschal Divine Liturgy. Easter eggs are a popular sign of the holiday among its religious and secular observers alike. As with many other Christian dates, the celebration of Easter extends beyond the church. Since its origins, it has been a time of celebration and feasting and many Traditional Easter games and customs developed, such as Egg rolling, Egg tapping, Pace egging and Egg decorating. Today Easter is commercially important, seeing wide sales of greeting cards and confectionery such as chocolate Easter eggs, marshmallow bunnies, Peeps, and jelly beans. Even many non-Christians celebrate these aspects of the holiday while eschewing the religious aspects.
English-speaking world
Throughout North America, the British Isles, New Zealand and Australia the Easter holiday has been partially secularized, so that some families participate only in the attendant revelry, central to which is (traditionally) decorating Easter eggs on Saturday evening and hunting for them Sunday morning, by which time they have been mysteriously hidden all over the house and garden. Chocolate eggs have largely supplanted decorated eggs in New Zealand and Australia.
Coloured Easter eggs in the United States. In North America, Australia and New Zealand, parents often tell their children that eggs and other treats have been delivered and hidden by the Easter Bunny in an Easter basket which children find waiting for them when they wake up. Many families in America will attend Sunday Mass or services in the morning and then participate in a feast or party in the afternoon; the food cooked for the feast and the customs practiced at the feast may be influenced by Jewish cuisine and the Jewish holiday of Passover. A Bermuda kite. In the UK children still decorate eggs, but most British people simply exchange chocolate eggs on the Sunday. Chocolate Easter Bunnies can be found in shops. Many families have a traditional Sunday roast, particularly roast lamb, and some eat Easter foods such as Simnel cake, a fruit cake with eleven marzipan balls representing the eleven faithful apostles. Hot cross buns, spiced buns with a cross on top, are traditionally associated with Good Friday, but today are often eaten well before and after. In Scotland, the north of England, and Northern Ireland, the traditions of rolling decorated eggs down steep hills and pace egging are still adhered to. In the British Overseas Territory of Bermuda, the most notable feature of the Easter celebration is the flying of kites to symbolize Christ's ascent.[48] Traditional Bermuda kites are constructed by Bermudians of all ages as Easter approaches, and are normally only flown at Easter. In addition to hot cross buns and Easter eggs, fish cakes are traditionally eaten in Bermuda at this time.
Belgium and France
Flemish-speaking Belgium shares many of the same traditions as North America but sometimes it's said that the Bells of Rome bring the Easter eggs together with the Easter Bunny. The story goes that the bells of every church leave for Rome on Holy Saturday, called "Stille Zaterdag" (literally "Silent Saturday") in Dutch. So, because the bells are in Rome, the bells don't ring anywhere.
Similarly, in French-speaking Belgium and France, "Easter bells" (« les cloches de Pâques ») also bring Easter eggs. However, bells in churches are silent beginning Maundy Thursday, the first day of the Paschal Triduum, as a sign of mourning. It is said that all of the bells depart for Rome and return on Easter Day bringing eggs with them to drop during their passage.
Nordic countries
In Norway, in addition to staying at mountain cabins and cross-country skiing in the mountains and painting eggs, a contemporary tradition is to read or watch murder mysteries at Easter. All the major television channels run crime and detective stories (such as Agatha Christie's Poirot), magazines print stories where the readers can try to figure out "whodunnit", and new detective novels are scheduled for publishing before Easter. Even the milk cartons are altered for a couple of weeks. Each Easter a new short mystery story is printed on their sides. Another tradition, related to stays in holiday cabins, is playing board games, dice gamesYahtzee or cards.[citation needed] Stores and businesses close for five straight days at Easter, with the exception of grocery stores, which re-open for a single day on the Saturday before Easter Sunday.
In Finland, Sweden and Denmark, traditions include egg painting and small children dressed as witches collecting candy door-to-door, in exchange for decorated pussy willows. This is a result of the mixing of an old Orthodox tradition (blessing houses with willow branches) and the Scandinavian Easter witch tradition.[citation needed][49] Brightly coloured feathers and little decorations are also attached to birch branches in a vase. For lunch/dinner on Holy Saturday, families traditionally feast on a smörgåsbord of herring, salmon, potatoes, eggs and other kinds of food. In Finland, the Lutheran majority enjoys mämmi as another traditional Easter treat, while the Orthodox minority's traditions include eating pasha (also spelt paskha) instead.
Netherlands and Northern Germany
People watching the Easter Fire in 'De Achterhoek' in eastern Netherlands
In the northern and eastern parts of the Netherlands (Twente and Achterhoek), Easter Fires (in Dutch: "Paasvuur") are lit on Easter Day at sunset. Easter Fires also take place on the same day in large portions of Northern Germany ("Osterfeuer").
Central Europe
Main article: see Egg decorating in Slavic culture
Many eastern European ethnic groups, including the Ukrainians, Belarusians, Hungarians, Bulgarians, Croats, Czechs, Lithuanians, Poles, Romanians, Serbs, Macedonians, Slovaks, and Slovenes decorate eggs for Easter.
In the Czech Republic and Slovakia, a tradition of spanking or whipping is carried out on Easter Monday. In the morning, men spank women with a special handmade whip called a pomlázka (in Czech) or korbáč (in Slovak), or, in eastern Moravia and Slovakia, throw cold water on them. The pomlázka/korbáč consists of eight, twelve or even twenty-four withies (willow rods), is usually from half a meter to two meters long and decorated with coloured ribbons at the end. The spanking normally is not painful or intended to cause suffering. A legend says that women should be spanked in order to keep their health and beauty during whole next year.[50]
An additional purpose can be for men to exhibit their attraction to women; unvisited women can even feel offended. Traditionally, the spanked woman gives a coloured egg and sometimes a small amount of money to the man as a sign of her thanks. In some regions the women can get revenge in the afternoon or the following day when they can pour a bucket of cold water on any man. The habit slightly varies across Slovakia and the Czech Republic. A similar tradition existed in Poland (where it is called Dyngus Day), but it is now little more than an all-day water fight.
