While Western Christians were celebrating the important holiday of Easter on April 12, Eastern Christians were celebrating Palm Sunday, which both traditions observe the week before Easter. Eastern Christians are now in the midst of Holy Week and will celebrate Easter on April 19.
Because of slightly different calendars, Orthodox Christians - Christians whose religious practices are similar to Roman Catholics but come from Greece, Russia, Romania, the rest of Eastern Europe and scattered communities throuought the Middle East - sometimes celebrate Easter at a different time. It usually occurs about a week later, but some years the Eastern Orthodox Christians will celebrate the Holiday up to a month later. Other years the two calendars allign to celebrate Easter at the same time.
Both religious groups time Easter Sunday through a combination of lunar cycles and the solar calendar. However, Western Christians use a Gregorian calendar while Eastern Christians use a Julian calendar.
Eastern Christians refer to Easter as "Pascha," and have similar celebrations involving eggs, bread and family meals. At midnight, between Holy Saturday and Pascha, practitioners will hold a candle light procession around the church singing and carrying religious icons. The procession ends at the church door, when the congregants enter and celebrate an Easter service with light and flowers.
Because the Jewish calculation for Passover follows a similar combination of lunar and solar dates, it usually occurs within a week of Easter. Jesus' Last Supper, the meal he shared with his diciples the week before he was crucified, was during the celebration of the Passover meal because Jesus was Jewish. Thus three major religious groups are united by a special season each Spring.
Next year, in 2010, Eastern and Western christians will celebrate Easter on the same day, April 4. Passover will begin the Tuesday preceeding it on March 30.
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