It's nice to read about, but you really have to be there to understand. And it's best to be there through the whole process, from Zacchaeus Sunday (the beginning of the Triodion) to Ascension. Consult the calendar for this year's dates, and join us!

The Twelve Great Feasts
In the following sections, dates will be given thus: first the liturgical date (the date on which the feast is celebrated in churches using the new calendar), then in parentheses the secular date (the date on which the feast is celebrated in churches using the old calendar, including St. Lawrence).

In chronological order from the beginning of the Church year on September 1 (Sept. 14), the Twelve Great Feasts are as follows:

The Nativity of the Theotokos, September 8 (Sept. 21)
On this day the Church celebrates the beginning of our salvation with the birth of Mary, the Mother of God.

The Elevation of the Cross, September 14 (Sept. 27)
On this day the Church commemorates the finding of the True Cross of Our Lord by St. Helen, the mother of St. Constantine, the first Christian emperor.

The Presentation of the Theotokos in the Temple, November 21 (Dec. 4)
Here we remember the consecration of Mary to the Lord as a young child.

The Nativity of Christ, December 25 (Jan. 7) In the Incarnation, God empties Himself to become as one of us, so that we may be saved. The Theophany of Our Lord, January 6 (Jan. 13) This feast, also known as Epiphany, celebrates the revelation of Christ as God at His Baptism.

The Meeting of Our Lord in the Temple, February 2 (Feb. 15)
On this day the Church commemorates the presentation of the infant Jesus in the Temple on the fortieth day after His birth, and His meeting there with the prophet Simeon, who revealed that Christ had come to save all mankind-not only the Jews.