The butter lamb (Baranek wielkanocny) is a traditional addition to the Easter Meal for many Polish Catholics. Butter is shaped into a lamb either by hand or in a lamb-shaped mould.
In Hungary, Transylvania, Southern Slovakia, Kárpátalja, Northern Serbia - Vojvodina and other territories with Hungarian-speaking communities, the day following Easter is called Locsoló Hétfő, "Watering Monday". Water, perfume or perfumed water is often sprinkled in exchange for an Easter egg.
Easter controversies
Christian denominations and organizations that do not observe Easter
Easter traditions deemed "pagan" by some Reformation leaders,[citation needed] along with Christmas celebrations, were among the first casualties of some areas of the Protestant Reformation.
Other Reformation Churches, such as the Lutheran, Methodist, and Anglican, retained a very full observance of the Church Year. In Lutheran Churches, not only were the days of Holy Week observed, but also Christmas, Easter, and Pentecost were observed with three day festivals, including the day itself and the two following. Among the other Reformation traditions, things were a bit different. These holidays were eventually restored (though Christmas only became a legal holiday in Scotland in 1967, after the Church of Scotland finally relaxed its objections). Some Christians (usually, but not always fundamentalists[citation needed]), however, continue to reject the celebration of Easter (and, often, of Christmas), because they believe them to be irrevocably tainted with paganism and idolatry. Their rejection of these traditions is based partly on their interpretation of 2 Corinthians 6:14-16.
This is also the view of Jehovah's Witnesses, who instead observe a yearly commemorative service of the Last Supper and subsequent death of Christ on the evening of Nisan 14, as they calculate it derived from the lunar Hebrew Calendar. It is commonly referred to, in short, by many Witnesses as simply "The Memorial." Jehovah's Witnesses believe that such verses as Luke 22:19-20 and 1 Cor 11:26 constitute a commandment to remember the death of Christ (and not the resurrection, as only the remembrance of the death was observed by early Christians), and they do so on a yearly basis just as Passover is celebrated yearly by the Jews.
Members of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) traditionally do not celebrate or observe Easter (or any other Church holidays), believing instead that "every day is the Lord's day", and that elevation of one day above others suggests that it is acceptable to do un-Christian acts on other days—they believe that every day is holy, and should be lived as such. This belief of Quakers is known as their testimony against time and season.
Some groups feel that Easter (or, as they prefer to call it, "Resurrection Sunday" or "Resurrection Day") is something to be regarded with great joy: not marking the day itself, but remembering and rejoicing in the event it commemorates—the miracle of Christ's resurrection. In this spirit, these Christians teach that each day and all Sabbaths should be kept holy, in Christ's teachings. Hebrew-Christian, Sacred Name, and Armstrong movement churches (such as the Living Church of God) usually reject Easter in favor of Nisan 14 observance and celebration of the Christian Passover. This is especially true of Christian groups that celebrate the New Moons or annual High Sabbaths in addition to the seventh-day Sabbath. This is textually supported by the letter to the Colossians: "Let no one...pass judgment on you in matters of food and drink or with regard to a festival or new moon or sabbath. These are shadows of things to come; the reality belongs to Christ." (Col. 2:16-17, NAB)
Critics charge that such feasts are meaningless in light of the end of the Old Testament sacrificial system and the destruction of the Second Temple in A.D. 70. Televangelist Larry Huch (Pentecostal) and many Calvary Chapel churches have adopted Hebrew-Christian practices, but without rejecting Easter.
Other seventh-day Sabbatarian groups, such as the Church of God, celebrate a Christian Passover that lacks most of the practices or symbols associated with Western Easter and retains more of the presumed features of the Passover observed by Jesus Christ at the Last Supper.
Modern avoidance controversy
Main article: Easter/Good Friday controversy
In the modern-day United States, there have been instances where public mention of Easter and Good Friday have been replaced with euphemistic terminology. Examples include renaming "Good Friday" as "Spring holiday" on school calendars, to avoid association with a Christian holiday while at the same time allowing a state-sanctioned day off. (Note that the modern North American "Spring Break" can no longer be assumed to correspond with any version of Easter week.) In the United Kingdom, which still recognizes Good Friday and Easter Monday as national holidays, numerous secular events have been established to take advantage of the holidays but not the religious meaning behind the days including numerous annual clubbing events.[51]
References
^ Anthony Aveni, "The Easter/Passover Season: Connecting Time's Broken Circle," The Book of the Year: A Brief History of Our Seasonal Holidays (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004), 64-78.
^ This resurrection is commonly said to have occurred "on the third day", including the day of crucifixion.
^ 'Easter Day' is the traditional name in English for the principal feast of Easter, used (for instance) by the Book of Common Prayer, but in the 20th century 'Easter Sunday' became widely used, despite this term also referring to the following Sunday.
^ cf. John 1:29, Revelation 5:6, 1 Peter 1:19, 1 Peter 1:2, and the associated notes and Passion Week table in Barker, Kenneth, ed (2002). Zondervan NIV Study Bible. Grand Rapids: Zondervan. p. 1520, etc. ISBN 0310929555.
^ Exodus 12:6.
^ The scriptural instructions specify that the lamb is to be slain "between the two evenings", that is, at twilight. By the Roman period, however, the sacrifices were performed in the mid-afternoon. Josephus, Jewish War 6.10.1/423 ("They sacrifice from the ninth to the eleventh hour"). Philo, Special Laws 2.27/145 ("Many myriads of victims from noon till eventide are offered by the whole people").
^ John 13:2, John 18:28, John 19:14, and the associated notes in Barker, Kenneth, ed (2002). Zondervan NIV Study Bible. Grand Rapids: Zondervan. ISBN 0310929555.
^ Barnhart, Robert K. The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology (1995) ISBN 0-06-270084-7.
