What is Orthodox Easter Sunday?
Orthodox Easter Sunday is the day on which Eastern Orthodox Christians celebrate the resurrection of Jesus. In Albania and in Bosnia and Herzegovina, countries with several large religious communities, it is a recognised holiday, alongside Catholic Easter Sunday, so that Easter appears twice in the calendar in most years. In Albania both Easters are official holidays under the law on official holidays and commemorative days, and when one falls on a weekend the next working day is a day off, which is why the site shows an observed day on 4 May 2027. In Bosnia and Herzegovina the holiday is tied to the Orthodox community and, by the site's data, to the Federation and Republika Srpska.
The celebration centres on the midnight service on Holy Saturday night. The faithful hold lit candles, exchange the greeting Christ is risen, and afterwards break the Lenten fast with eggs, lamb and sweet bread. In Bosnia and Herzegovina, as in neighbouring Serbia, red eggs are cracked against one another in a game, and the holy day is spent with the family. Visitors will find the churches crowded. The week that follows Easter is Bright Week, during which the Holy Doors of the iconostasis stay open, fasting is lifted and the greeting Christ is risen is used in place of ordinary salutations.
Why it is observed
The calculation used by the Orthodox churches comes from the Julian calendar, which the Catholic Church abandoned in 1582. The rule that Easter follows the spring equinox and the first full moon is applied by Orthodox churches using Julian dates and an ecclesiastical equinox of 21 March in that calendar. Because the Julian calendar runs 13 days behind the civil one, the Orthodox date is often later than the Western date, and the two coincide only when the Julian and Gregorian calculations happen to lead to the same Sunday, as in 2025. In 2027 the Western date is 28 March and the Orthodox date 2 May.
How the date is set
Orthodox Easter Sunday is the first Sunday after the first full moon on or after 21 March, using the Julian calendar for both the equinox date and the moon. In the civil calendar it falls between 4 April and 8 May, and it sometimes coincides with Western Easter and sometimes comes up to five weeks after it.
How it is observed
In Albania both Easters are official public holidays for everyone, and in 2027 the Orthodox Sunday of 2 May is carried over to Tuesday 4 May. In Bosnia and Herzegovina the holidays of the main religious communities are tied to those communities, and the way they apply to employers, schools and offices differs by entity and by municipality, so it is best checked locally. The site shows the Orthodox date for Orthodox Easter and the Western date for Catholic Easter. Pay, substitute days and employer arrangements depend on the law and the contract.
Sources
Albania