Church Calendar
The Church Calendar consists of a series of cycles by which feasts are celebrated in the Orthodox Church. There are currently three calendars in use in the Church, the Julian Calendar ("Old Calendar"), Revised Julian Calendar ("New Calendar"), and Gregorian Calendar ("New Calendar").
Contents |
Usage
- The Julian Calendar churches are: Jerusalem, Russia, Serbia, Georgia, Poland, Sinai, Ukraine, and Japan.
- The Revised Julian Calendar churches are: Constantinople, Alexandria, Antioch, Romania, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Greece, Albania, Czech Lands and Slovakia, and the OCA.
- The Gregorian Calendar churches are: Finland and Estonia.
A number of the above churches also have some parishes and dioceses which are on a different calendar than their respective primates, most especially the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople in the diaspora, which has many Julian Calendar parishes.
In terms of population, most Orthodox Christians follow the Julian Calendar (roughly 144 million to 41 million) but in terms of numbers of autocephalous and autonomous church bodies, the majority use one of the New Calendars (12 to 8).
Calendar fixed feast days
The following list of dates links only to fixed feasts of the Orthodox Church. The Church's year begins with the Indiction on September 1.
Calendar movable feast days
All dates are Gregorian. Dates in ( ) are Gregorian dates of movable feasts on the Julian Calendar when different.
| Movable feast day | Date this year | Date next year | Date in two years |
| Sunday before Theophany. | January 1, 2012
(January 15, 2012) |
December 30, 2012
(January 13, 2013) |
January 5, 2014
(January 12, 2014) |
| Sunday after Theophany | January 8, 2012
(January 22, 2012 ) |
January 13, 2013
(January 20, 2013 ) |
January 12, 2014
(January 26, 2014 ) |
| Zacchaeus Sunday (Slavic Tradition) | January 29, 2012 | February 17, 2013 | February 2, 2014 |
| Publican & Pharisee Sunday - fast free week | February 5, 2012 | February 24, 2013 | February 9, 2014 |
| Sunday of the Prodigal Son | February 12, 2012 | March 3, 2013 | February 16, 2014 |
| Meat Fare Sunday (Sunday of Last Judgement) | February 19, 2012 | March 10, 2013 | February 23, 2014 |
| fast for 6 days | Mon, February 20, 2012 | Mon, March 11, 2013 | Mon, February 24, 2014 |
| Cheesefare (Forgiveness) Sunday
Expulsion from Paradise |
February 26, 2012 | March 17, 2013 | March 2, 2014 |
| Great Lent begins - fast for 6 weeks | Mon, February 27, 2012 | Mon, March 18, 2013 | Mon, March 3, 2014 |
| Sunday of Orthodoxy
1st Sunday of Lent |
March 4, 2012 | March 24, 2013 | March 9, 2014 |
| Sunday of St. Gregory Palamas
2nd Sunday of Lent |
March 11, 2012 | March 31, 2013 | March 16, 2014 |
| Sunday of the Holy Cross
3rd Sunday of Lent |
March 18, 2012 | April 7, 2013 | March 23, 2014 |
| Sunday of St. John Climacus
4th Sunday of Lent |
March 25, 2012 | April 14, 2013 | March 30, 2014 |
| Sunday of St. Mary of Egypt
5th Sunday of Lent |
April 1, 2012 | April 21, 2013 | April 6, 2014 |
| Lazarus Saturday | Sat, April 7, 2012 | Sat, April 27, 2013 | Sat, April 12, 2014 |
| Palm Sunday | April 8, 2012 | April 28, 2013 | April 13, 2014 |
| Holy Week starts - fast all week | Mon, April 9, 2012 | Mon, April 29, 2013 | Mon, April 14, 2014 |
