President's April 2022 Address

Still on the Latin theme. Hope you are enjoying it! There are different theories of why April was named as such.

Greeks consider it was named ‘Aphrillias‘ after Aphrodite the goddess of love who was born from the sea’s foam - (Aphros in ancient Greece) and others believe its roots are from the Latin

‘Aperire’ meaning to open.

This could be the reference to the opening of flowers and the blossoming of trees that occurs in the northern hemisphere and is considered the second month of Spring. Why is The Christian festival of Easter usually, but not exclusively, celebrated in April?      Answer - It’s down to the position of the Moon. Easter is celebrated when there is the first full moon after the Spring Equinox and is known in the Christian calendar as the Paschal Full Moon. Easter falls on the First Sunday after this moon.Easter is therefore considered to be “a moveable feast “ with no fixed date.

The 6th Century author, The Venerable Bede maintains the word Easter comes from the AngloSaxon word ‘Eostre ‘- the goddess of the feast whose feast was celebrated during the month of

April- ‘Eostre - monath’.

So, whatever lies ahead for you this month, I hope it’s a month of happy gatherings and maybe you will enjoy some feasting.

Julie