^ De Temporum Ratione 15: "Eosturmonath, qui nunc paschalis mensis interpretatur, quondam a dea illorum quae Eostre vocabatur et cui in illo festa celebrabant nomen habuit. A cuius nomine nunc paschale tempus congnominant, consueto antiquae observationis vocabulo gaudia novae solemnitatis vocantes." (Eosturmonath, which now is taken to mean Paschal month, once had its name from their goddess who was called Eostre, and to whom they celebrated a festival in that month. Now they call the Paschal season by the name of this month, calling the joys of the new rite by the old observance's customary name.)
^ "A Dictionary of True Etymologies". Routledge & Kegan Paul Books. . Retrieved on 2009-04-05.
^ "Sts. Cyril and Methodius". Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company. 1913.
^ Max Vasmer, Russisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch. Heidelberg, 1950-1958.
^ Socrates, Church History, 5.22, in Schaff, Philip (2005-07-13). "The Author’s Views respecting the Celebration of Easter, Baptism, Fasting, Marriage, the Eucharist, and Other Ecclesiastical Rites." (HTML). Socrates and Sozomenus Ecclesiastical Histories. Calvin College Christian Classics Ethereal Library. . Retrieved on 2007-03-28.
^ "Homily on the Pascha" (HTML). Kerux: The Journal of Northwest Theological Seminary..Retrieved on 2007-03-28.
^ Cheslyn Jones, Geoffrey Wainwright, Edward Yarnold, and Paul Bradshaw, Eds., The Study of Liturgy, Revised Edition, Oxford University Press, New York, 1992, p. 474.
^ Cheslyn Jones, Geoffrey Wainwright, Edward Yarnold, and Paul Bradshaw, Eds., The Study of Liturgy, Revised Edition, Oxford University Press, New York, 1992, p. 459:"[Easter] is the only feast of the Christian Year that can plausibly claim to go back to apostolic times...[It] must derive from a time when Jewish influence was effective....because it depends on the lunar calendar (every other feast depends on the solar calendar)."
^ Eusebius, Church History 5.23.
^ Socrates, Church History, 6.11, at Schaff, Philip (2005-07-13). "Of Severian and Antiochus: their Disagreement from John." (HTML). Socrates and Sozomenus Ecclesiastical Histories. Calvin College Christian Classics Ethereal Library. . Retrieved on 2009-03-28.
^ Socrates, Church History 7.29, at Schaff, Philip (2005-07-13). "Nestorius of Antioch promoted to the See of Constantinople. His Persecution of the Heretics." (HTML). Socrates and Sozomenus Ecclesiastical Histories. Calvin College Christian Classics Ethereal Library. . Retrieved on 2009-03-28.
^ Eusebius, Church History, 7.32.
^ Peter of Alexandria, quoted in the Chronicon Paschale. In Alexander Roberts and James Donaldson, eds., Ante-Nicene Christian Library, Volume 14: The Writings of Methodius, Alexander of Lycopolis, Peter of Alexandria, And Several Fragments, Edinburgh, 1869, p. 326, at Donaldson, Alexander (2005-06-01). "That Up to the Time of the Destruction of Jerusalem, the Jews Rightly Appointed the Fourteenth Day of the First Lunar Month." (HTML). Gregory Thaumaturgus, Dionysius the Great, Julius Africanus, Anatolius and Minor Writers, Methodius, Arnobius. Calvin College Christian Classics Ethereal Library. Retrieved on 2009-03-28.
^ MS Verona, Biblioteca Capitolare LX(58) folios 79v-80v.
^ Sacha Stern, Calendar and Community: A History of the Jewish Calendar Second Century BCE - Tenth Century CE, Oxford, 2001, pp. 124-132.
^ Eusebius reports that Dionysius, Bishop of Alexandria, proposed an 8-year Easter cycle, and quotes a letter from Anatolius, Bishop of Laodicea, that refers to a 19-year cycle. Eusebius, Church History, 7.20, 7.31. An 8-year cycle has been found inscribed on a statue unearthed in Rome in the 17th century, dated to the third century. Allen Brent, Hippolytus and the Roman Church in the Third Century, Leiden, E.J. Brill, 1995.
^ Epiphanius, Adversus Haereses Heresy 70, 10,1, in Frank Williams, The Panarion of Epiphanius of Salamis Books II and II, Leiden, E.J. Brill, 1994, p. 412. Also quoted in Margaret Dunlop Gibson, The Didascalia Apostolorum in Syriac, London, 1903, p. vii.
^ Eusebius, Life of Constantine, 3.18, in A Select Library of Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers of the Christian Church, Second Series, Volume 14: The Seven Ecumenical Councils, Eerdmans, 1956, p. 54.
^ Sacha Stern, Calendar and Community: A History of the Jewish Calendar Second Century BCE - Tenth Century CE, Oxford, 2001, pp. 72-79.
^ Apostolic Canon 7: If any bishop, presbyter, or deacon shall celebrate the holy day of Easter before the vernal equinox with the Jews, let him be deposed. A Select Library of Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers of the Christian Church, Second Series, Volume 14: The Seven Ecumenical Councils, Eerdmans, 1956, p. 594.
^ St. John Chrysostom, "Against those who keep the first Passover", in Saint John Chrysostom: Discourses against Judaizing Christians, translated by Paul W. Harkins, Washington, D.C., 1979, p. 47ff.
^ S. Liebermann, "Palestine in the 3rd and 4rh Centuries", Jewish Quarterly Review (New Series), 36, p. 334 (1946).
^ S. Safrai, "From the Roman Anarchy Until the Abolition of the Patriarchate", in H. H. Ben-Sasson, ed., A History of the Jewish People, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, 1969 (English trans. 1976), p. 350.
^ Amnon Linder, The Jews in Roman Imperial Legislation, Wayne State University Press, Detroit, 1987. Linder presents only one piece of legislation from the time of Constantine II and one from the time of Constantius II dealing with Jewish matters. Neither has anything do do with the Jewish calendar.
^ Procopius, Secret History 28.16-19.
^ Sacha Stern, Calendar and Community: A History of the Jewish Calendar Second Century BCE-Tenth Century CE, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2001, pp. 85-87.
