www.byzcath.org Forums News & Events Church News Catholic bishops call for united Easter holiday across churches N

Let no man, therefore, imagine that we argue about times, months, and days or suffer privations and persecutions for the sake of full moons and equinoxes (cf. Colossians 2:16 ["Let no man therefore judge you…in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days"]). To us, the Great Indiction, the Julian Calendar, and the Orthodox Paschalion are not one system of measuring time among many others. They are the fruit of the collective genius and work of a number of anonymous champions of science and the Faith, an integral part of the precious heritage of our Universal Church Tradition, to which the Holy Orthodox Church holds firm, proclaiming Her Good Tidings to the world!

Alexandr

I'll respond to that in detail when I get back from vigil, but it's worth noting regarding this phobia that the Moscow Patriarchate Church in Melbourne has used the new calendar since establishment. It hasn't stopped it from being the preferred parish church for new arrivals from Russia or resulted in any great demands for change. Its services are these days mostly In Slavonic.

Canon VII of the Holy Apostles

If any Bishop, or Presbyter, or Deacon celebrate the holy day of Easter before the vernal equinox with the Jews, let him be deposed.
Canon I of Antioch

As for all persons who dare to violate the definition of the holy and great Synod convened in Nicaea in the presence of Eusebeia, the consort of the most God-beloved Emperor Constantine, concerning the holy festival of the soterial Pascha, we decree that they be excluded from Communion and be outcasts from the Church if they persist more captiously in objecting to the decisions that have been made as most fitting in regard thereto; and let these things be said with reference to laymen. But if any of the person occupying prominent positions in the Church, such as a Bishop, or a Presbyter, or a Deacon, after the adoption of this definition, should dare to insist upon having his own way, to the perversion of the laity, and to the disturbance of the church, and upon celebrating Pascha along with the Jews, the holy Synod has hence judged that person to be an alien to the Church, on the ground that he has not only become guilty of sin by himself, but has also been the cause of corruption and perversion among the multitude. Accordingly, it not only deposes such persons from the liturgy, but also those who dare to commune with them after their deposition. Moreover, those who have been deposed are to be deprived of the external honor too of which the holy Canon and God's priesthood have partaken.

SIGILLION of the Patriarchal formulation of an encyclical to Orthodox Christians throughout the world not to accept the modernistic Paschalion, or calendar of the innovated Menologion, but to keep what was once for all and well-formulated by the three hundred and eighteen Holy God-bearing Fathers of the First Ecumenical Council, under penalty of penance and anathema.


7) That whoever does not follow the customs of the Church as the Seven Holy Ecumenical Councils decreed, and Holy Pascha, and the Menologion with which they did well in making it a law that we should follow it, and wishes to follow the newly-invented Paschalion and the New Menologion of the atheist astronomers of the Pope, and opposes all those things and wishes to overthrow and destroy the dogmas and customs of the Church which have been handed down by our fathers, let him suffer anathema and be put out of the Church of Christ and out of the Congregation of the Faithful.

8) That ye pious and Orthodox Christians remain faithful in what ye have been taught and have been born and brought up in, and when the time calls for it and there be need, that your very blood be shed in order to safeguard the Faith handed down by our Fathers and your confession: and that ye beware of such persons as have been described or referred to in the foregoing paragraphs, in order that our Lord Jesus Christ may help you and at the same time may the prayer of our mediocrity be with all of you: amen.

Done in the year of the God-man 1583 (MDLXXXIII), year of indiction 12, November 20 [O.S.]

Jeremiah of Constantinople
Silvester of Alexandria
Sophronius of Jerusalem

In the presence of the rest of the prelates at the Council."

But then what of the Orthodox Church of Finland? She celebrates Pascha on the Gregorian not the Julian. How does on resolve that within Orthodoxy?

I wish all Greek Catholics in America followed the Julian for Pascha.

I have to say that, all else aside, I find it intriguing that Ned is arguing the opposite side of this issue from Alexandr. Ah well, doesn't take a lot to amuse me on a late Friday night

Many years (Julian or Gregorian, as you choose ),

Neil

The Gregorian Calendar conforms to this just as much as the Julian does. Those who suggest it doesn't don't really understand it.

