Tomorrow is Saint Valentine’s Day, and it’s also Ash Wednesday, the first day of Lent. As it dawns, the planet of love will be coming up into view, followed by her bloodstained brother.
See the end note about enlarging illustrations. Arrows through the moving bodies show their movement (against the starry background) from 2 days earlier to 2 days later.
How often do these two holy-days, at opposite poles of cheerfulness, coincide? Well, in the years 2000 to 2100, Ash Wednesday falls on February 14 only 3 times: in 2018, 2024, and 2029.
I found this by writing a small program, which I could later generalize to find coincidences between other kinds of dates (you’re welcome to “comment” with suggestions).
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ILLUSTRATIONS in these posts are made with precision but have to be inserted in another format. You may be able to enlarge them on your monitor.
One way: right-click, and choose ”View image” or ”Open image in new tab”, then enlarge. Or choose ”Copy image”, then put it on your desktop, then open it. On an iPad or phone, use the finger gesture that enlarges (spreading with two fingers, or tapping and dragging with three fingers). Other methods have been suggested, such as dragging the image to the desktop and opening it in other ways.
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When Valentine’s Day and Ash Wednesday coincide, we are encouraged to remember our mortality, repent of our failures to love well, and devote ourselves to loving more deeply and selflessly.
“ her bloodstained brother” – Skywatching, science, and poetry, all rolled into this wonderful dialogue.
And horse breeding!
Thank you
I’ve just returned from Ash Wednesday mass, on a warm and humid morning. Thunderstorms brewing too, I think.
One can have all sorts of ‘fun’ with Easter-related dates. The latest possible date on which Easter Sunday can fall is 25 April, which is commemorated in Australia and New Zealand as Anzac Day. This coincidence of dates last occurred in 1943 and will next occur in 2038, five Metonic cycles later.
Ooh. Should one enjoy temptations and pleasures or should one abstain from… well, you know yourself? Take heed from the horse breeding industry. Because horse’s birthdays are registered from 1 January, the serious money end of the business don’t want foals born in late December as they would be 1 year old a few days later. The gestation lasts from 320 days to 365 days. So mares and stallions first get together on St Valentine’s day — any earlier and you risk a December foal.