FACTBOX. On April 20, Orthodox believers will celebrate Easter, the principal feast of the Christian Church. In 2025, the holiday falls on the same date for both Orthodox Christians and Catholics.
Easter, also called Paskha or Resurrection Sunday, is the principal feast of the Christian Church that commemorates the resurrection of Jesus, symbolizing the triumph of life over death. The story is told in all four Gospels - Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.
The Orthodox Christian holiday was named Paskha after the Hebrew word "pasah," which means "to pass by" (hence Pesach, or Jewish Passover, a holiday celebrated to honor the Exodus of the Israelites from Egyptian captivity). The word has acquired a different meaning in the Orthodox tradition, which interprets it as "passing from death to life, from earth to heaven."
The date of the feast is calculated annually according to the lunisolar calendar. In the year 325, the First Ecumenical Council in Nicaea (today’s Iznik, Turkey) decided to celebrate the holiday after the Jewish Passover, or on the first Sunday following the first full moon after the vernal (spring) equinox. However, if the full moon falls on a Saturday or Sunday, Easter is pushed to the following Sunday.