^ Justinian's Novel 146 of A.D. 553 does, however, forbid public reading of the deuterosis, (probably the Mishnah) or expounding of its doctrines. Amnon Linder, The Jews in Roman Imperial Legislation, pp. 402-411.
^ The Date of Easter. Article from United States Naval Observatory (March 27, 2007).
^ Epiphanius, Adversus Haereses, Heresy 69, 11,1, in Willams, F. (1994). The Panarion of Epiphianus of Salamis Books II and III. Leiden: E.J. Brill. p. 331.
^ Paragraph 7 of Inter gravissimas [1] to "the vernal equinox, which was fixed by the fathers of the [first] Nicene Council at XII calends April [March 21]". This definition can be traced at least back to chapters 6 & 59 of Bede's De temporum ratione (725).
^ Montes, Marcos J. "Calculation of the Ecclesiastical Calendar" Retrieved on 2008-01-12.
^ Easter Sunday always falls after (never on) March 21, so the earliest it can fall is March 22; if the 14th of the Paschal lunar month falls on April 18 and this day is a Sunday, then Easter falls one week (seven days) later on April 25.
^ Peter L'Huillier, The Church of the Ancient Councils, St. Vladimir's Seminary Press, Crestwood, 1996, p. 25.
^ The supposed "after Passover" rule is called the Zonaras proviso, after Joannes Zonaras, the Byzantine canon lawyer who may have been the first to formulate it.
^ M. Milankovitch, "Das Ende des julianischen Kalenders und der neue Kalender der orientalischen Kirchen", Astronomische Nachrichten 200, 379–384 (1924).
^ Miriam Nancy Shields, "The new calendar of the Eastern churches", Popular Astronomy 32 (1924) 407–411 (page 411). This is a translation of M. Milankovitch, "The end of the Julian calendar and the new calendar of the Eastern churches", Astronomische Nachrichten No. 5279 (1924).
^ WCC: Towards a common date for Easter
^ See Hansard reports April 2005
^ "On the Holy and Great Sunday of Pascha" (HTML). Monastery of Saint Andrew the First Called, Manchester, England. 2007-01-25.. Retrieved on 2007-03-27.
^ Chello.nl: Bermuda Kite History.
^ Geographia.com accessed March 22, 2008.
^ Kirby, Terry (2007-04-06). "The Big Question: Why do we celebrate Easter, and where did the bunny come from?" (HTML). The Independent. . Retrieved on 2008-03-18.
^ London Easter
Primary sources
Bede, De ratione temporum - Extract referring to the goddess Eostre.
Liturgical 50 Catholic Prayers for Easter
Liturgical Resources for Easter
Holy Pascha: the Resurrection of Our Lord (Orthodox icon and synaxarion)
Traditions
Christian Festivals - Easter on RE:Quest
Liturgical Meaning of Holy Week (Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Australia)
Easter in the Armenian Orthodox Church
Easter Badarak at the Empty Tomb Easter service in Jerusalem Armenian Apostolic Church
Eastern Orthodox views on Easter
Roman Catholic view of Easter (from the Catholic Encyclopedia)
Rosicrucians: The Cosmic Meaning of Easter (the esoteric Christian tradition)
Passover to Easter
Easter depicted in Medieval and Renaissance art
Calculating
See also: Computus
A Perpetual Easter and Passover Calculator Julian and Gregorian Easter for any year plus other info
Almanac - The Christian Year Julian or Gregorian Easter and associated festivals for any year
Calculating the date of Easter algorithm
Easter Dating Method for calculator
Orthodox Paschal Calculator Julian Easter and associated festivals in Gregorian calendar 1583–4099
Easter Date Calculator Gregorian Easter 1583–2199
National traditions
Easter traditions from around the world
Easter traditions in Finland
Easter in Germany
Easter in Mexico, Australia, Africa and Europe
World Easter Celebration
The Numbers in the Gospel of St. John by Lynn Quirolo God has arranged all things by measure and number and weight. Every man, in respect of his mind, is intimately related to the divine Logos, being an imprint or fragment or effulgence of that blessed nature. The belief that number is the language of reality is the bedrock of Western Civilization. Time and Space, the Many and the One, the Great Chain of Being, As Above So Below -- the idea that the pattern of Creation is determined by number is embedded in Western conceptions of God. Biblical numbers were symbols for its authors and early audience, expressing correspondences between nature, human experience, and the pattern of creation. That Biblical numbers have been interpreted different ways in different contexts for centuries is evidence of the flexibility of number as symbols. Determining what these numbers meant to their authors and original audience remains an interesting problem, especially in light of recent research regarding the astronomical significance of megalithic structures. The Gospel of St. John ends with a number - the disciples cast their net according to the instructions of the Risen Christ and catch one hundred and fifty-three fish. The number one hundred and fifty-three is written elsewhere, in rock, at Stonehenge and the Great Pyramid of Cheops. One hundred and fifty-three is a scientific number; its square root is the exact number of lunations in a year. Did the author of the Gospel of St. John use this number because of its scientific significance? The Gospel of St. John begins, “In the beginning was the logos.” Logos is a philosophic term used by Philo of Alexandria (30 B.C. – 50 A.D) to reconcile Hebrew scripture and Greek philosophy. Logos meant pattern and implied mathematical relationship. When the Gospel of St. John was translated from Greek, logos became “word.” The author of St. John’s Gospel identifies Jesus as the “logos made flesh” and ends his gospel with a story that does not appear in the Matthew, Mark, or Luke - the disciples, recognizing the Risen Christ for the third time, catch one hundred and fifty-three large fish, “and though there were so many, the net was not torn.” Placed in the powerful setting of a teaching of Jesus after his resurrection, certainly this number was intended symbolically. I have previously written on the symbolic interpretations of one hundred and fifty-three by early Christians.[2] Evagrius Ponticus (345-399) interpreted it several ways, one of which was as an Enneagram-like symbolism of the ordered laws of creation suffused with grace. St. Augustine (354-430) also interpreted 153 several ways including as a trinity.[3] St. Jerome (died 420), taking a turn toward modernity, interpreted 153 as the exact number of species of fish in the sea and therefore symbolic of the universality of the church.[4] Whether interpreted neoplatonically (Evagrius and Augustine), or as an analogy (Jerome), the number one hundred and fifty-three appearing in an act of the Risen Christ was highly symbolic to the early audience of St. John’s gospel. In 1996, Tony Blake, aware of my interest in this number, gave me a copy of A Key to Stonehenge by Robin Heath.