Siga-me

Roberto Henry Ebelt

Finally CARNIVAL is over and we can start working again after almost three months of “vacation”.

Passado o carnaval, a festa em que os cristãos se esbaldam (as if there is no tomorrow) para enfrentar o severo período da quaresma (LENT) que começa com a famosa quarta-feira de cinzas (Ash Wednesday).

Estamos, portanto, vivendo em pleno período de quaresma, visto que o Brasil tem uma maciça população católica, a ponto de um feriado não existente oficialmente parar o país por mais de quatro dias.

A próxima festa do calendário católico cristão é a Páscoa (EASTER), palavra que, em inglês não tem nenhuma semelhança com o vocábulo português. Veja a origem de EASTER, conforme podemos ler na Wikipedia:

Etymology. Main article: Names of Easter:

The modern English term Easter, cognate with modern Dutch ooster and German Ostern, developed from an Old English word that usually appears in the form Ēastrun, -on, or -an; but also as Ēastru, -o; and Ēastre or Ēostre.

The most widely accepted theory of the origin of the term is that it is derived from the name of a goddess mentioned by the 7th to 8th-century English monk Bede, who wrote that Ēosturmōnaþ (Old English 'Month of Ēostre', translated in Bede's time as "Paschal month") was an English month, corresponding to April, which he says "was once called after a goddess of theirs named Ēostre, in whose honor feasts were celebrated in that month". However, it is possible that Bede was only speculating about the origin of the term since there is no firm evidence that such a goddess actually existed.

In Greek and Latin, the Christian celebration was, and still is, called Pascha, a word derived from Aramaic and cognate to Hebrew (Pesach). The word originally denoted the Jewish festival known in English as Passover, commemorating the Jewish Exodus from slavery in Egypt. Already in the 50s of the 1st century, Paul, writing from Ephesus to the Christians in Corinth, applied the term to Christ, and it is unlikely that the Ephesian and Corinthian Christians were the first to hear Exodus 12 interpreted as speaking about the death of Jesus, not just about the Jewish Passover ritual. In most of the non-English speaking world, the feast is known by names derived from Greek and Latin Pascha. Pascha is also a name by which Jesus himself is remembered in the Orthodox Church, especially in connection with his resurrection and with the season of its celebration.

Isso posto, vamos ver o significado de EQUINOX:

An equinox is the moment in which the plane of Earth's equator passes through the center of the Sun, which occurs twice each year, around 20 March and 23 September.

On an equinox, day and night are of approximately equal duration all over the planet. They are not exactly equal, however, due to the angular size of the sun and atmospheric refraction. To avoid this ambiguity, the word equilux is sometimes used to mean a day in which the durations of light and darkness are equal. The word is derived from the Latin aequinoctium, aequus (equal) and nox (genitive noctis) (night).

Precisamos ter uma ideia do significado de equinócio para saber como a data da festa móvel (movable feast) de Páscoa é determinada. Os astrônomos são os que calculam exatamente quando este fenômeno ocorre e qualquer calendário nos fornece esta data que, no hemisfério sul, marca o início do outono (AUTUMN or FALL in English).

Em 2017, o equinócio de março ocorrerá no dia 20 às 10h28m.

Sabendo o dia em que ocorre o equinócio de março, precisamos nos informar, novamente com os astrônomos, quando ocorrerá a próxima lua cheia (FULL MOON). Como a lua cheia de março ocorreu antes do equinócio (no dia 12 de março), a próxima só será em abril, especificamente no dia 11 de abril.

De posse desta data, 11 de abril, podemos determinar quando será a próxima Páscoa: será no primeiro domingo depois do dia 11, a saber dia 16 de abril. E a Sexta-feira Santa (GOOD FRIDAY) será no dia 14, este sim, um feriado religioso em todas as cidades do Brasil.

Interessante lembrar que a data do carnaval (especificamente a data da terça-feira de carnaval – FAT TUESDAY) é estabelecida pela data do domingo de Páscoa, podendo, no futuro, na Europa, pelo andar da carroça, ser estabelecida por acontecimentos da liturgia muçulmana.

Have an excellent week.