part against it {Fragm. in Chron. Paschal, i, 12, 13; and Pliilosoph.\\\, 18); and Clement of Alexandria was induced by the treatise of Melito to refute the same error in his work on Easter, a few fragments of which are preserved in the Chronicon Paschal, (ibid. 14).
The Laodicean (Juartodecimans closely followed the Jewish custom, whereby in a backward season, as re- gards barley-harvest, or whenever the solar cycle re- quired it, an entire month was intercalated at the ver- nal equinox. Hence in some years there was with them a double paschal celebration, and in others a total omis- sion. These notions died out again before the end of the 3d century, but they caused an evil name to be at- tached to the orthodox Quartodeciman practice, and greatly embittered the differences that already existed between some of the Asiatic churches and the rest of the Christian world. Further, the Catholic practice, like the Eastern, divaricated into two branches, and the churches were unable to settle down upon one uniform rule. It is a question of astronomy; for the Jewish cal- endar ceased to be any trustworthy guide after the de- struction of Jerusalem. The equinox was then taken as the fixed date from whence Easter should be calculated. But astronomers differed as to the precise incidence of the equinox. At Rome it was March 18th; at Alexan- dria it was the 21st, according to the Macedonian calen- dar. The Asiatics, retaining their old custom, com- memorated the death of our Lord on the full moon after March 21st, The rest of the world celebrated Easter on the first Sunday after the equinoctial full moon ; but if the moon was at the full on Sunday, then on the succeeding Sunday, for the plain reason that the full moon in such a case coincided with the lunar age on the day of our Lord's death, and not of the resurrec- tion. Hence those churches which followed the earlier equinox occasionally found themselves rejoicing in Eas- ter festivities while the other churches were still prac- ticing the mortification of Lent. And worse still, when the full moon fell on ^March 19, Western churches cele- brated their Easter accordingly ; but the Alexandrian Church of necessity deferred their Easter till the next full moon, as being the first after the equinox of March 21. To obviate this difficulty various recurring cycles were devised, wherein the return of the full moon to the same solar position coincided after a certain number of years with the same day of the week, and the same day of the year. But they were more or less inaccurate. The earliest was that of Hippolytus, bishop of Portus. As a rare waif of time, this was discovered incised on the right face of the pedestal of a marble statue of Hippol- ytus seated on his episcopal throne, which was dug up (A.D. 1551) between Rome and Tivoli, near the church of St. Lawrence, and is now preserved in the Vatican. Eusebius {lEist. Eccles. vi, 22) attributes to Hippolytus the discovery of the cycle of sixteen years ; and here it was found displayed for one hundred and twelve years (A.D. 222-333), Easter-Sunday in each of these years being given on the left face of the pedestal. But the cycle of sixteen years only showed the recurrence of the paschal-day with regard to the day of the year, and not of the week. The same ancient authority also shows that the paschal fast was continued till Eastcr- Simday, Jlarch 18 being assumed always as the vernal equinox. Dionysius, bishop of Alexandria (A.D. 246- 265), set forth an eight years' cycle, Kavova cKTaiTtjpi- dog (Euseb. Hist. Eccles. vii. 20). Twelve years after his death Anatolius, an Alexandrian by birth and edu- cation, but bishop of Laodicea, in Syria, drew out the famous nineteen years' cycle, originally tiie observation of Melon the astronomer. The ancient Jews could only have celebrated the passover after the vernal equinox ; therefore this, with iiim March 19, was ma<le the basis of computation. The cycle was adopted at Alexandria, the equinox, however, being advanced two days, to March 21 ; and whenever the full moon happened on Saturday, the next day, contrary to the Roman custom, was declared to be Easter-Sunday. The Asiatics still
PASCHAL CONTROVERSY 723
PASCHALI