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TheEastern Orthodox liturgical calendar describes and dictates the rhythm of the life of theEastern Orthodox Church. Passages ofHoly Scripture,saints and events for commemoration are associated with each date, as are many times special rules for fasting or feasting that correspond to the day of the week or time of year in relationship to the majorfeast days.
There are two types of feasts in theOrthodox Church calendar: fixed and movable.Fixed feasts occur on the same calendar day every year, whereasmovable feasts change each year. Themoveable feasts are generally relative to Pascha (Easter), and so the cycle of moveable feasts is referred to as thePaschal cycle.
The following list of dates links only to fixed feasts of theOrthodox Church. These are the fixeddates; the particularday on which that date is observed differs depending upon whether one follows theJulian Calendar (sometimes referred to as the "Old Calendar") or theRevised Julian Calendar ("New Calendar"). All dates having to do withPascha (Easter) - the beginning ofGreat Lent,Ascension,Pentecost, etc. - are moveable feasts, and thus are not on this calendar (seePaschal cycle).
These important notes should be remembered in using the following calendar:
The number of days by which the Gregorian calendar differs from the Julian calendar is currently 13, but will increase to 14 on 1 March 2100. Over the course of future centuries,the difference will continue to increase, limitlessly.
The Eastern Orthodoxliturgical year begins on1 September.
Pascha (Easter) is, by far, the most important day in the ecclesiastical year, and all other days, in one way or another, are dependent upon it. Pascha falls on different calendar dates from year to year, calculated according to a strict set of rules (seeComputus for details). While the Fixed Cycle begins on September 1,[1] the new Paschal Cycle begins on "Zaccheus Sunday" in the Slavic tradition or the "Sunday of the Canaanite Woman" in the Greek tradition[citation needed] (the beginning of the preparatory season beforeGreat Lent), eleven Sundays before Pascha, and continues until the Zaccheus Sunday or Sunday of the Canaanite Woman of the following year. The Epistle and Gospel readings at theDivine Liturgy throughout the year are determined by the date of Pascha.
There are Twelve Great Feasts throughout the church year—not counting Pascha, which is above and beyond all other feast days. These are feasts which celebrate major historical events in the lives of Jesus Christ or theTheotokos (Virgin Mary). Of these, three are on the Paschal Cycle:
The other Great Feasts are on the Fixed Cycle:
In addition, the feast day of thepatron saint of aparish church ormonastery is counted as a Great Feast, and is celebrated with great solemnity.
In addition toGreat Lent, there are three other lesser lenten seasons in the church year:
The season from the Sunday of the Publican and Pharisee (three weeks before the Great Lent) through Holy Saturday is calledTriodion, while the season from Pascha through Pentecost is called thePentecostarion.
Because of the complexity created by the intersection of the various cycles, a number of Orthodox institutions will print an annual calendar which containsrubrics for the services during that particular year. Simpler wall calendars will show the major commemoration of the day together with the appointed scripture readings.
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Giustino de Jacobis (Roman Catholic),Nine Saints • Armenian Apostolic liturgical calendar,Coptic calendar,Eastern Orthodox liturgical calendar • | ||
