Our Calendar Part 13

But there is a point from which all computation originally commenced, namely, the creation of man. Such an era is called the Mundane era. Now there are different Mundane eras--the common Mundane era 4,004 B. C., the Grecian Mundane era 5,598 B. C., and the Jewish Mundane era 3,761 B. C.

All these commence computation from the same point, but differ in regard to the time which has elapsed since their computation commenced. G.o.d's people used the Mundane era, until the Great Creator appeared among us, as one of us, in the person of our Lord Jesus Christ, to accomplish the great work of redemption; then His name was introduced as the turning point of the ages, the starting point of computation.

This was done by Dionysius Exiguus in the year of our Lord about 540, known at that time as the Dionysian, as well as the Christian era, and was first used in historical works by the venerable Bede early in the eighth century. "It was a great thought of the little monk (whether so called from his humility or littleness of stature is unknown), to view Christ as the turning point of the ages, and to introduce this view into chronology."

All honor to him who introduced it, and to the nations which have approved, for thus honoring the Great Redeemer. Dionysius probably did not know, neither is it now known for a certainty the year of Christ's birth, but it is evident, however, from the best authorities, that the era commenced at least five years too late, and probably more.

H.--PAGE 57.

It is recorded that, in the time of Numa, the vernal equinox fell on the 25th of March, and that Julius Caesar restored it to the 25th, when he reformed the ancient Roman calendar in the year 46 B. C. It is also recorded that in less than 400 years from that time, at the meeting of the Council of Nice in 325, it had fallen back to the 21st--four days in less than 400 years.

Now there is an error somewhere, for it is found by actual computation that the discrepancy between the solar and the Julian year is about three days in 400 years. It certainly is true that the vernal equinox fell on the 21st in 325, and was restored to that place by Gregory in 1582; since which time it has been made to fall on the 21st by the Gregorian rule of intercalation. Again it is stated by the same author that the discrepancies in time from Caesar to Gregory is thirteen days, from the Council of Nice to Gregory ten days; now 10 + 4 = 14. While our author states it is thirteen days, he also states it is fourteen days; a discrepancy of one day. The mistake evidently is in making the 25th instead of the 24th, the date of the vernal equinox in the time of Caesar, consequently a difference of four days instead of three from Caesar to the Council of Nice.

I.--PAGE 59.

The concurrence of the solar and the civil year was restored by Gregory in 1582, or 1600 is the same in computation; but the discrepancy between civil and solar time is 11 minutes and 10.38 seconds every year, which in 100 years will amount to 18 hours, and 37.3 minutes; reckoned in round numbers 18 hours, and is represented on the chart, hours behind time 18.

The intercalary day or 24 hours being suppressed in 1700, causes the civil year to be 6 hours in advance of the solar, and is represented on the chart 6 hours in advance.

Now this discrepancy of 18 hours for the next 100 years, will cause the civil year in 1800 to be 12 hours behind; again suppressing the intercalation it will be 12 hours in advance. In 1900 it will be 6 hours behind, but the correction makes 18 hours in advance. The 18 hours gained the next 100 years restores the coincidence in the year 2000 and so on, the solar and the civil year being made to coincide very nearly every 400 years.

From close examination it will become evident that the solar and the civil year coincide twice every 400 years, though no account is made of it in computation. From 6 hours in advance in 1700, the civil year falls back to 12 hours behind the solar in 1800, consequently they must coincide in 1733.

Again from 12 hours in advance in 1800, it falls back to 6 hours behind the solar in 1900, consequently they must coincide again in 1867.

Discrepancy between Julian and solar time in--1 year is (365d. 6h.) - (365d. 5h. 48m. 49.62s.) = (11m. 10.38s.)

100 years is (11m. 10.38s.) 100 = (18h. 37.3.) 400 " (18h. 37.3m.) 4 = (3d. 2h. 29.2m.) 4,000 " (3d. 2h. 29.2m.) 10 = (31d. 0h. 52m.) 100,000 " (31d. 0h. 52m.) 25 = (773d. 21h. 40m.)

