If you want to know why one of Christianity’s most important celebrations — and our next statutory holiday — is so late this year, you have to look to the Jewish calendar.
This year, Good Friday is not until April 14. For Christians it commemorates the crucifixion and death of Jesus Christ and is a day off for most British Columbians.
The day before Good Friday is the lesser known Maundy Thursday. That’s the day Christ and his 12 disciples gathered near Jerusalem for what became known as the Last Supper. That meal was a traditional Passover feast to herald the day God rescued the Jewish people from slavery and made them a nation under Moses.
Afterwards, according to the Bible, Jesus goes for a walk in the Garden of Gethsemane where he betrayed by one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot, whose kiss identifies Jesus to the waiting soldiers.
The Jewish calendar is based on lunar and solar cycles so when the First Council of Nicaea gathered in the early days of Christianity to decide when to commemorate Christ’s death and resurrection, they also needed to follow the Jewish calendar.
“According to a Fourth Century ruling, the date of Easter is set for the first Sunday following the Paschal Full Moon, which is the first Full Moon of Spring, occurring on or shortly after the Vernal Equinox. March 22 is the earliest Easter can occur on any given year, and April 25 is the latest,” the Farmers’ Almanac says.
If you think Easter Sunday is late this year on April 16, Easter will fall on April 25 in 2038. Those hoping for it to come extra early on March 22 have to wait until 2285.
While the Easter weekend is still a time of deep religious relevance to many people, for others it’s an opportunity to get the only long weekend between Family Day in February and Victoria Day in late May.
Good Friday is a statutory holiday in British Columbia so most people will have Friday, April 14 off.
Alas, most of us have to work Easter Monday because it’s not a stat holiday. People who do get an extra-long long weekend include:
- Federal and provincial government employees. Easter Monday is a paid holiday for them.
- Elementary and high school staff. The Â鶹´«Ă˝Ół»School Board schools are closed both Good Friday and Easter Monday.
- Vancity credit union staff. Vancity closes its branches on Easter Monday, giving staff time to be with their families.
Easter Monday is often referred to as a “bank holiday.” The concept of this paid holiday originated in Britain, where bank holidays became public holidays starting in 1871. Easter Monday was one of them.
As happy as that might have made bank employees, the website learnenglish.de notes that “prior to 1834, the Bank of England observed about 33 saints’ days and religious festivals as holidays.” That all changed in 1834, when the number of bank holidays was reduced to four: 1 May, 1 November, Good Friday, and Christmas Day. Hence the jubilation over the Bank Holidays Act, which added four more holidays, including Easter Monday and Boxing Day, of 1871.
In the United Kingdom, Easter Monday remains a bank holiday, but that’s not the case here in Vancouver. Banks are closed on Good Friday but open on Easter Monday.