It was informative for me to read the lengthy post from Proto-presbyter Lebedeff that informed me that I must be backing an ecumenist agenda. I'm happy to wear that, since I'm on an ecumenical forum. party lines have never been my strong point.

You rabid ecumenist you! LOL!!

When this has been discussed in the past, I have tended to find Deacon Tony's (ajk) arguments fairly convincing.

We've been through this a few times before on this forum and the facts have been put forth. Posts such as this are loaded with so much misinformation that it boarders on the sinful. Father Alexander has "BEEN deeply interested in the Calendar question for over thirty years" but seems to have learned nothing; to say more in truth would have me appearing to be uncharitable. And he now passes on his errors to his readers.

As past threads have demonstrated, those arguing for the Julian calendar paschalion have a whole arsenal of evidence showing that it is the proper method, especially in relation to the Gregorian reform. But it turns out that, so uninformed and nonfactual are most of their arguments, that their own arsenal can readily be turned on them. This usually ends in them dismissing as unimportant the very arguments that were at the forefront of their initial observations, or inventing fanciful explanations for what the calendar issue is really about.

So on the authority of “Father Alexander...a Priest of the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad” writing here and in a past thread even an Orthodox bishop, we are informed about the “Julian date” to show the accuracy and use of the Julian calendar in the scientific world. Not so. The Julian date is different from ANY calendar (and it’s named after a different Julius than Caesar). Copernicus not only agreed with the need of calendar reform but worked on it; but he died 38 years before the promulgation of the Gregorian calendar. And today Russia, and Greece, are using the Gregorian calendar (as is most if not all the civilized world).

If one wants real fidelity to the prescriptions attributed to Nicaea (all agree on this) regarding a uniform determination for the celebration of Pascha and that coupled with very, very, very good astronomical accuracy (the Earth’s orbit “around” the sun being God’s own calendar) there is only one choice here: the Gregorian calendar.

The Julian calendar is so deficient by those standards – Nicaea and good timekeeping – that its retention should be an embarrassment: it would have us to believe that the sun is by 13 (going on 14) days in a different location in its orbit than from where it really is. The Julian calendar is like a clock that’s running too fast and can’t be reset. I have great sympathy for those, Catholic and Orthodox, who have suffered over calendar reform and how it was carried out. But that doesn’t fix the malfunctioning clock and make it right. The Julian calendar is an anachronism in the most literal sense and, having served its purpose, should now be abandoned for the good of all Christians. To save face, as that appears to be an issue for some, there is an alternative to the Gregorian paschalion, and that is the recommendation of the Aleppo meeting. But even that objectivity is too much to take for some it seems. They then act like the spoiled child that holds his breath to get his way. Yet some say lets just give in to them to keep the peace: the tail wags the dog and ignorance rules.

Lastly, based especially on my direct involvement in past threads on this issue, I believe that those in authority, teachers, clergy, catechists, leaders in general, who have so mislead the faithful into frenzied behavior and intransigent positions, should now open themselves to possessing correct and accurate information, refrain from commenting on matters they haven’t take pains to understand, print retractions with apologies, and seek to do appropriate penance.

I'm for a united Easter based upon the Julian calendar.

Now, take a deep breath.

My breathing is quite steady. If the Catholic Church wants a united Easter no one is stopping it from adopting Orthodox Easter. Debates about the calendar can always continue, but those debates will not bring about a united Easter any time soon.

I believe all Christians, not just Catholics, should want a united celebration of Pascha. I also believe that the prescription of Nicaea can and should be followed -- it is a well-informed and meaningful directive, in science and theology one could not produce a better one. And since we have the ability to implement those directives we should do so; and that today, to be faithful to the directives of Nicaea, in deed and fact, we must use the Gregorian calendar/paschalion or the method outlined at Aleppo or equivalent, and not use the Julian calendar/paschalion because it is now a hinderance and a disservice to what Nicaea wanted to achieve.