Discrepancy between Gregorian and solar time in--

1 year is .373m.

100 years is .373m. 100 = 37.3m.

400 years 37.3m. 4 = 2h. 29.2m.

4,000 " (2h. 29.2m.) 10 = 1d. 0h. 52m.

100,000 " (1d. 0h. 52m.) 25 = 25d. 21h. 40m.

Discrepancy between corrected Gregorian and solar time in--

4,000 years is (1d. 0h. 52m.) - 1 day = 52m.

100,000 " " (52m. 25) = 21h. 40m.

J.--PAGE 89.

Lilius, author of the "Extended Table of Epacts," says, when the full moon falls on the 10th of March, the following moon, which happens 29 days later, is the paschal moon, making the 18th of April its latest possible date. For, says he, because of the double epact that occurs on the 4th and 5th of April that lunation has only 29 days. It may have been very convenient for Lilius, in his peculiar method of determining the date of the paschal moon, to give to that lunation only 29 days; but nevertheless, when he did so, it was at the expense of accuracy, for he makes a difference of 12 days in the date of the paschal moon of that year, and the year preceding, and only 10 days difference between that year and the succeeding year; whereas the difference is uniformly 11 days from year to year through the whole cycle of 19 years.

By referring to the table on the 93d page, it will be seen that, in fixing the date of the paschal moon, six times in a cycle of 19 years the full moon falls before the 21st of March, and in every instance except this one the following moon is reckoned by Lilius 30 days later. By this uniform method of determining the date of the paschal moon, we make the 19th of April instead of the 18th, its latest possible date; so it should be borne in mind that whenever the 19th of April is the date of the paschal moon, as indicated in the tables commencing with the 93d page, that Lilius, and probably most, if not all other authors, have the 18th.

Now it is admitted that notwithstanding the c.u.mbersome apparatus employed by Lilius in his calculations, the conditions of the problem are not always satisfied, nor is it possible that they can be always satisfied by any similar method of proceeding. We admit that none of these calculations are perfectly exact, but the sum of the solar and lunar inequalities is compensated in the whole period, or corrections made at the end of certain periods, not by interrupting the order of a uniform method during the cycle of 19 years.

Now the table of epacts was introduced by Lilius himself, making the excess of the solar year beyond the lunar, in round numbers 11 days. Then why interrupt this order every 19 years, for a period of 114 years; that is from 1596 to 1710, by making the epact 12 days for one year, and the following year only 10? After which, from 1710 to 1900, a period of 190 years, according to Lilius' own calculations, the epact is uniformly 11 days, coinciding exactly with the calculations made in this work.

Then again after the year 1900, he gives to that particular lunation, in every lunar cycle for a period of 304 years, only 29 days; and having done so, he is under the necessity of giving only 29 days to another lunation in the same cycle, and also to all the cycles in the period to avoid the absurdity of making the paschal moon fall twice on the same day in the course of a lunar cycle.

By reference to the 101st page, opposite the year 1905, it will be seen that the date of the paschal moon is the 19th of April. Lilius, by giving to that lunation only 29 days, makes its date the 18th; and then again in the year 1916, lest he should make the paschal moon fall twice on the 18th of April in the course of a lunar cycle, (a thing which cannot really occur) he for the first time in more than 400 years, gives only 29 days to a second lunation in the same cycle and of course to all the cycles in the period of 304 years. Now the epacts for a lunar cycle of 19 years are represented thus:

26 -- 0, 11, 22, 3, 14, 25, 6, 17, 28, 9, 20

27 -- 1, 12, 23, 4, 15, 26, 7, 18

The number 26 placed over the 25 shows Lilius' first error in giving to that lunation only 29 days. He thereby makes a difference of 12 days between the epact 14 and 26, and only 10 between 26 and 6. He now has two epacts of the same number 26. In order to get out of the dilemma he makes that 27, by giving to another lunation only 29 days.

K.--PAGE 122-3.

