ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Movable Eastern Christian observances

Okay kiddo, so you know how we celebrate holidays like Christmas and Easter every year, right?

Well, some people celebrate these holidays on different days because they follow a different calendar than the one we use in our daily lives. This calendar is called the Eastern Orthodox calendar, and it is used by the Eastern Christian Church.

So, for example, Orthodox Christians celebrate Christmas on January 7th instead of December 25th like we do. This is because their calendar is about two weeks behind ours.

But there's more! Some of the holidays they celebrate are not set to a specific date like Christmas or Easter. Instead, they are based on the cycle of the moon and move around from year to year.

One of these movable holidays is called Easter, which is the celebration of Jesus rising from the dead. Orthodox Easter can happen on any Sunday between April 4th and May 8th because it is based on the full moon that occurs after the Spring equinox.

So, in summary, movable Eastern Christian observances are holidays that are celebrated on different days because they follow a different calendar and some of their celebrations are based on the cycle of the moon.