Announcing the Date of Easter at Epiphany

Proclamation of the Date of Easter 2024

Know, dear brothers and sisters, that, as we have rejoiced at the Nativity of our Lord Jesus Christ, so by leave of God’s mercy we announce to you also the joy of his Resurrection, who is our Saviour.

On the 14th day of February will fall Ash Wednesday, and the beginning of the fast of the most sacred Lenten season.

On the 31st day of March you will celebrate with joy Easter Day, the Paschal feast of our Lord Jesus Christ.

On the 9th day of May will be the Ascension of the our Lord Jesus Christ.

On the 19th day of May the feast of Pentecost.

On the 2nd day of June, the feast of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ.

On the 1st day of December the First Sunday of the Advent of our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom is honour and glory for ever and ever. Amen.

Shakespeare's Cleopatra used to say that good news should be given a thousand voices. And it is indeed good news that we hear on Epiphany. A few days after the proclamation of Christmas, during the Eucharistic concelebration on 6 January, following the proclamation of the Gospel, it is possible to give the proclamation of Easter, with a text that today can be found in the appendix of the Roman Missal. In the 5th century this custom was already considered an ancient tradition, resulting from the definition of the Council of Nicaea, in 325, on the date of Easter and the difficulty of calculating it exactly. In fact, after the so-called Quartodeciman controversy, the Council of Nicaea had established that the annual Christian Easter should be celebrated on the first Sunday after the first full moon following the spring equinox. This was not an easy calculation to make without modern instruments, so the bishop of Alexandria, using the astronomy experts who gravitated around the library, had the task of having the phases of the moon and the annual date of Easter calculated and communicated to all the Churches.

Scholars place this proclamation during the celebration of Christmas in the Churches of Africa and Spain and during Epiphany in Rome, Milan, Aquileia and Gaul. The Ambrosian rite has a different text from the Roman one, indicating only the date of Easter Sunday, which this year will sound like this: "It is announced to your charity, dearly beloved brethren, that, allowing the mercy of God and of our Lord Jesus Christ, on the 31st day of March we shall joyfully celebrate the Easter of the Lord". This formula is already found in Milan in the 12th century and has been preserved over time. On the other hand, the Roman rite lists many of the movable dates of the holy days that flow from Easter: Ash Wednesday, Ascension Day, Pentecost and the first Sunday of Advent, and in the Latin version also the date of Corpus Christi.

The Latin liturgical sources do not contain any compositions to make this announcement; it is only with the Council of Trent that we find a codified text, probably taken from other non-Roman Western liturgies, which will be handed down until the Second Vatican Council, after which minor changes will be made. Interesting changes can be found above all in the Italian translation, already in the title: while in the editio typica it remained simply de publicatione festorum mobilium, in the Italian translation it changes to speak of the proclamation of Easter Day, transforming it from a simple notice into a text that reminds us that the centre of the whole liturgical year, but also of our whole life, is the Easter of the Lord.

Another change to be noted is the moment at which this proclamation is made: whereas in ancient times it was made after communion, today it follows the proclamation of the Gospel, which helps us not to consider it merely as a notice but incorporated into the liturgy and proclaimed (or sung) in a solemn manner to underline even more its centrality. This rite, inserted precisely on the day of the Solemnity of the Epiphany of the Lord, ensures that the mystery of the Incarnation and the Paschal Mystery are shown to be an inseparable whole insofar as we "in the rhythms and events of time remember and live the mysteries of salvation".

One might wonder about the usefulness of the proclamation of the Day of Resurrection in a time when we all have a phone in our pocket that allows us to know the date of Easter for the next few decades. And yet, if the practical purpose with which this indication was born has disappeared, the fundamental aspect that the text wishes to reaffirm does not: the child that the Magi visited in Bethlehem is the dead and risen Christ, master of time and history. This emphasis is emphasised by the conclusion of the composition, which recalls the preparation of the candle on Easter night: "To Christ who was, who is and who is to come, Lord of time and history, praise forever and ever!".

[Commentary from a colleague]