Calendar Suggestions 

This placement was chosen so that the harvest of the first fruits of grain would coincide with the Passover 

celebration (Lev 23) and so that the completion of the harvest would coincide with the Feast of Weeks (Lev 

23:15 17). 

    During the time of Christ's Ministry, the Spring Equinox fell between noon on March 22 and noon on 

March 23, Jerusalem time.

1162

 Currently (

A.D.

 2001 2010), the Spring Equinox falls before or after noon on 

March 20, Jerusalem time.

1163

 (In some years in the 21st century, the Spring Equinox would fall after noon on 

March 19, in other years it would fall very early on March 21.) The Spring Equinox is currently placed about 

three days earlier (just over 2  days earlier, to be more precise) than it was during the time of Christ's 

Ministry. 

    The Spring Equinox was used during Christ's time on earth to help determine the date for the Jewish 

Passover (and hence the rest of the calendar year). In the early Church, the Spring Equinox (of the Northern 

Hemisphere) was used to determine the date for Easter. Therefore, I suggest that the Spring Equinox be used 

in the revised liturgical calendar to determine the date for Easter and all the days of the calendar year. The date 

for January 1 should be set so that the Spring Equinox for the location of Jerusalem generally falls on March 

23, Jerusalem time.

1164

 Occasionally, the date for Spring Equinox will fall late in the day on March 22, or 

(more rarely) early in the day on March 24, but most years it can and should remain on March 23. To 

accomplish this, three days must be subtracted from the calendar. 

    The revised date for the Spring Equinox of Jerusalem should be generally March 23, so that it only 

occasionally falls on March 22. During Christ's Ministry, the Spring Equinox fell on either March 22 or 23, 

but never on March 21. This statement is true for all of the years that various scholarly opinions have 

considered to be the years of Christ's Ministry (

A.D.

 15 to 

A.D.

 36, see Appendix I, Chart 1). Placing the 

Spring Equinox of Jerusalem generally on March 22 would result in the Spring Equinox falling on March 21 in 

quite a few years, which would not be in conformity with the years of Our Lord's Ministry. 

    In the Gregorian calendar, the Spring Equinox of Jerusalem usually falls on March 20 and is preceded by 

March 19. If the Spring Equinox is called March 23 and the preceding day would have been called March 19, 

then three days have been taken away to make this adjustment. When Pope Gregory changed the calendar 

from Julian to Gregorian, he adjusted the date of the Spring Equinox by subtracting ten days from the calendar 

(Oct. 4 was followed by Oct. 15). Choosing which three days should be removed from the calendar is a 

practical matter and is not for me to decide. Once the adjustment is made, following Pope Gregory's existing 

system for determining leap years should be sufficient to maintain the date of Spring Equinox for the location 

of Jerusalem on or about March 23 for hundreds of years .

1165

Why Change the Date of the Spring Equinox? 

    There are two compelling reasons for changing the date of the Spring Equinox of Jerusalem to March 23. 

First, the Christian calendar should be a reflection of the life of Christ. During Christ's life on earth, the Spring 

Equinox generally fell on March 23 (or late in the day on March 22). So, when we say that Christ died on a 

particular day (April 7), we mean that he died a certain number of days after the Spring Equinox. If the date of 

the Spring Equinox in the calendar we use is not in the same place as it was during Christ's Ministry, then the 

dates of events will not be in the correct place throughout the calendar year. 

    For example, if we celebrate the Virgin Mary's birth on August 5, but we move the Spring Equinox of 

Jerusalem to a place 3 days earlier (March 20) than it was in the year of her birth (March 23), then all of the 

dates in our calendar are off by 3 days. So we end up celebrating her birth 3 days later than the actual date. We 

call the Spring Equinox March 20, but it really should be called March 23. We call a particular day August 5, 

but it is a certain number of days after the Spring Equinox and so it really should be called August 8. The true 

date of August 5 occurs three days earlier than the date for August 5 in the current Gregorian  calendar, 

because the true date of March 20 should be placed three days before the Spring Equinox, not on the same day 

as the Spring Equinox. The day we have been calling August 5 should really be called August 8, because the 

day we have been calling March 20 (the day of the Spring Equinox in the Gregorian calendar) should really be 

called March 23. Moving the date for the Spring Equinox to March 23 solves this misalignment of the calendar 

dates. Once the date of March 23 is moved to coincide with the Spring Equinox, then the day of August 5 will 

231