Friday (April 6) brought us the first full moon of the new spring season. The official moment that the moon turned full was 19:19 UT, reported Discovery News.

Traditionally, Easter falls on the Sunday after the Paschal Full Moon, the first full moon of spring. If the Paschal Moon occurs on a Sunday, Easter falls on the following Sunday. Based on these rules, the date of Easter can fall as early as March 22 and as late as April 25.

But there is also an ecclesiastical full moon, the date of which does not necessarily coincide with the astronomical full moon, hence causing confusion as to when Easter falls.

In the year 2038, the astronomical Easter should fall on March 28. In reality, however, Church rules mandate that the holiday will be observed on April 25.

Vatican authorities also considered changing Easter to a fixed date rather than a variable one. The second Sunday in April has been suggested as the most likely date.

(China.org.cn April 10, 2012)

上周五（4月6日）迎来了今春第一轮满月。据探索频道新闻网报道，官方的满月时间是国际协调时当日19时19分。

根据传统，复活节在逾越节满月、也就是每年春季第一轮满月后的周日降临。如果逾越节满月正好是周日，那复活节便是下一个周日。基于这些规则，复活节的日期可能早至3月22日，也可能晚至4月25日。

但也有一种“教会满月”的说法，而且“教会满月”的日期不一定总是和“天文学满月”一致，因此复活节何时降临便会出现混乱。

比如2038年，天文学上的复活节应该是3月28日，但在实际上，根据教会的规定，那一年的这个节日应是4月25日。

梵蒂冈方面也曾考虑将复活节的日期固定下来。每年4月的第二个周日是被提议最合理的日期。