Easter is inspiration for renewed heritage drive

Apr 8 2009 The Journal

EASTER is adding fresh impetus to a drive to win a third World Heritage Site for the North East.

The Venerable Bede, who lived at the 7th Century twin monastery of St Peter’s, Wearmouth, Sunderland, and St Paul’s, Jarrow, came up with the calculation of when Easter should fall, solving one of the biggest problems for the church in his day.

Bede wanted to ensure that Easter, the most important Christian Feast, was celebrated at the correct time of year and also at the same time by Christians across the world.

Using theology, mathematics, astronomy and the work of earlier thinkers, Bede devised a calculation based on the lunar calendar, which is still used to this day.

It means that Easter is celebrated on the first Sunday after the full moon, on or after March 21, the solar equinox.

It also means that Easter can fall anywhere between March 22 and April 25. Bede created a 532-year repeating cycle, predicting when Easter would be for every year in the future, something which had never been achieved before.

The continuing influence of Bede’s work at the twin monastery of Wearmouth-Jarrow is just one of the reasons why the site will be nominated for World Heritage Site status in 2010.

The Rt Rev Mark Bryant, Bishop of Jarrow and chairman of the Wearmouth-Jarrow Partnership, said: “We have been sending Easter cards out to contacts across the country with information about Bede, as we’re very proud of the fact that he set the basis for the calculation of Easter.

“This is just one of the many reasons that he is considered as having an important influence on the world and why his work calls to have his home monastery at Wearmouth and Jarrow designated as a World Heritage Site.”