One of the obvious factors that set Orthodox Christianity apart is the
church calendar-the cycle of feasts and fasts that gives shape and
structure to the life of the Church. The true significance of the
calendar is something that can only be fully appreciated through
actual participation in the liturgical and social life of a parish;
however, we can give you a glimpse of the outlines here.
| There are many aspects of the Christian life, from penitence to
rejoicing; they cannot all be experienced at once, and none should
exclude the others. The church year gives believers an opportunity to
experience them all in proper measure. The primary components of the
calendar are as follows: |
![[ Bay Leaves ]](../images/bayleaves.jpg) |
- Pascha, the Feast of Feasts, the Resurrection of Our Lord and
Savior Jesus Christ (known in the West as Easter). The date of
Pascha changes every year (falling in April or early May), and the
dates of several other feasts (called "movable feasts") are linked
to this date.
- The Twelve Great Feasts, each commemorating an event in the
life of the Lord or of His Mother (which are also important events
in our salvation). Some of these are "movable" (linked to Pascha)
and others are "fixed," occurring on the same calendar date each
year.
- Lesser feasts commemorating the saints of the Church. Most of
these are fixed dates.
- Days and seasons of fasting, most of them linked to one of the
feasts.
Great and Holy Pascha
The Date of Pascha
|
One of the first questions asked by many visitors to the Orthodox Church is,
"Why do you celebrate Easter on a different day from Western Christians?"
The full answer to this is complex and would require quite a bit of
historical background, some of which you can read about here. Briefly,
both the Eastern and Western churches calculate the date of Easter
based on the first full moon after the vernal equinox. However, the
West uses the date of the vernal equinox according to the Gregorian
calendar (March 21), while the Orthodox Church uses the date according
to the Julian calendar (April 3). (This is true for all Orthodox
churches, even those that use the Gregorian calendar for everything
else.) |
The full answer to this is complex and would require quite a bit of
historical background, some of which you can read about here. Briefly,
both the Eastern and Western churches calculate the date of Easter
based on the first full moon after the vernal equinox. However, the
West uses the date of the vernal equinox according to the Gregorian
calendar (March 21), while the Orthodox Church uses the date according
to the Julian calendar (April 3). (This is true for all Orthodox
churches, even those that use the Gregorian calendar for everything
else.)
In addition, the Orthodox Church requires that Pascha fall after
the Jewish Passover, as Jesus' Resurrection came after the Passover.
This is done in order to preserve the significance of Pascha as the
fulfillment of the "type" of the Passover. The Passover of the
Israelites from Egypt through the Red Sea and eventually into Canaan
represents the passage of the Christian from sin through baptism into
the Kingdom of heaven. As the blood of the Passover lamb painted on
the Hebrews' doorposts in the shape of a cross protected them from the
angel of death, so the blood of Christ shed on the Cross preserves us
from eternal death. |