| Holy Thursday | Thu, April 12, 2012 | Thu, May 2, 2013 | Thu, April 17, 2014 |
| Holy Friday | Fri, April 13, 2012 | Fri, May 3, 2013 | Fri, April 18, 2014 |
| Holy Saturday | Sat, April 14, 2012 | Sat, May 4, 2013 | Sat, April 19, 2014 |
| Pascha - fast free week | April 15, 2012 | May 5, 2013 | April 20, 2014 |
| Sunday of St. Thomas
2nd Sunday of Pascha |
April 22, 2012 | May 12, 2013 | April 27, 2014 |
| Sunday of Myrrh-bearing Women
3rd Sunday of Pascha |
April 29, 2012 | May 19, 2013 | May 4, 2014 |
| Sunday of the Paralytic
4th Sunday of Pascha |
May 6, 2012 | May 26, 2013 | May 11, 2014 |
| Midfeast of Pentecost | Wed, May 9, 2012 | Wed, May 29, 2013 | Wed, May 14, 2014 |
| Sunday of the Samaritan Woman
5th Sunday of Pascha |
May 13, 2012 | June 2, 2013 | May 18, 2014 |
| Sunday of the Blind Man
6th Sunday of Pascha |
May 20, 2012 | June 9, 2013 | May 25, 2014 |
| Leavetaking of Pascha | Wed, May 23, 2012 | Wed, June 12, 2013 | Wed, May 28, 2014 |
| AscensionThursday | May 24, 2012 | June 13, 2013 | May 29, 2014 |
| Fathers of the 1st Ecumenical Council
7th Sunday of Pascha |
May 27, 2012 | June 16, 2013 | June 1, 2014 |
| Pentecost Sunday - fast free week | June 3, 2012 | June 23, 2013 | June 8, 2014 |
| Day of the Holy Spirit | Mon, June 4, 2012 | Mon, June 24, 2013 | Mon, June 9, 2014 |
| Sunday of All Saints
1st Sunday after Pentecost |
June 10, 2012 | June 30, 2013 | June 15, 2014 |
| Apostles fast begins | June 11, 2012
for 18 Days ( 31 Days OC) |
July 1, 2013
for no fast Days ( 11 Days OC) |
June 16, 2014
for 13 Days ( 26 Days OC) |
| All Saints of North America
2nd Sunday after Pentecost |
June 17, 2012 | July 7, 2013 | June 22, 2014 |
| Fathers of the First Six Councils | July 15, 2012
(July 29, 2012) |
July 14, 2013
(July 28, 2013) |
July 13, 2014
(July 27, 2014) |
| Sunday before Elevation of the Cross | September 9, 2012
(September 23, 2012) |
September 8, 2013
(September 22, 2013) |
September 7, 2014
(September 21, 2014) |
| Sunday after Elevation of the Cross
- Lukan Jump next day - |
September 16, 2012
(September 30, 2012 ) |
September 15, 2013
(September 29, 2013 ) |
September 21, 2014
(September 28, 2014 ) |
| Fathers of the 7th Ecumenical Council | October 14, 2012
(October 28, 2012 ) |
October 13, 2013
(October 27, 2013 ) |
October 12, 2014
(October 26, 2014 ) |
| 2nd Sunday before Nativity | December 16, 2012
(December 30, 2012) |
December 15, 2013
(December 29, 2013) |
December 14, 2014
(December 28, 2014) |
| Sunday before Nativity | December 23, 2012
(January 6, 2013) |
December 22, 2013
(January 5, 2014) |
December 21, 2014
(January 4, 2015) |
| Sunday after Nativity | December 30, 2012
(January 13, 2013 ) |
December 29, 2013
(January 12, 2014 ) |
December 28, 2014
(January 11, 2015 ) |
See also
Guidance on style
External links
- Ecclesiastical Calendar
- Orthodox calendar from Orthodox Menologion Online
- Online Ecclesiastical Calendar, with detailed fasting rubrics and the Menologion, according to the Old Calendar
Calendar use
- Frequently Asked Questions about Calendars by Claus Tondering (everything you ever wanted to know)
- Calendar and Easter Topics
- The Calendar Issue in the Orthodox Church (.pdf), by John Parsells