[5] In this book, Mr. Heath explains the scientific meaning of the number one hundred and fifty-three: its square root is 12.369, the exact number of lunar cycles in a year. One hundred and fifty-three represents the relationship between the sun and moon as witnessed on earth. One hundred and fifty-three is a number “which integrates symbolic, material, and astronomical realities, numerology, astrology and musical science.”[6] What follows is an explanation of Mr. Heath’s discovery of the astronomical significance of one hundred and fifty-three within the context of the Gospel of St. John where it can be interpreted as part of a proof of the identity of Jesus as logos. Throughout, I will refer to the author of St. John’s Gospel as “the author” and not as “St. John.” The Fourth Gospel was written about 100 A.D., too late for the author to have been John, the disciple of Jesus. The Gospel of St. John can be read as a proof. The gospel begins with the idea of logos and ends with a story about catching fish in a net. In between, the numbers two, five, twelve, and one hundred and fifty-three are used in a step-by-step proof that Jesus is the logos. John Chapter 3 v. 12 states, “If I have spoken of earthly things to you and you do not believe, how will you believe if I speak to you of heavenly things?” In Chapter 6, the author of John repeats the story told in Matthew, Mark, and Luke of Jesus feeding a multitude with two fish and five loaves. The story ends with Jesus instructing his disciples to collect the remaining fragments in twelve baskets. The numbers in this story, repeated in all four gospels, are two, five, and twelve. Two is the number of the large celestial bodies, the sun and moon. Five is the number of visible planets. Twelve is the number of divisions in the heavens, the zodiac, the “baskets” into which the stars are collected. Jesus fed a multitude, more than 5,000, on two fish and five loaves. The two, symbolic of the sun and moon, and the five, symbolic of the visible planets, indicate that Jesus is recapitulating the life-sustaining pattern of the heavens to enact a miracle on earth. The pattern of Jesus’ miracle, as symbolized by two, five, and twelve, is identical to the pattern of heaven. Jesus’ miracle is a mirror image of the Father’s great miracle enacted from heaven, the creation and sustenance of life on earth. The dimensions of the miracle of the Father and the miracle of the Son are the same (two, five, and twelve); the difference is scale. This story of feeding the multitude is an analogy in which number symbolizes correspondence between Father and Son. Just as the Father’s miracle contains starry fragments distributed among the twelve divisions of heaven, so Jesus directs his disciples to collect the remaining fragments of his miraculous meal. After the multitude has been fed, Jesus instructs his disciples, “’Gather the fragments that are left over, least they be wasted.’ They therefore gathered them up; and they filled twelve baskets with the fragments of the five barley loaves left over by those who had eaten.”[7] The story of Jesus feeding the multitude is a microcosm/macrocosm analogy. On earth as it is in heaven. As the Father, so the Son. As above, so below. Two, five, and twelve describe universal observed phenomena and the symbolism inherent in these numbers is simple. No education is needed to find meaning in these numbers. In using the numbers of the heavens, a universal phenomenon, the meaning is also universal. In St. John’s Gospel, the similarity between the miracles of the Father and Son – as symbolized by the numbers two, five, and twelve – become part of the author’s proof of Jesus’ identity as logos, mediator between God and man, a proof that can be understood independent of educational, religious, or philosophic background. The story of feeding the 5,000 was addressed to a Greco-Roman audience steeped in astrology. Within a culture that projected religion and mythology onto the planets, a miracle worked with the numbers of the sky would symbolize power over, or harmonic resonance with, the forces of the cosmos. In the fourth century when Christianity became the state religion of Rome, the Church began purging itself of paganism and the gospels, which were written for a pagan audience, were reinterpreted. Former meanings, including the astrological and neoplatonic symbolisms, were lost. The author of John reiterates the theme of the correspondence between heaven and earth with Jesus as intermediary many times. In Chapter 6 v. 51 Jesus says, “I am the living bread that has come down from heaven.” In Chapter 8 v. 32, Jesus says to the Jews, “You are from below, I am from above.” In John Chapter 16, v. 25, Jesus prepares his disciples for his death and resurrection saying, “The hour is coming when I will no longer speak to you in parables, but will speak to you plainly of the father.” During Jesus’ life, the disciples are uncertain about his identity. After Jesus’ death, they have difficulty recognizing him resurrected. The Gospel of St. John ends with a story similar to the miracle of feeding the multitude. In this story, the Risen Jesus instructs the disciples how to work a miracle for themselves. As in the story of feeding the multitude, symbolic number establishes correspondence between Father and Son. The story in John Chapter 21 is abbreviated here: (v. 5) Then Jesus said to them, “Young men, have you any fish?” They answered him, “No.” (v. 6) He said to them, “Cast the net to the right of the boat and you will find them.” They cast therefore, and now they were unable to draw it up for the great number of fishes. (v. 10) Jesus said to them, “Bring here some of the fishes that you caught just now.” (v. 11) Simon Peter went aboard and hauled the net onto the land full of large fishes, one hundred and fifty-three in number. And though there were so many, the net was not torn. (v. 13) And Jesus came and took the bread, and gave it to them, and likewise the fish. (v. 14) This is now the third time that Jesus appeared to the disciples after he had risen from the dead. The square root of one hundred and fifty-three, 12.369, is the number of lunar cycles in a solar year,[8] and therefore symbolizes the relationship between the sun and moon as witnessed from the earth. This relationship, as important in antiquity as it is today, determines the day/night cycle, the seasons, the weather, and the tides. One hundred and fifty-three is also a Pythagorean number -- it is the result of creating a right triangle from the harmonic point (3:2) between twelve, symbol of the sun, and thirteen, symbol of the moon. The story of the catch of one hundred and fifty-three fish describes the creation of the lunation triangle within a Pythagorean 5:12:13 