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| Sunday, 27 March 2005 |
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When Good Friday and Poya coincide by Sumana Saparamadu Friday is Medin Poya, or the full-moon day of the month of Medin, the last fullmoon day in the Sinhala year which begins with Bak, March - April in the Gregorian calendar. Medin poya day is also Good Friday. This is not the first time that Good Friday and a poya day coincided. It happened in 1991. March 29 was Good Friday and it was also a full moon day. In 1971 too, Good Friday and full moon day coincided and it may have happened in 1971 and 1991. I have no way of checking, but of 1991 I am certain as the old diary is before me as I write this article. Unlike Christmas, Easter and Good Friday have no fixed dates in the Gregorian calendar. Easter, the feast of resurrection of Christ is determined by the moon, and so, like the Buddhist Vesak, the day varies from year to year. Easter can be any Sunday between the fourth Sunday of March and the third Sunday of April. If you have old diaries you can check this out by yourself. Last year April 11th was Easter Sunday, and the year before Easter was as late as April 20, the third Sunday. But in 2002, Easter was in March as it is this year and Good Friday was the day after the Medin Poya day March 28. Easter is determined by the Paschal Moon - the first full-moon after the vernal equinox - March 21, when the sun moves between the tropics of cancer and capricorn, and crosses the equator. The Sunday following the Paschal moon is Easter Sunday, the most important day in the church calendar, while the Friday before that is Good Friday. This year Good Friday fell on March 25, being the day of the Paschal moon or the first full moon day after the equinox. March 27 is Easter Sunday and the full moon day is Good Friday. It is from paschal the term for the Jewish Passover that we have got the word Paasku. Did Christians, celebrate the Resurrection of Jesus Christ on a Sunday after the Paschal moon? This is what the Encyclopedia Britannica says. "This rule was fixed after much controversy and uncertainty in various parts of the Church down to the 6th century.' However, only the Roman Catholic Church and other churches of the West fixed the date of Easter according to this rule! Quoting the Encyclopedia Britannica again. "In the Eastern, Orthodox Church, a slightly different calculation is followed, with the result that the Orthodox Easter, although coinciding with that of the West, can fall one, four or five weeks later." In ancient times almost every celebration was determined by the movements of the sun and moon. Christmas Day coincides with the earlier festivals of the Winter Solstice, the day with the shortest daylight hours in the northern hemisphere. The Tamil festival Thai Pongal coincides with the Makara Sankranthi, the transition of the sun from Sagittarius (Dhanu) to Capricorn (Makara) in the zodiac. The Persian year starts on March 21, the vernal equinox and New Year's Day is known as Norooz. Legend says it is the day on which Ahouramazda began to create the world. It is the 'Beginning' of the earth, the sky, and the sun. It marks the first day of the first season (Spring) of the year.
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