Major Feasts and Fasts
January 1
|
Circumcision of Our Lord, God and Savior, Jesus Christ
Feast of St. Basil the Great
New Year's Day (Civil)
|
January 6
|
Theophany of Our Lord, God, and Savior, Jesus Christ
|
January 8
|
Sunday After Theophany
|
January 16 | Martin Luther King Day (USA) |
January 22 | Sunday of Zacchaeus |
January 29 | Sunday of the Publican and Pharisee |
January 30 | Synaxis of the Ecumenical Teachers and Hierarchs: Basil the Great, Gregory the Theologian, and John Chrysostom |
February 2 | Encounter of Our Lord, God, and Savior, Jesus Christ with Simeon and Anna (Presentation of Our Lord Into the Temple) |
February 5 | Sunday of the Prodigal Son |
February 11 | First All-Souls Saturday |
February 12 | Sunday of the Second Coming of Christ (Meat-Fare) |
February 19 | Forgiveness Sunday (Cheese-Fare) |
February 20 | Beginning of the Holy Forty Days Fast, President's Day (USA) |
February 26 | First Sunday of the Great Fast (Sunday of Orthodoxy) |
March 4 | Second All-Souls Saturday |
March 5 | Second Sunday of the Great Fast (St. Gregory Palamas) |
March 11 | Third All Souls Saturday |
March 12 | Third Sunday of the Great Fast (Veneration of the Cross) |
March 18 | Fourth All-Souls Saturday |
March 19 | Fourth Sunday of the Great Fast (St. John of the Ladder) |
March 23 | Canon of St. Andrew of Crete |
March 25 | Annunciation to the Mother of God |
March 26 | Fifth Sunday of the Great Fast (St. Mary of Egypt), Synaxis of the Archangel Gabriel |
March 31 | End of the Holy Forty Day's Fast (at sunset or after Vespers or Presanctified on Friday) |
April 1-8 | Great and Holy Week |
April 1 | Lazarus Saturday |
April 2 |
Palm (Flowery) Sunday - Entrance into Jerusalem |
April 3 | Great and Holy Monday |
April 4 | Great and Holy Tuesday |
April 5 | Great and Holy Wednesday |
April 6 | Great and Holy Thursday |
April 7 | Great and Holy Friday |
April 8 | Great and Holy Saturday |
April 9 |
Pascha - Feast of the Resurrection of Christ (Easter Sunday) |
April 9-15 | Bright Week |
April 16 | Second Sunday of Pascha (Apostle Thomas) |
April 23 | Third Sunday of Pascha (Myrrh-Bearing Women) |
April 30 | Fourth Sunday of Pascha (Healing of the Paralytic) |
May 3 | Mid-Pentecost, Feast of SS Cyril & Methodius |
May 7 | Fifth Sunday of Pascha (Samaritan Women at the Well) |
May 14 | Sixth Sunday of Pascha (Man Born Blind) |
May 18 |
Feast of the Ascension of Our Lord, God, and Savior, Jesus Christ |
May 21 | Seventh Sunday of Pascha (Holy Fathers of the First Ecumenical Council) |
May 27 | Fifth All-Souls Saturday |
May 28 |
Pentecost - Descent of the Holy Spirit |
May 29 | Pentecost Monday: Feast of the Holy Trinity, Memorial Day (USA), Victoria Day (Canada) |
June 4 | All Saints Sunday |
June 5-29 | The Apostles' Fast (The fast begins with the vespers on Sunday evening and concludes on June 29th) |
June 24 | Nativity of the Holy Glorious Prophet, Forerunner and Baptist John |
June 29 | The Holy Glorious and All-Praised Leaders of the Apostles, Peter & Paul |
July 1 | Canada Day (Canada) |
July 4 | Independence Day (USA) |
July 16 | Sunday of the Holy Fathers of the First Six Ecumenical Councils |
July 20 | Holy, Glorious Prophet Elijah |
August 1-14 |
Dormition Fast
|
August 6 | Transfiguration of Our Lord, God and Savior, Jesus Christ |
August 15 | The Dormition of our Most Holy Lady, the Mother of God and Ever-Virgin Mary |
August 29 | The Beheading of the Holy Glorious Prophet, Forerunner, and Baptist John |
September 1 | Liturgical New Year (7532) |
September 5 | Labor Day (USA), Labour Day (Canada) |
September 8 | The Nativity of our Most Holy Lady, the Mother of God and Ever-Virgin Mary |
September 14 | The Universal Exaltation of the Precious and Life-Giving Cross |
October 1 | The Protection of our Most Holy Lady the Mother of God and Ever-Virgin Mary |
October 9 | Columbus Day (USA), Thanksgiving Day (Canada) |
October 15 | Sunday of the Fathers of the Seventh Ecumenical Council |
November 8 | Synaxis of the Archangel Michael and the Other Bodiless Powers |
November 11 | Veterans' Day (USA), Remembrance Day (Canada) |
November 15 | Nativity Fast (Philip's Fast also known as Advent) |
November 21 | The Entry of the Most Holy Mother of God into the Temple |
November 23 | Thanksgiving Day (USA) |
December 6 | St Nicholas the Wonderworker and Archbishop of Myra in Lycia |
December 9 (8) | The Conception of the Most Holy Mother of God by the Righteous Anna |
December 10 | Second Sunday Before Christmas (Holy Forefathers) |
December 12 | Our Lady of Guadalupe (Ruthenians, USA) |
December 18 | Sunday Before Christmas (Holy Fathers) |
December 24 | Christmas Eve |
December 25 | The Nativity of our Lord God and Savior, Jesus Christ |
December 26 |
Synaxis of the Most Holy Mother of God, Boxing Day (Canada)
|
December 27 | First-Martyr and Archdeacon Stephen |
December 28 | 20,000 Martyrs of Nicomedia |
December 29 | 14,000 Infants (the Holy Innocents) Slain by Herod at Bethlehem |
December 31 | Sunday after Christmas: Commemoration of the Holy Righteous David the King, Joseph the Betrothed, and James the Brother of the Lord |
Note: The Byzantine liturgical year starts on September 1 and ends on August 31. The movable feasts are determined by the date of Pascha (the feast of the Resurrection). There are two systems currently in use to calculate Pascha - Gregorian (Western) and Julian (Eastern). Roman Catholics, most Byzantine Catholics in America and some Orthodox (notably those in Finland) follow the Gregorian date. Some Byzantines in America and most Byzantines and Orthodox in Canada and elsewhere follow the Julian date. In the year AD 2023 the Gregorian date is April 9 and the Julian date is April 16.