triangle. Twelve is the number of divisions of the heavens, the number of Jesus’ disciples, and in ancient cultures, the solar number. Thirteen is the number of disciples plus one, Jesus. It was also the lunar number in ancient times since the moon moves thirteen degrees a day and orbits the earth about thirteen times a year. Five is the number of visible planets. Five, which is three plus two, and can be broken into the ratio of the perfect harmonic, the fifth: 3:2. The exact length of the year and the exact length of the moon’s cycle (365.2422 days and 29.5306 days, respectively) make finding the relationship between the sun and moon a very difficult problem. However, this problem appears to have been solved in ancient times as its solution, one hundred and fifty-three, is built into the structure of both Stonehenge and the Great Pyramid. The number describing the relationship of the sun, moon, and earth may have been known also by the author of the Gospel of St. John since he describes Jesus instructing the disciples how to find it. In this symbolic paradigm, Jesus is the harmonic mean between heaven and earth, indicating where to look for the solution. From within a symbolic 5:12:13 right triangle, if another right triangle is formed at the harmonic mean, by casting the net from the “right side” of the boat, the result is a hypotenuse measuring the square root of one hundred and fifty-three, the exact number of lunations in a year. In making this number explicit, Jesus demonstrates knowledge of hidden things, further proof of his identity as logos. After the disciples caught one hundred and fifty-three fish, “None of the disciples dared ask him, ‘Who are thou?’ knowing that is was the Lord.” (John, Chapter 21, v.12). As above, so below. The numbers in the Gospel of St. John, now interpreted as fact, were intended as symbols. The gospels were written for a pre-Christian audience within a culture saturated with astrological belief. In this setting, numbers descriptive of the heavens used in describing events on earth established a macrocosmic/microcosmic analogy of correspondence between heaven and earth. The Gospel of John ends with “one hundred and fifty-three,” a number with multiple neoplatonic symbolic meanings but also a number accurately describing the ratio, or logos, between sun, moon, and earth. I am not certain that the author of the Gospel of St. John knew the scientific implications of one hundred and fifty-three. He could have chosen this number for its substantial neoplatonic symbolic meaning. What is certain is that in using one hundred and fifty-three in his proof of the identity of Jesus as logos, the author of St. John’s Gospel made an excellent choice. What fascinates me about this number is that it has powerful meaning in two systems of reasoning that would not be expected to have common ground, neoplatonic number symbolism and scientific measurement. Many things have changed since the time of Jesus -- the earth is in many ways smaller, footprints of men mark the moon, and the process by which the sun creates energy has been replicated on earth – but the numbers two, five, twelve, and one hundred and fifty-three are the same, continuously symbolizing the miraculous interrelatedness of all things. And the net is not torn. Footnotes: 1. Winston, David, translator, Philo of Alexandria, Paulist Press, New York, 1981, p. 143. 2. Quirolo, Lynn, “The Enneagram in the Gospel of St. John,” Stopinder, No. 6, Fall 2001, p. 73. 3. Augustine of Hippo, Letter LV to Januarius, Chapter XVII 31. 4. Bamberger, John Eudes, The Praktikos and Chapters on Prayer, Cistercian Publications, Spencer, Massachusetts, 1970, p. 54, footnote 11. 5. Heath, Robin, A Key to Stonehenge, Bluestone Press, High Trenhouse, England, 1993. A simplified version of Mr. Heath’s archeoastronomical research into the purpose and meaning of megalithic structures can be found in his book, Sun, Moon, and Earth, Walker and Company, New York, 1999. 6. Ibid, p. 37. 7. St. John, Chapter 6, v. 12-13. 8. This meaning of one hundred and fifty-three was discovered by Robin Heath during his research on megalithic structures. See A Key to Stonehenge.
And behold, the number is one hundred and fifty and three. Now what can this number mean? The number of all the elect is surely signified well by the number ... gottesblog.blogspot.com/2006/04/one-hundred-and-fifty-and-three.html Sunday, April 30, 2002 One Hundred and Fifty and Three The number of fish the disciples caught (St. John 21) was an exact number, even as the number of the elect, counted after the resurrection, is exact. They were found on the right side of the ship because the elect are at the right hand of Christ. The nets were not broken because there will be no schism in the perfect Day. And behold, the number is one hundred and fifty and three. Posted by Rev.Fr.Burnell F Eckardt
HOLY BIBLE Scofield References Page 1145 John 21:11 Simon Peter went up, and drew the net to land, full of great fishes, an hundred and fifty and three: and for all there were so many, yet was not the net broken
SIMON PETER WENT UP AND DREW THE NET TO LAND FULL OF GREAT FISHES AN HUNDRED AND FIFTY AND THREE
THE EASTER FESTIVAL GOOD FRIDAY 10TH OF THE 4TH 2009 SATURDAY 11TH OF THE 4TH 2008 SUNDAY 12TH OF THE 4TH 2009 MONDAY 13TH OF THE 4TH 2009 HALLELUJAH
YESTERDAY TODAY TOMORROW
LETTERS TRANSPOSED INTO NUMBER RE-ARRANGED IN NUMERICAL ORDER
GOD WITH US AND US WITH GOD
Alphabetics Commentary on "Immanuel" -- God with us Immanuel Introduction The word Immanuel/Emmanuel means, "God with us." It conveys the idea of God come down in the flesh, mingling alongside mankind, subject to their brutality, while extending his love in bringing their redemption. Looking at the words before and after Immanuel/Emmanuel in Hebrew, Greek and English sheds interesting light on the word as it applies both to the first Messianic advent among the Jews as well as the second Messianic advent among the Gentiles. KEY: Words Around "Immanuel" in Zodhiates' NT Greek Lexicon 1690 embrimaomai To be enraged, indignant, to express indignation against someone; to murmur against, blame. [The Jews were ticked off at Jesus.] 1691 eme The emphatic form of me (3165), I, me, myself. [e.g. God himself -- exclamation point!] 1692 emeo To spit out, vomit. [How the Jews and Gentiles receive their Messiah.] 1693 emmainomai To be mad or furious with or against any person or thing. > 1694 Emmanouel Proper noun transliterated from the Hebrew Immanu'el (6005, OT), God with us. 1695 Emmaous Emmaus. [Resurrected Christ walking in the midst and talking with two disciples who did not recognize him.] 1696 Emmeno To remain, persever in. [(1) to dwell with--Immanuel; (2) Fits the idea of Emmaus, when the disciples said to Jesus, "Abide with me, 'tis eventide."] 