15. There is yet this further point that seems to require explanation, that several persons think that we shall be keeping Easter in the second month, whereas it is written, Deut. xvi. 1. Keep the first month, the month of new fruits. The case however cannot occur that any should keep Easter out of the month of the new fruits, except those who keep the fourteenth moon so strictly to the letter, that they will not celebrate their Easter on any day but that. Moreover the Jews are going to celebrate the approaching Passover inthe twelfth and not in the first month, viz. on the 20th of March according to us, but according to the Egyptians on the twenty-fourth day of the month Phamenoth, which is not the first month but the twelfth, for the first month of the Egyptians is called Pharmuthi, and begins on the 27th of March and ends on the 25th of April. Therefore according to the Egyptians we shall keep Easter Sunday in the first month, that is, on the 25th of April, which is the thirtieth day of the month Pharmuthi.
16. Nor do I consider it unreasonable to borrow a precedent for observing the month from the country in which the first Passover was celebrated. For which reason also our predecessors in the ordinance of the Nicene Council thought fit to decide that their cycle of nineteen years should belong to the same month, if one observes it diligently; and they rightly kept the very month of the new fruits, for in Egypt it is in this the first month that the new corn is cut: and this month is the first in respect of the crops of the Egyptians and first according to the Law, but the eighth according to our custom, for the indiction begins in the month of September. The first of April therefore is in the eighth month. But the month begins not according to vulgar usage, but according to the custom of learned men, from the day of the equinox, which is the 21st of March, and ends on the 21st of April.Therefore the days of Easter have been generally kept as much as possible within these thirty-one[135] days.
17. But after keeping Easter Sunday six years ago[136] on the 21st of April, that is on the thirtieth day of the month according to our reckoning, we have no reason to be distressed if this next time also we are to keep it on the thirtieth day of the month Pharmuthi. If any one think that it is the second month, because Easter Sunday will be on the third day from the completion of the month (but this appears to be completed on the 21st of April) he shouldconsider that the fourteenth moon, which is our object, will fall on the 18th of April and thus within the regular counting of the month. But what the law requires is that the day of the Passion should be kept within the first month, the month of new fruits.
18. The method then is satisfactory as far as the complete course of the moon is concerned, inasmuch as three more days remain to complete the month. Easter then does not pass on into another month, since it will be kept within the same month, that is, the first. But that it is not fit that we should be tied to the letter, not only does the customary method of keeping Easter of itself instruct us, but the Apostle too teaches us, when he says, 1 Cor. v. 7. Christ our Passover is sacrificed. The passage also which has been cited teaches us that we are not to follow the letter, for thus it runs: Exod. xii. 18.
Lev. xxiii. 5.
Num. xxviii. 16. And thou shalt sacrifice the Passover to the Lord thy God on the fourteenth day of the first month[137]. He uses the word ‘day’ in the place of ‘moon;’ and so the most skilful according to the law calculate the month by the moon’s course, and since the moon’s course, that is the first day, may begin with more than one of the nones, you perceive that the nones of May do still admit of being reckoned in the first month of the new fruits.Therefore even according to the judgement of the law this is the first month. To conclude, the Greeks call the moon μήνη, owing to which they call the months in Greek μῆνες, and the ordinary usage of foreign nation employs moon in the sense of day.
19. But even the Lessons of the Old Testament shew that different days are to be observed for the Passion and Resurrection: for there it runs, Exod. xii. 5–8. Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the first year: ye shall take it out from the sheep or from the goats; and ye shall keep it up until the fourteenth day of the same month, and the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it in the evening. And they shall take of the blood, and strike it on the two side posts, and on the upper door post of the house wherein they shall eat it. And they shall eat the flesh in that night, roast with fire, and further on, And ye shall eatit with anxiety[138]: it is the Lord’s Passover. For I will pass through the land of Egypt this night, and will smite all the first-born in the land of Egypt, both man and beast;and in all the land of Egypt[139] will I execute vengeance: I am the Lord. And the blood shall be to you for a token in the houses where ye are; and I will see the blood and I will protect you and the plague of extermination shall not be on you. Exod. xii. 11–14. And I will smite the land of Egypt, And this day shall be unto you for a memorial; and ye shall keep it a feast to the Lord throughout your generations: ye shall keep it a feast by an ordinance for ever.
20. We observe that the day of the Passion is marked out as a fast, for the lamb is to be slain at the evening: though we might understand by evening the last time, according to John who says, 1 S. John ii. 18. Children, it is the last time. But even according to the mystery, it is plain that it was killed in the evening, when darkness immediately took place, and true fasting is to be observed on that day, for thus shall ye eat it with anxiety: but anxiety belongs to those who fast. But on the day of the Resurrection there is the exultation of refreshment and joy, on which day the people appears to have gone out of Egypt, when the first-born of the Egyptians had been killed. And this is shewn more evidently by what follows, wherein the Scripture says, that after the Jews kept the Passover as Moses ordered, Exod. xii. 29. It came to pass that at midnight the Lord smote all the first-born in the land of Egypt from the first-born of Pharaoh. Ib. 31. And Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron by night, and said, Rise up, and get you forth from among my people, both ye and the children of Israel, and go serve the Lord. Ib. 33. And the Egyptians were urgent upon the people, that they might send them out of the land in haste. Eventually the Israelites went in such manner, that they had not opportunity to leaven their dough, for the Egyptians thrust them out, and would not wait for them to take the preparation they had made for themselves for the way.
21. We have made it clear then that the day of the Resurrection ought to be observed after the day of the Passion, and that this day of the Resurrection ought not to be on the fourteenth moon, but later, as the Old Testament says,because the day of the Resurrection is that on which the people going out of Egypt, after being 1 Cor. x. 2. baptized, as the Apostle says, in the sea and in the cloud, overcame death, receiving spiritual bread, and drinking spiritual drink from the rock: and further that the Lord’s Passion cannot be celebrated on the Lord’s day, and that if the fourteenth moon should fall upon the Lord’s day, that another week ought to be added,as was done in the seventy sixth year[140] of the era of Diocletian. For then without any doubt or hesitation on the part of our fathers we celebrated Easter Sunday on the twenty-eighth day of the month Pharmuthi, which is the 23rd of April. And both the course of the moon and the reason of the case concur in recommending this, for next Easter is to be kept on the twenty first moon, for to that day its range has commonly extended.
22. Since therefore so many indications of truth are combined, let us after the example of our fathers celebrate the festival of our general Salvation with joy and exultation, colouring our side posts, between which is the door of the word Col. iv. 3. which the Apostle wishes to be opened unto him, with faith in the Lord’s Passion. Of this door David also says, Ps. cxli. 3. Set a watch, O Lord, before my mouth; keep the door of my lips, that we may speak of nothing but the Blood of Christ, whereby we have conquered death, whereby we are redeemed. Let the sweet odour of Christ burn in us. To Him let us listen, on Him let us turn the eyes both of mind and body, admiring His works, proclaiming His blessings; over the threshold of our door let the confession of holy Redemption shine resplendent.Let us with fervent spirit keep the holy Feast, 1 Cor. v. 8. in the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth, and singing in pious doctrine with one accord the Glory of the Father and of the Son and the undivided Majesty of the Holy Spirit.