To FootSplit from Easter and Related Dates on 2005-09-14 because of page size.
For holidays from work, see Annual Holiday Dates.
This page refers entirely to Christian Church feasts & fasts; largely to those of the Church of England, partly to those of the Roman Catholic Church, with some links for others.
Most Moveable Feasts & Fasts are linked to the Date of Easter Sunday, with a constant offset. A year can only be either Leap or not Leap, and Easter has only 35 possible dates. So 70 Church Calendars will suffice in perpetuity (or until the Calendar is changed from Gregorian).
If the Date of Easter Sunday is expressed, as in common in calculation, as a Day-of-March, then to determine the Day-of-Week of Christmas Day of that year :- To the Day-of-March, add 1, take the remainder on dividing by 7, and subtract it from 7; the result is the required Day-of-Week, on a scale of Mon=1 to Sun=7 (which is ISO numbering).
The following is largely by reference to the Book of Common Prayer of the Church of England (Prayer Book). Naturally, the results are only valid for years to which the Gregorian Rules apply.
Shrove Tuesday precedes Ash Wednesday; the latter is the first day of Lent, the forty week-days (Mon..Sat) before Easter Sunday.
The date of Passion Sunday (the fifth Sunday of Lent) is Easter-14; Palm Sunday is Easter-7, Low Sunday is Easter+7.
I have read that, liturgically, Holy Saturday (or "Easter Even", or "the Saturday of Holy Week") immediately precedes Easter Sunday, and Easter Saturday follows it. Maundy Thursday is in Holy Week. Easter Week is the seven days starting with Easter Sunday; Holy week precedes it.
The Prayer Book says that Ascension Day is forty days after Easter.
The Easter Season is the fifty days from Easter Sunday to Pentecost, inclusive.
Trinity Sunday follows Pentecost, and is 8 weeks after Easter; there are 22-27 Sundays after Trinity, before Advent Sunday. My copy of the Prayer Book says that, on the Sunday before Advent, the lessons for the 27th Sunday after Trinity are used.
Advent Sunday is defined in the Prayer Book by
Advent-Sunday is always the nearest Sunday to the feast of St. Andrew, whether before or after.
The Feast of St Andrew is on November 30th. It is necessarily the Sunday before December 4th, and so is the Fourth Sunday before Christmas Day. It seems to be the Sunday following the last Thursday of November. Its date repeats whenever the Week repeats (in particular, both the date of Advent Sunday and the Day-of-Week of Christmas repeat if the date of Easter repeats).
Remembrance Sunday is likewise the nearest Sunday to November 11th, and the fixed Easter proposed by the Act of 1928 would be the nearest Sunday to April 12th.
I have read that Harvest Festival is the Sunday of the Full Moon nearest to the Autumn equinox.
Other significant dates are fixed; for example Candlemas on February 2nd, and Christmas Day.
I understand that the Church of England does not celebrate Saints' Days within Easter-7 to Easter+6 inclusive (or similar), but displaces the celebrations. This most noticeably affects St. George.
This may be reorganised into a single list independent of denomination and status. It may not (yet?) be complete, particularly in respect of Fasts. It may not be up-to-date.
Enter a year (default current), then press a button :-
| Easter Sunday March / April | End Feb | EU Summer Time | Xmas Day | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ON | OFF | |||
| — 27 03 10 17 24 | Mon | 27 | 30 | Sun |
| — 28 04 11 18 25 | Sun | 28 | 31 | Sat |
| 22 29 05 12 19 — | Sat | 29 | 25 | Fri |
| 23 30 06 13 20 — | Fri | 30 | 26 | Thu |
| 24 31 07 14 21 — | Thu | 31 | 27 | Wed |
| 25 01 08 15 22 — | Wed | 25 | 28 | Tue |
| 26 02 09 16 23 — | Tue | 26 | 29 | Mon |
| 27 26 25 24 23 22 | Sundays after Trinity | |||
If the Date of Easter Sunday for a given year is known, then other dates for the year can be found, except that for dates in January and February it is necessary to know whether it is a Leap Year.
To determine the Day-of-Week of Christmas Day, given the Date of Easter Sunday for that year :- To the Day-of-March, add 1, or to the Day-of-April, add 4; take the remainder on dividing by 7, and subtract it from 7; the result is the required Day-of-Week, on a scale of Mon=1 to Sun=7 (which is ISO numbering). For other dates after February 28th, add a different number. Before March 1st, use the previous Easter.