1697 Emmor from Hebr. Chamor, An ass. [play on words, depicting how man views those who do the work of God, including God himself, in their midst] 1698 Emoi I, me, mine, my. [God himself.] 1699 Emoi I, mine, my own. [God himself.] 1700 Emou Of me, mine, my. [God himself.] 1701 empaigmos Derision, scoffing, mocking. [e.g. Is how the Jews received Christ, their very God come to dwell in their midst in the flesh.] 1702 empaizo To deride, mock, scoff at. Empaizo is used in the Synoptic Gospels of the mockery of Christ . . . . The word is used prophetically by the Lord of His impending sufferings and of the insults actually inflicted upon Him by the men who were taking Him from Gethsemane; by Herod and his soldiers; by the soliers of the governor; by the chief priests, scribes, and elders. 1703 empaiktes A mocker, scoffer, spoken of impostors, false prophets. [Jesus accused of being a false Messiah, sent to deceive the people.] 1704 emperipateo To walk about in a place, e.g., the earth. Used metaphorically, meaning to walk or live among a people, be habitually conversant with. [Immanuel--God with us.] 1705 empiplemi and empiplao To fill, to fill in or up, to make full. In the NT spoken . . . of food, to fill with food, satisfy, satiate, to fill in regard to one's desire with good. Metaphorically in the pss., to be filled with any person or thing, meaning to enjoy the society or communion of someone. [Immanuel--God with us.] 1706 empipto To fall in. Followed by eis (1519), into, with acc. of place, to fall into. Of persons, to fallin with or among, to meet with. Metaphorically, to fallinto any state or condition, to come into. [The condescension of God: Immanuel--God with us.] 1707 empleko To braid in, interweave, entangle, implicate. [God in our midst, subject to the same rigors and circumstances as are we, hence able to intercede on our behalf.]
Words Around "Immanuel" in OT Hebrew Lexicon The words alphabetically surrounding the Hebrew word for "Immanuel" in the Old Testament Lexicon (Gesenius) further elaborate on the idea of Immanuel: God with us. What is particularly amazing about this series of words is that they contain all of the major elements of Jacob 5:72, which is a key scripture pointing to not just an Immanuel advent of Jesus Christ among the Jews anciently, but of an Immanuel advent among the Gentile husbandmen of the vineyard in these last days. Jacob 5:72 reads: "And it came to pass that the servants did go and labor with their mights; and the Lord of the vineyard labored also with them . . . " It is important to note that in the sequence of Zenos allegory (Jacob 5), this is right toward the end, when the final thrust is made to salvage a corrupt vineyard. The first are gathered last, the last, first. The branches bringing forth the most bitter fruit are removed, as good branches are grafted in. This is not talking about Jesus coming among the Jews anciently, but rather is referring to these last days. It is our day to which the scripture is referring when it says, "the Lord of the vineyard labored also with them." Immanuel. God with us. "And thus will I bring them together again, that they shall bring forth the natural fruit, and they shall be one" (Jacob 5:68.) With this verse and its context in mind now, consider the following series of words in the Old Testament Lexicon, surrounding the word for Immanuel. Again, my comments are in [small brackets]. 5994 deep, figuratively hidden, not to be searched out. [Preface to Jacob 5 reads: ". . . how is it possible that these, after having rejected the sure foundation, can ever build upon it, that it may become the head of their corner? Behold, my beloved brethren, I will unfold this mystery unto you . . ." (4:17,18.)] 5995 a sheaf (a bundle of corn[grain]) [(1) similar to vineyard symbolism; (2) sheaf as metaphor for gathering/dividing wheat & tares; (3) corn as code for Messiah] 5996 "servant of the Almighty" [servant, greatest of all] 5997 (1) fellowhip, i.e. my fellow, companion [the Lord of the vineyard labors along side them]; (2) a neighbour [in our midst] 5998 To labour [by our side, in our midst] 5999, 6000 (1) heavy, wearisome labour; (2) the produce of labour; (3) weariness, trouble, vexation; Isa. 53:11. 6004 (1) to gather together, to collect, to join together. [the mission of Immanuel.] (2) to shut, to close, hence to hide, to conceal; to be hidden. [veiled in the flesh.] > 6005 Immanuel 6006 to take up, to lift, e.g. a stone [(1) after rejecting it, the stone becomes the head stone of their corner (Jacob 4:17); (2) "he (the Stone) shall be exalted and extolled, and be very high" (Isa. 52:13)] 6007 "whom Jehovah carries in his bosom" [(1) "in the shadow of his hand hath he hid me" (Isa. 49:2); (2) For ye are lawful heirs, according to the flesh, and have been hid from the world with Christ in God" (D&C 86:9.)] 6008 "eternal people" [people of God: Israel, Gentiles; first shall be last, last shall be first (Jacob 5)] 6009 To be deep, to be unsearchable. ["I will unfold this mystery unto you" (Jacob 4:18)] Words Around "Immanuel" in the English Dictionary (Web. '71) Again, my comments are in [small brackets]. imbrue To soak or drench in a fluid, as in blood. [e.g. Jesus Christ crucified by his own people, that all might have access to his grace.] imbrute To degrade to the state of a brute. [God condescends to be born into the flesh, which is subject to corruption, in order to show that we, like him, can overcome the brute flesh.] imbue To soak, steep, or tinge deeply; fig. to inspire, impress, or impregnate (the mind); to cause to become impressed or penetrated. [(1) by coming in the flesh, God is able to understand our struggles; (2) realizing God has done this for us has a strong power to deeply impress our souls on many counts] imitate To follow as a model, pattern, or example, to copy or endeavour to copy in acts, manners, or otherwise. ["What manner of men ought ye to be? even as I am."] immaculate Spotless, pure; unstained, undefiled; without blemish [contrast "sterling: exceptional purity," e.g. sterling silver = 92.5% silver; 7.5% tin; e.g. the approximate "A" grade cut-off point: 92.5%] immanent Remaining in or within [i.e. in our midst: God with us]; hence, not passing out of the subject; inherent and indwelling [e.g. Holy Ghost: God with us]; internal or subjective. > Immanuel God with us: an appellation of the Saviour immaterial Not consisting of matter; incorporeal; spiritual [opposite of Immanuel: God in the flesh]; Words Around "Emmanuel" in the English Dictionary
"The word Immanuel/Emmanuel means, "God with us." It conveys the idea of God come down in the flesh, mingling alongside mankind, subject to their brutality, while extending his love in bringing their redemption."
