Epact (Catholic Encyclopedia article)
Thomas Kennedy · 1913
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Description
An epact is the surplus of the solar over the lunar year. More loosely, it is the age of the moon in days on 1 January. The system rests on the Metonic lunar cycle. It tells on which days of the year the moons fall. The calendar grew from the need to date Easter aright.
The Last Supper fell on the Jewish Passover, kept on the fourteenth day of the first month. That month began with the new moon whose fourteenth day fell on or after the spring equinox. Christ rose on Sunday, the seventeenth day of the paschal moon. An Easter anniversary is possible only when that seventeenth day is a Sunday. To end disagreement, Nicaea in 325 ordered the Western rule for the whole Church: Easter on the Sunday after the fourteenth day of the moon. The Church used the Metonic cycle until the Gregorian reform of 1582.
Catalog record
| CREATOR | Thomas Kennedy |
|---|---|
| YEAR | 1913 |
| COLLECTION | REFERENCE |
| FORMAT | TXT |
| FILE SIZE | 22 KB |
| LICENSE | PUBLIC_DOMAIN |
| RIGHTS | PUBLIC DOMAIN |
| SOURCE | New Advent — Catholic Encyclopedia (1913) |