Why is Easter so late this year?

I am writing these words on the last day of Easter Break. For all practical purposes, this is the latest Easter can be and it won’t be for another 35 years that Easter will occur as late as it has in 2011. Catholic Elementary and Secondary School teachers will understand why I (and they) will be thankful that many of us expect to be retired by the time Easter occurs this late again. I’ve noted in this space and elsewhere that Catholic schools operate with a unique rhythm and ritual that is not typical of other types of pre-collegiate environments. This is particularly true of elementary schools as so much of their instructional focus is organized around the Church’s liturgical calendar. Until Vatican II, for example, Catholic elementary schools were responsible for the catechetical preparation of students for the sacraments of First Eucharist and Confirmation. This required a keen sensitivity to the timing of these sacraments as the Church had (and has) specific requirements regarding when the Sacraments of Initiation (Baptism, First Eucharist, Confirmation) can be administered. By way of example, one of the many reasons why I love the Great Easter Vigil (Saturday night) is that the Church permits the reception of adult converts into full Communion; which is symbolized by the administration of all three sacraments of Initiation at the same time. With the possible exception of a death-bed conversion (think John Wayne, two days before he died), there is no other opportunity for these three sacraments to occur in tandem.


Organizing schools around priorities such as these is not as simple as it looks - particularly now that the Church has shifted the sacrament of Confirmation to the high school years, albeit, administered through the teen’s local parish. It requires Elementary and Secondary schools to be mindful of what is going on in the parish and to align their calendar with these priorities. To put this in perspective, La Salle serves students from more than 25 parishes.

But the challenge of a late Easter doesn’t end with the need to coordinate liturgical schedules. Catholic schools here in the US have traditionally taken what is known as “Spring Break” the week after Easter (unlike our non-sectarian colleagues who happily divide the second semester in two and position Spring Break in the middle). The logic of this is not difficult to understand from the perspective of the history of Catholic education in the US - which is synonymous with the history of priests, sisters, and brothers who have staffed Catholic schools. These good men and women were expected to fully devote their attention to the students entrusted to their care and to fully participate in the Triduum (the three days of Easter). Anyone who has done so, knows that, in the words of one Church wag: “If the priest isn’t exhausted at the end of the Triduum, he hasn’t done it right”. You can well imagine the need of these good people to have a week off after Easter. So now, we have this anomaly that won’t occur for another 35 years. And, so? …

Anyone who has worked in schools knows that the time between Easter and the end of the academic year is fraught with enormous potential for frayed nerves, misunderstood conversations and a general exhaustion that continues to inform my opposition to year-round schools (virtually non-existent in California, thanks to the Legislature’s ongoing inability to pass a budget). Since graduation at La Salle is on Memorial Day Weekend, you can imagine the mischief Seniors - who already know what college they will attend next year - can create out of a sheer sense of “been there, done that” (not to mention a dollop of adolescent conviction that they no longer need the teachers who have spent four years bringing them to this point) in less than four weeks.

Yes, regardless of when Easter takes place, in schools, it was ever thus … which is why I celebrate the stories of adolescent commitment that you will encounter in this issue of Lancer Magazine. When I read these stories, I can’t think of a better place to feel exhausted at Easter than at La Salle High School. These exasperating, amazing adolescents are capable of incredible accomplishments requiring talent, skill and determination - so much so - that my gratitude for a few days off is blinded by my delight that what they and we (you and I) do matters. With graduation on the horizon, it doesn’t matter that my nerves are as raw as meat in a butcher’s window; because the students entrusted to our care continue to showcase why the La Salle Difference demands that we take care of them.



 The Council of Nicea in 325 A.D. (which fixed the arrangements for Easter) provided that:
• Easter must closely follow the spring equinox, in accord with the pagan (Roman) tradition of spring festivals
• Easter must closely follow a full moon in order to light the way for pilgrims' travel to the festivals
• Easter must follow the Jewish Passover (which always falls on the 14th day of the paschal month) to avoid   conflict between the two holy days
• Easter must be on a Sunday
• Which means that Easter could not fall on a fixed date, since it must always follow the changing Passover