It will probably be noticed that according to the showing in the tables the ecclesiastical year contains only 364 days. The reason for this is, that Advent Sunday, which is the first day of the year, happens one day earlier every year until it occurs on the 27th of November, its earliest possible date; then the first Sunday after the 26th of November, which is Advent Sunday, falls on the 3d of December, its latest possible date, so that the year begins six days later, making a year of 371 days. Then there is the loss of a day every year until Advent Sunday again falls on the 27th of November and so on. Hence, did the civil year always consist of 365 days, then the ecclesiastical year would always contain either 364 or 371 days. But as every fourth year contains 366 days, this order is so interrupted that sometimes the first Sunday falls on the 2d instead of the 3d of December; so that the year begins only five days later, making a year of only 370 days. Hence the ecclesiastical year may consist of either 364, 370 or 371 days. But five times out of six it will contain only 364 days.

L.--PAGE 83.

But why did the Pope, in correcting the Julian calendar in 1582, not correct the whole error of thirteen days? Why did he leave the three days uncorrected? This question has been asked an hundred times, but a correct answer has never yet been given. Some say that the Pope did according to his best ability, and would make us believe that neither he nor his astronomers knew what the error was. This is not true, for history records the fact of the error, and just what that error was. He simply did not want to correct the three days, and for good reasons, which we shall endeavor to show; reasons which every churchman ought to know.

When Caesar formed his calendar, 46 B. C., the vernal equinox fell on the 24th of March. At the meeting of the Council of Nice, in 325, it had fallen back to the 21st, the error being three days in about 400 years.

Now it should be borne in mind that the Julian calendar was the only one in use at that time, and for the next 1257 years, when in 1582, it was corrected by Pope Gregory XIII. Easter, and all the movable feasts, had been unsettled during the 1257 years intervening, from the Council of Nice to Gregory, on account of the errors of the Julian calendar. The Easter question had been the cause of a good deal of discussion between the Eastern and Western churches during the second and third centuries, as they could not agree on the day of the week on which that event should be celebrated.

The Western churches observed the nearest Sunday to the full moon of Nisan. The Asiatics, on the other hand, adopted the 14th of Nisan upon which to commemorate the crucifixion, and observed the festival of Easter on the third day following, upon whatever day of the week that might fall.

Finally, the Council of Nice was convened, and the matter came before that council, and a reconciliation was accomplished. It was then and there agreed by the two parties that Easter should be celebrated on the first Sunday after the full moon that falls upon or next following the day of the vernal equinox, and that the 21st of March should be accounted the day of the vernal equinox.

It has already been shown that the error in the Julian calendar is three days in 400 years; so that in 400 years from the Council of Nice the vernal equinox had fallen back to the 18th of March; in 800 years it had fallen back to the 15th; in 1257 years, that is in 1582, it fell on the 11th. Still the 21st of March, by the only calendar in use at that time, was accounted the date of the vernal equinox, by which date Easter was determined, so that, in 1582, when it was the 21st by the calendar, the correct date was the 31st. Hence, the error had been increasing at the rate of three days every 400 years until in 1582 it amounted to ten days.

Again it should be borne in mind that the Pope was a churchman and wished to abide by the decision of that council in celebrating the festival of Easter, so he drops the ten days and restores the vernal equinox to the 21st of March, its date at the meeting of the Council of Nice in 325, the date by which Easter day was determined. He not only made the correction, but he so reformed the calendar that the solar and the civil year are now made to coincide very nearly. Had he dropped the thirteen days, the vernal equinox would have been restored to the 24th of March, its date in the time of Caesar, and the 24th would still be its date. But the Council of Nice decided that the 21st should be the date by which Easter day should be determined. Hence the reason for dropping the ten days instead of the thirteen is evident; and it is also evident that the Pope acted understandingly when he made the correction in 1582.

ERRATA.

On 51st page, ninth line from the bottom of the page, instead of 1453 43 = 63+, should be 1453 4 = 363+.

On 76th page, twelfth line from the top of the page, 356 should be 365.

THE COLUMBUS CELEBRATION.