Faculty Homepage: Dr. John E. Worth

Colonial Spanish Catholic Movable Feast Days

The feast of Easter occupies a principal place in the annual calculation of movable feasts in the Catholic liturgical calendar.  Calculations are based on an ancient formula, placing Easter on the first Sunday following the Paschal Full Moon, which is defined as the first full moon (on the 14th day of the ecclesiastical lunar month, differing slightly from the astronomical lunar cycle) falling on or after the vernal equinox (nominally set at March 21).  The date of Easter can therefore fall anywhere between March 22 and April 25.

The remaining movable feasts were calculated during the colonial era as follows:

Septuagesima: The Sunday eight weeks before Easter Sunday.

Ash Wednesday: The Wednesday preceding the sixth week before Easter Sunday, and marking 40 penitential days (not counting six Lenten Sundays) before Easter.

Ascension: The Thursday after the marking the 40th day after Easter Sunday, falling during the week after the fifth Sunday of the Easter season.

Pentecost: The Sunday marking the 50th day after Easter Sunday, falling on the second Sunday after Ascension.

Body of Christ: The second Thursday after Pentecost.

First Sunday of Advent: The fourth Sunday before Christmas (Dec. 25).

The table below provides the actual date of Ash Wednesday and Easter (framing the entire season of Lent) for every year in Florida's First Spanish Period, broken down in columns by centuries.  Dates for Ash Wednesday not specifically found in published sources were calculated based on the date of Easter, and are marked by italics.  The date when the Gregorian Calendar went into effect (1583) is marked in red.

16th Century / 17th Century / 18th Century

16th Century

Top of Page

17th Century

Top of Page

18th Century

Top of Page