Lord of life, You sent Jesus Christ as the Light of the World so that men and women, boys and girls might be liberated from the terror of Satan’s sinister reign, hear the cry of our hearts as we pray for Thy Body, the Church, in Sri Lanka; having been delivered from the tyranny of the devil our sisters and brothers have been attacked by the demonic in the hearts of wicked enemies of life;
Grant Your peace to those who inconsolably mourn, Your courage those those who understandably fear; and Your justice—or Your merciful converting grace in Jesus Christ—to those who perpetrate persecution upon the Church;
As You, Lord Jesus, passed through the locked doors where desperate disciples huddled like frightened lambs, walk through the locked spiritual and emotional doors of the afflicted and bring Your presence, which is peace and hope without end;
Believing in the Resurrection of Your Son, our God and Savior, Jesus the Righteous, from the darkness of death’s former reign, we live expectantly on this side of Easter, and embrace the ruling motif for the believer’s life—life from death, gain in loss, honor in humiliation, and a crown in crucifixion—we entrust the Sri Lanka Easter martyrs to You, and the traumatized and grieving survivors to the Christ-promised care of the Holy Spirit; Save, heal, restore, enlarge, enfold;
These things we humbly pray in the name of the One who was, and is, and is to come, even Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen.
Hi thanks a lot. I just bumped on your site. Am wondering why Easter dates change every year.
Greetings Nathaniel:
Great question! Easter Sunday, also related to the Old Covenant sign of salvation, Passover. Here is an authoritative response from the Book of Common Prayer (Anglican Communion), the foundation for liturgy in the Western Churches (Protestant):
“Tables and Rules for Finding
the Date of Easter Day
Rules for Finding the Date of Easter Day
Easter Day is always the Sunday after the full moon that occurs on or after the spring
equinox on March 21, a date which is fixed in accordance with an ancient ecclesiastical
computation, and which does not always correspond to the astronomical equinox. This full
moon may happen on any date between March 21 and April 18 inclusive. If the full moon
falls on a Sunday, Easter Day is the Sunday following. But Easter Day cannot be earlier
than March 22 or later than April 25.
To find the date of Easter Day in any particular year, it is necessary to have two points of
reference–the Golden Number and the Sunday Letter for that year.
1. The Golden Number indicates the date of the full moon on or after the spring equinox of
March 21, according to a nineteen-year cycle. These Numbers are prefixed in the Calendar
to the days of the month from March 22 to April 19 inclusive. In the present Calendar they
are applicable from A.D. 1900 to A.D. 2099, after which they will change.
2. The Sunday Letter identifies the days of the year when Sundays occur. After every date in
the Calendar a letter appears–from A to g. Thus, if January 1 is a Sunday, the Sunday
Letter for the Year is A, and every date in the Calendar marked by A is a Sunday. If January
2 is a Sunday, then every date marked with b is a Sunday, and so on through the seven letters.
In Leap Years, however, the Sunday Letter changes on the first day of March. In such years,
when A is the Sunday Letter, this applies only to Sundays in January and February, and g is
the Sunday Letter for the rest of the year. Or if d is the Sunday Letter, then c is the Sunday
Letter on and after March 1.
To Find the Golden Number
The Golden Number of any year is calculated as follows: Take the number of the year, add
1, and then divide the sum by 19. The remainder, if any, is the Golden Number. If nothing
remains, then 19 is the Golden Number.
To Find the Sunday Letter
The following Table provides ready reference to the Sunday Letter of any year between A.D.
1900 and A.D. 2099. It will be found on the line of the hundredth year above the column
that contains the remaining digits of the year. But in Leap Years the Letter above the
number marked with an asterisk is the Sunday Letter for January and February, and the
Letter over the number not so marked is the Sunday Letter for the rest of the year.”
https://www.bcponline.org/Misc/tables.html