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A '''feast day''' (or festival) is the date a [[saint]], a holy event, or a holy object is commemorated in the liturgical life of the [[Orthodox Church]]. A feast day is primarily celebrated through the hymnography of the Church's divine services appointed to be celebrated on such day. Sometimes the feast day commemoration involves a day of strict fasting.

The Orthodox Church commemorates certain saints or sacred events in its history every day of the year. The feast day of a saint is generally the date of his or her death.

==Feasts of the Orthodox Church==The feasts of the Orthodox Church, as with the canonization of saints, always comes from the living devotion of the Christian people. Feast days of the Church are not "institutions" which are legislated by some ecclesiastical authority apart from the interest and consent of the people. If there were no popular interest and veneration of a certain holy person, there would be no official canonization and no liturgical festival established in their honor. However, if a someone is recognized as a saint, the Church hierarchy will set the day of the feast and will compose the proper liturgical service and hymns to be used in the celebration. But the celebration will then depend solely upon the will of the faithful. Once established, the feast could only disappear organically, in a way similar to its appearance. It could not be "disestablished" by the decree of any church authority, only by lack of practice. ==Entire Orthodox Church==As a whole, the Church celebrates the [[Great Feasts|Twelve Great Feasts Days]] and a number of other feast days with special liturgical and spiritual solemnity. Some preceded by prescribed fasting periods. Universally celebrated by all the Orthodox are the feasts of Saint [[John the Baptist]]. Also, [[Circumcision of our Lord|The Circumcision of Christ]] [[January 1]], [[Three Holy Hierarchs|The Three Great Hierarchs]] [[January 30]], [[Protection of the Mother of God|The Protecting Veil of the Mother of God]] [[October 1]], and [[Pentecostarion#Sunday_of_All_Saints|All Saints]] the First Sunday after Pentecost. The feast days of each of the [[apostles]] are also celebrated by the entire Orthodox Church, above all, the Feast of Saints [[Apostle Peter|Peter]] and [[Apostle Paul|Paul]], [[June 29]].  Among the feast days of other saints universally celebrated by all the Orthodox are:*[[Nicholas of Myra|Saint Nicholas]], [[December 6]]*[[George the Trophy-bearer|Saint George]], [[April 23]] *[[Elias|Prophet Elias]], [[July 20]]*[[Archangel Michael]], [[November 8]]*[[Basil the Great|Saint Basil the Great]], [[January 1]]*[[John Chrysostom|Saint John Chrysostom]], [[November 13]]*[[Gregory the Theologian|Saint Gregory the Theologian]], [[January 25]] ==Orthodox Churches==Some feast days are celebrated locally by churches in particular regions, such as:*In the [[:Category:Greek Saints|Greek]] Church:** [[Spyridon of Trimythous|Saint Spiridon]], [[December 12]] ** [[Demetrios of Thessaloniki|Saint Demetrios]], [[October 26]]** [[Nectarios of Aegina|Saint Nektarios]], [[November 9]]*In the [[:Category:Russian Saints|Russian]] Church:** [[Sergius of Radonezh|Saint Sergius]], [[September 25]]** [[Seraphim of Sarov|Saint Seraphim]], [[January 2]]** [[Tikhon of Zadonsk|Saint Tikhon]], [[August 13]] ** Saint Vladimir*In the [[:Category:American Saints|American]] Church:** [[Herman of Alaska|Saint Herman]], [[December 13]]==Local feast days==Certain cities or monasteries have liturgical celebrations of holy persons, events, or icons appropriate to their own particular needs. Although a feast day may be very local, it is still a feast of the entire Church. == See Also also ==*[[Great Feasts]]*[[Classification of Feasts]]*[[Church Calendar]]*[[Name day]]*[[Upcoming Feast days]] == External links ==*[http://www.oca.org/FSlives.asp The Lives of the Saints] ([[OCA]])*[http://goarch.org/en/chapel/calendar.asp Orthodox Calendar] and [http://goarch.org/en/chapel/search.asp Search for Saints and Feasts] ([[GOARCH]])*[http://pomog.org/index.html?saintlist.shtml Complete List of Saints] ([[ROCOR]] - Protection of the Mother of God Church, Rochester, New York)*[http://www.westsrbdio.org/prolog/my.html The Prologue from Ochrid] (Serbian Orthodox Church - Diocese of Western America)*[http://home.it.net.au/~jgrapsas/pages/lives.htm Lives of the Saints] (Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Australia)*[http://www.abbamoses.com/ God is Wonderful in His Saints] - John Brady*[http://www.saintpatrickdc.org/today/saint.php Saint of the Day] ([[Roman Catholic Church|Roman Catholic]] - Church of Saint Patrick, Washington, DC)<!-- in process of reformatting their site, October 22, 2007 --->