GOD WITH US AND US WITH GOD
GOD WITH US AND US WITH GOD
GOD WITH US 123456789 987654321 US WITH GOD
THE PROPHET Kahil Gibran Page 82/83/84/85/86 "If these be vague words, then seek not to clear them. Vague and nebulous is the beginning of all things, but not their end, And I would have you remember me as a beginning. Life, and all that lives, is conceived in the mist and not in the crystal. And who knows but a crystal is mist in decay This would I have you remember in remembering me: That which seems most feeble and bewildered in you is the strongest and most determined. Is it not your breath that has erected and hardened the structure of your bones? And is it not a dream which none of you remember having dreamt, that builded your city and fashioned all there is in it? Could you but see the tides of that breath you would cease to see all else, And if you could hear the whispering of the dream you would hear no other sound. The veil that clouds your eyes shall be lifted by the hands that wove it, And the clay that fills your ears shall be pierced by those fingers that kneaded it. And you shall see And you shall hear. Yet you shall not deplore having known blindness, nor regret having been deaf For in that day you shall know the hidden purposes in all things, And you shall bless darkness as you would bless light. After saying these things he looked about him, and he saw the pilot of his ship standing by the helm and gazing now at the full sails and now at the distance. And he said: Patient, over patient, is the captain of my ship. The wind blows, and restless are the sails; Even the rudder begs direction; Yet quietly my captain awaits my silence. And these my mariners, who have heard the choir of the greater sea, they too have heard me patiently. Now they shall wait no longer. I am ready The stream has reached the sea, and once more THE GREAT MOTHER holds her son against her breast. Fare you well, people of Orphalese. This day has ended. It is closing upon us even as the water-lily upon its own tomorrow. What was given us here we shall keep, And if it suffices not, then again must we come together and together stretch our hands unto the giver. Forget not that I shall come back to you. A little while, and my longing shall gather dust and foam for another body. A little while, a moment of rest upon the wind, and another woman shall bear me. Farewell to you and the youth I have spent with you. It was but yesterday we met in a dream. You have sung to me in my aloneness, and I of your longings have built a tower in the sky. But now our sleep has fled and our dream is over, and it is no longer dawn. The noontide is upon us and our half waking has turned to fuller day, and we must part. If in the twilight of memory we should meet once more, we shall speak again together and you shall sing to me a deeper song. and if our hands should meet in another dream we shall build another tower in the sky. So saying he made a signal to the seamen, and straightaway they weighed anchor and cast the ship loose from its moorings, and they moved eastward. And a cry came from the people as from a single heart, and it rose into the dusk and was carried out over the sea like a great trumpeting. Only Almitra was silent, gazing after the ship until it had vanished into the mist. And when all the people were dispersed she still stood alone upon the sea-wall, remembering in her heart his saying: A little while, a moment of rest upon the wind, and another woman shall bear me.'
A LITTLE WHILE A MOMENT OF REST UPON THE WIND AND ANOTHER WOMAN SHALL BEAR ME
I AM THE ROOT AND THE OFFSPRING OF DAVID AND THE BRIGHT AND MORNING STAR
HOLY BIBLE REVELATION Chapter 21 V 1-7 Page 1351 A New Heaven and a New Earth 1And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea. 2And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 3And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God. 4And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away. 5And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful. 6And he said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely. 7He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son. FOR SON ALSO READ DAUGHTER FOR DAUGHTER ALSO READ SON
JOSEPH AND HIS BROTHERS Thomas Mann 1875 - 1955 JOSEPH THE PROVIDER Page 967 ALL TOO BLISSFUL "But I am King, and teacher; I may not think what I cannot teach. Whereas such a one very soon learns not even to think the unteachable."
JESUS AND THE GODDESS THE SECRET TEACHINGS OF THE ORIGINAL CHRISTIANS Page 203 The one moving surface of /page 204/ the water represents universal psyche. Individual psyches are the individual waves. We are unique movements on the shared still depths of Consciousness. THE EVOLVING COSMOS To know itself the Mystery arises as the primal syzygy subject and object - which results in partial Gnosis and partial ignorance. As subjective Consciousness it knows its Self, but as psyche it mistakes its self for its many objective self-images.47 As a continuation of the initial impulse towards self-knowledge, that part of Consciousness which has become identified with each psyche-body is in the process of completing the journey of Gnosis by progressively awakening to its true nature. SYZYGY 178777 YGYZYS
I THE FLAYED ONE
NAMASTE PEACE LOVE AND LIGHT UNTO ALL SENTIENT BEINGS
NUMBER 9 THE SEARCH FOR THE SIGMA CODE Cecil Balmond 1998 Page 32 5
THE BALANCING ONE TWO THREE FOUR FIVE NINE EIGHT SEVEN SIX
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
ALWAYS BALANCING IS THAT FIVE THAT FIVE IS BALANCING ALWAYS
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