---
title: Easter rules
description: The full EASTER() syntax for Easter Sunday and the days that move with it, Western or Orthodox.
order: 4
---

# Easter rules

`EASTER(...)` is a rule expression you can use in a Calendite recurrence rule to schedule an
event on Easter Sunday or on any of the days that move with it — Good Friday, Easter Monday,
Ash Wednesday, Whit Sunday and so on. It is worked out, not looked up: no feed, no data source,
and it works offline. See the [rule reference](/docs/rules-reference.html) for the surrounding syntax.

Format:

```text
EASTER
EASTER({day})
EASTER({reckoning})
EASTER({day}, {reckoning})
```

The two arguments can be given in either order, and each is optional.

## Supported day values

Each is an offset in days from Easter Sunday:

```text
CleanMonday        -48
ShroveTuesday      -47
AshWednesday       -46
MotheringSunday    -21
PalmSunday          -7
MaundyThursday      -3
GoodFriday          -2
HolySaturday        -1
Sunday               0   (the default)
Monday              +1
Ascension          +39
Pentecost          +49
WhitSunday         +49   (same day as Pentecost)
WhitMonday         +50
TrinitySunday      +56
CorpusChristi      +60
```

Names are spelled exactly as above, the same way a category member is
(`BankHolidays(GoodFriday)`). `EASTER(goodfriday)` and `EASTER(Tuesday)` are rejected.

Examples:

```text
EASTER
EASTER(GoodFriday)
EASTER(Monday)
EASTER(AshWednesday)
EASTER(Pentecost)
```

## Supported reckoning values

```text
Western     (the default, and what the UK uses)
Orthodox
```

`Western` is the Gregorian calculation. `Orthodox` is the Julian calculation, shown on the
ordinary calendar. Any day name works with either reckoning, since a day is only an offset,
though `AshWednesday`, `ShroveTuesday`, `MotheringSunday` and `CorpusChristi` are Western
observances and `CleanMonday` an Orthodox one.

Examples:

```text
EASTER(Orthodox)
EASTER(Sunday, Orthodox)
EASTER(GoodFriday, Orthodox)
EASTER(Orthodox, GoodFriday)
```

## Why it is in capitals

`EASTER` is spelled like `MOON` and `WD` because the engine computes it. PascalCase `Easter`
is a *category*: a named set of dates you supply, which resolves to nothing unless you have
given it data. The two never collide.

## Using it with other rules

`EASTER(...)` produces one date a year, so it combines with everything else:

```text
!EASTER(GoodFriday)                       exclude Good Friday
WD, !EASTER(GoodFriday), !EASTER(Monday)  weekdays, minus the Easter break
WD~<EASTER(GoodFriday)                    the last working day before the break
Day__OF__WEEK(EASTER)                     the week ending on Easter Sunday, Monday to Sunday
```

For the England & Wales bank holidays specifically, `EASTER(GoodFriday)` and
`BankHolidays(GoodFriday)` give the same date; the difference is that the first needs no feed.

## Examples

```text
EASTER
```

Easter Sunday: `2025-04-20`, `2026-04-05`, `2027-03-28`, …

```text
EASTER(GoodFriday)
```

Good Friday: `2025-04-18`, `2026-04-03`, `2027-03-26`, …

```text
EASTER(Monday)
```

Easter Monday: `2026-04-06`.

```text
EASTER(AshWednesday)
```

Ash Wednesday, the first day of Lent: `2026-02-18`.

```text
EASTER(MotheringSunday)
```

Mothering Sunday: `2026-03-15`.

```text
EASTER(Orthodox)
```

Orthodox Easter Sunday: `2026-04-12`.